Ideally, RealNav will begin to support other FS add ons and give customers a little more mileage out of their subscriptions.  If the data is that much more complete, there will be no shortage of customers wanting to plug it into their PMDG/Majestic/ESDG/etc... planes.  As is, the price will be a little steep for data that supports just one product and you can just about tack that cost on to the initial purchase price where in rather than $50 it is now essentially $90 if you want to get up to date out of the box (recalling that it was mentioned that as is, the product would ship WITHOUT the current cycle).  Now you are close to the cost of the RXP set.  Now I am sure you are going to say 'but this has cross fill'.  Yes, it does, and a *reliably* updateable database too BUT, it also lacks some features like terrain display (roads/lakes/rivers), terrain avoidance and it sounds like to some extent, VNAV.  

 

With the above said, I can't say enough that I am not trying to 'bash' the MindStar product at all.  But when it comes time for me to purchase it, that is what I am going to look at.  They both have pros and cons in terms of features with each having some that the other doesn't excluding the RXP unlimited add on.  The prices are nearly the same taking into account that I will have to buy a RealNav subscription to get my AIRAC up to date.  And honestly, its the RealNav subscription that is my current hang up with this product making it a maybe buy instead of a must buy.  I can't justify that additional cost for something serving a very singular purpose.

 

I can't speak for everyone but even though lots has been said I feel like that is the spot most people are in on this.  I am sure there are many different specific sentiments out there but I have to to think that those that have a general hesitance towards this are looking at it the same way.  I am not talking about any conspiracy theories or things like that.  I could care less who's who or who owns what.  Even if it were the same company, it wouldn't change the fact that I'm not really being offered more than what I already have.  Of course the difference would be do I use P3D or do I not already own RXP.  That would certainly change perspectives to a degree.

 

So my big question is: are there plans for RealNav to expand their compatibility?  

I'm not worried about when it will get finished, but just wondering how we will know when it's ready.

 

Hummm. Watching this with interest.  Missed promised release date.  Other big feature promises.  No delivery.  Few screenshots (if any).  In another topic an aircraft model developer refuted claims of an established relationship.

Hummm. Watching this with interest.  Missed promised release date.  Other big feature promises.  No delivery.  Few screenshots (if any).  In another topic an aircraft model developer refuted claims of an established relationship.

 

I think the original poster was a beta tester who may have gotten a little overzealous and from my understanding there never was a promised release date.  And even if that was the original plan, so what if they missed it?  Don't they all?  The confusion that arose between me and Real Air that you refer to as to "official" contact between Mindstar and Real Air was apparently my misunderstanding.  I had to go back to this thread to realize it was started by twharrel and not WarpD as an official statement.  I've seen nothing to indicate that there is anything going on here out of the ordinary, or different than any other typical release we see for flight simulator.  Mindstar has developed an alternative GNS 530 and 430 package, here are the pros and cons compared to Reality XP, it will probably be released soon, it will work in P3D, and that's all there is to it.

Mindstar has developed an alternative GNS 530 and 430 package, here are the pros and cons compared to Reality XP, it will probably be released soon, it will work in P3D, and that's all there is to it.

You will need a data subscription to make use of it. Details on this issue in regard to quality and necessity can be read above. Looking through smoke, kind of. :mellow:

 

Regarding VNAV (this hasn't been answered so far), I can only state that the general implementation as given by the rw 530/430 manuals doesn't expand over the calcs being run in the background to help you determine the TOD. So there's no pointer or guidance to expect unless one would stretch the capabilities of the real units. For a G1000, VNAV is a big thing of course. For our 530/430s, not so much.

 

You get that 'approaching VNAV profile' message and then you can look at how the descent rate turns out. I'd say that, for the initial descend to.. point, it makes sense though. If this basic functionality is available already, it would match the RXP units which themselves match the real ones.

 

Adapting to the sim usage could make sense and I saw Lee stating that one can now use the keyboard. Big pro over the RXP's 'roll your mouse wheel, Sir!' Pilots love mouse wheels. Airway entries wouldn't work (no 530/430 feature set) while FSX flight plans of course would be a sim only feature but might make sense. I don't know if that's planned, I've missed it on the RXP.

 

Me says that Ian has hit the nail on the head. The subscription is the (big) 'huh?' item, the price point of the actual units and the assumed availability in future sims a big pro.

 

 

I've asked the thing in another thread but didn't really receive answers. If you would render the Mindstar units exactly like the RXP ones (sizes, clickspots), wouldn't that establish an instant compatibly with all the RXP-enabled addons?

Am I incorrect to understand that it comes with a built in cycle, say from 2010 or something out of date that comes with the package?  If the goal is to fly the most current data possible than that becomes a bigger issue, but the Reality XP doesn't have that either.  Are you saying that it comes with nothing, and is therefore completely unuseable out of the box, without having to spend at least $40 extra dollars for a 4 cycle subscription? 

Good question and I don't know for sure. If there's an initial and somehow current set, right you are of course and apologies from my side. (Dev) clarification welcome. :smile:

 

I don't expect it to come empty. Worst would be with the original FSX' dates or something. I mean you need a selling point for the subscription, right? Maybe one can buy a single set. I'm speculating on this issue. Back to dev clarification.

 

Side note. I would read the first customer reviews on the data and the comparison with current suppliers (Aerosoft, Navigraph) with great interest. :smile:

 

RXP goes back to 2011. By accident. 'Whoohoo!', or not. :wacko:

What would be really novel is if Mindstar took it upon themselves to create the basic 3d models of their gauges, and provided it to panel developers to plug it into their own work with a minimum of fuss.

You mean a gauge supplier with active support? Yes, that's new. At least when coming from RXP. ^_^

Am I incorrect to understand that it comes with a built in cycle, say from 2010 or something out of date that comes with the package?  If the goal is to fly the most current data possible than that becomes a bigger issue, but the Reality XP doesn't have that either.  Are you saying that it comes with nothing, and is therefore completely unuseable out of the box, without having to spend at least $40 extra dollars for a 4 cycle subscription? 

 

Earlier in the thread it was implied that this new product would not ship with a current cycle.  I would assume that a dated one will be supplied for functionality sake or else the unit would be theoretically useless.  A RealNav subscription would therefor not be required in the same way it is not required that one updates his or her AIRACs for any other add on.  Much of the concern is coming from what happens when you do want to update the data and are forced into the $40 four cycle subscription that supplies data only good for the Mindstar GNS units.  Let's not lose sight of the fact that Mindstar is not forcing you to buy RealNav data even if you are someone relegated to doing so for all intents and purposes.  RXP stuff comes with waaayyy outdated data which you are not forced to update either; and further more can not update to current although you can get close for no cost although it is certainly less than a straight forward affair.

I think this sounds very interesting indeed!

And i have to agree with what others have also pointed out above:

The RXP GNS 430/530 sure was and still is a great package, but the lack of support from RXP is most questionable and even unfriendly - yes unfriendly - towards customers and developers alike and the RXP pricing model is also neither attractive nor customer friendly - not to mention it again:

The full lack of any support and further development!

If RXP changes its support and customer policy again in the future, then the Mindstar GNS430/530 may have it a bit harder on the market, but other than that i actually see no reason to support RXP much longer.

 

Sure i like the RXP gauges which i have at home - and yes, they offer a lot and yet:

With each day that passes by, its database is getting older and older and even more important (and again):

I don't see it to be developed or supported any longer anyways.

This - again, maybe - changing in the future, but it seems most uncertain to happen.

 

Whereas on the other hand there now seems to be an at least serious alternative to the RXP GNS 430/530 series available soon, which seems to receive continuous development and support! It also offers a pricing modell which, even if the purchase of a seperate NavData base should be required, still appears at least competitive to, if not even better than, the RXP pricing modell!

 

Therefore i will really keep an eye on the Mindstar GNS430/530 products and if it all keeps what is promised and if a proper integration into various aircraft's 3d cockpit's environments will be overall seamlessly doable, then i will really give it a try and consider purchasing it in the near future ahead.

Cheers, Christoph

A small clarification... for the $50 purchase price you get both a 430 and a 530 GNS setup.  With that you can install in any configuration... 2 430's, a 530/430, a 530, a 430... etc.

 

Unless Reality-XP has changed something since last I was a customer of theirs, you have to purchase their 430 and 530 separately.

 

Mindstar never offered a release date publicly and only mentioned our goals to Todd, but as I've already stated, in his defense we did not tell him to keep it to himself.

The $40 / year RealNav Airac Navdata subscription cost .. is that for 13 airac cycles (one per month) per year?

The $40 / year RealNav Airac Navdata subscription cost .. is that for 13 airac cycles (one per month) per year?

 

That is for 4 quarterly updates.

Navigraph e.g., offers pilots a single cycle purchase for 4.90 Euro (or approx now).
That way a pilot could fly (FS9/FSX/P3D payware aircraft) for many months or years on a single cycle if he wanted to.

Will Mindstar Garmin be considering single cycle Airac Navdata sales also?

Will the Mindstar Garmin function on older Navdata cycles or must it always be current with continuous subscription renewals?
 

 

 

It's one thing selling a GNS gauge to offer all of us a real alternative to the Reality XP GNS we use, but it is a whole different ball game forcing people to subscribe to a data service when you engineer your product in such a way that it is made available without any data whatsoever upon release and the only data it is able to use comes from a company belonging to some of the same owners of Mindstar and you have to subscribe to that service or else the GNS gauge you have purchased is not going to work at all.

 

A valid viewpoint.  When it comes down to it, it's just going to be cost-benefit.  Will their offering be worth it in terms of $ when compared to whatever else is out there.  That will drive people and developers.  With P3D 2.0 coming and little hope for RealityXP, there's a gap.