FPL wpts locked with SkyVector

[mslim 12]

On 10/11/2017 at 12:59 PM, RXP said:

This is normal anytime you use user waypoints. I think this particular message is explained in the Garmin GNS Pilot's Guide.

I am getting the "invalid FPL wpt{s} locked verify FPL before use" message when I import flightplans from SkyVector.  What is the work-around for this? I have looked in the Garmin Pilot's Guide but no joy.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Have a look at the waypoints that are locked..

It could be that they are not in the GNS database, or that there are duplicates which the GNS cannot resolve without manual verification.

There is a reason.. 😉

[mslim 12]

I'm still having a problem with this. It seems that any time I insert a lat-lon waypoint (for sightseeing or to avoid a MOA) that is what possibly makes it invalid. As long as a waypoint is an airport, navaid, or intersection the flightplan works. I guess that's what you mean as "they are not in the GNS database".

Is this the way the RW GNS works or just the Reality XP?

What is "manual verification" Bert? How would one do that?

 

[fppilot 4,360]

54 minutes ago, mslim said:

Is this the way the RW GNS works or just the Reality XP?

Yes it is.  Garmin applies rules during the import process.  It must be able to match each waypoint with it's database.  As Bert mentioned, you can check a waypoint manually in the gauge, or in the Garmin Trainer itself.  If you enter a waypoint into the gauge with the knobs (manually) and it finds multiple waypoints with the same name it will show them to you and prompt you to choose one of them.  I just had this happen yesterday twice with waypoints on a flight from Childress, TX, to Salina, KS.  That in a GTN unit.

In the GNS I have found less duplicates by using a USA only database.  Most duplicates of USA waypoint names seem to be outside of the Americas.

Edited July 22, 2020 by fppilot

[mslim 12]

Thanks Frank.

It is unrealistically labor intensive to manually "verify" each waypoint in the flightplan. I tried simplifying by removing lat-lon waypoints, small airports/heliports, I changed from Skyvector to LittleNavMap (excellent planner btw) and I am still getting the wpts locked errors. Even a simple direct flightplan KMRZ>CA51 causes it to choke. This program is making my head hurt. I wish I had never purchased it.

Apparently I'm not the only one with this problem now that I understand the previous postings on this issue.

Edited July 23, 2020 by mslim
correction

[RXP 2,338]

6 hours ago, mslim said:

Apparently I'm not the only one with this problem now that I understand the previous postings on this issue.

I confirm you're not the only one, dozens of thousands pilots around the world are having the very same issue except in this case, in their real aircraft, this is happening when and where you have less options to change flight planning tool unfortunately.

Please note this Garmin feature might also be exacerbated when using WW databases instead of regional ones because the added probability for matching a waypoint already in the DB.

I believe this FPL WPT locked is a Garmin feature meant to protecting the pilot from using waypoints which if flown to, could end up with a catastrophic outcome to the flight.

[fppilot 4,360]

On 7/23/2020 at 7:56 AM, RXP said:

I believe this FPL WPT locked is a Garmin feature meant to protecting the pilot from using waypoints which if flown to, could end up with a catastrophic outcome to the flight.

Correct, and confirmed to me by Garmin support about two years ago.  It's like my BMW X3 SUV.  It will not let me put the transmission into D if a door is open.  Just this morning I tried to pull up just past a post and opened the door slightly so I could see when I cleared it.  Nope! Not Allowed!

It usually happens to me with some intersection in a flight plan, but this week I have had three different VOR names create issues.  It is not RXP here.  It is the rules built into the Garmin trainers.

I like the import feature a lot, but I have found I need to keep the flight plans simple, import them, and then embellish them once in the GTN.  I can do that in seconds instead of for endless time fighting the "headwinds" of importing....  Means much calmer flight prep and more time in the air.

I completed a flight today from Salina, Kansas, USA (KSLN) to Lansing, Illinois, USA (KIGQ).  I planned the flight in about five minutes on the interactive map at Skyvector.  Then I booted the GTN in my Milviz C310 twin and noted the clock as I started entering the flight plan.

KSLN VASCO V4 MCI V502 IRK V10 BDF V156 EON KIGQ

Took me about 40 seconds.  Starting at KSLN so it's there to start the flight plan; add after KSLN: KIGQ; add before KIGQ: VASCO; load airway V4; exit point MCI; load airway V502, exit point IRK; load airway V10, exit point BDF; load airway V156, exit point EON.

Done!  

Edited July 25, 2020 by fppilot

[mslim 12]

Can someone please walk me thru step-by-step exactly the procedure to "unlock" a waypoint? I have searched in the User Manual (RTFM!) and have not found it. The ever helpful Bert Pieke in lovely BC refers to "manual verification. How is this accomplished?

Almost every flightplan I create and import from LittleNavMap has locked waypoints and it's very frustrating.

 

[RXP 2,338]

24 minutes ago, mslim said:

Can someone please walk me thru step-by-step exactly the procedure to "unlock" a waypoint?

 

On 7/24/2020 at 8:05 PM, fppilot said:

I have found I need to keep the flight plans simple, import them, and then embellish them once in the GTN.

Otherwise lots of hands-on discussions and tips in many other threads in this forum:

https://www.qwant.com/?q=site%3Aavsim.com+"locked+waypoint"

Edited October 28, 2020 by RXP

[fppilot 4,360]

3 hours ago, mslim said:

Can someone please walk me thru step-by-step exactly the procedure to "unlock" a waypoint? I have searched in the User Manual (RTFM!) and have not found it. The ever helpful Bert Pieke in lovely BC refers to "manual verification. How is this accomplished?

Almost every flightplan I create and import from LittleNavMap has locked waypoints and it's very frustrating.

MSLIM. You posted in a mature topic on this very subject.  Did you read this topic before posting?  There is a lot of information in the messages above about how and why waypoints get locked.  It gets tedious to type the same information over and over again.  Locked waypoints are either (a) waypoints or procedures not found the the current Garmin database, or not found on a specified airway (note that occasionally a waypoint where two airways cross may be spec'd on one of the airways but not on the other (usually instead of the airway lines crossing each other, you will instead see a small arc on the airway that does not include the waypoint); ,or, (b) the database cannot determine which to use when there are multiple waypoints in the database that share the same name.  For obvious reasons it will not pick one for you.    Many "locks" are related to departures, arrivals, and approaches. 

Per approaches, what was ILS 26 into KSNA after time becomes ILS 25 due to changes in the earth's magnetic field.  So if your flight plan references 26 but it is now 25, it creates a mismatch. 

Per departure and arrival procedures, what last month was ROCKT5 departure may now be ROCKT6 departure, and so on for arrivals.

Please read previous messages in this topic for a better understanding, and for tips on how best avoid future problems when you save flight plans.

[mslim 12]

Is it too late to get a refund?

Edited October 28, 2020 by mslim

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Have you tried using the LNM feature to generate user waypoints for Garmin units?

Personally, I get very few locked waypoints and I tend to delete them in the GNS to get a valid flightplan.

However, LNM has a toggle setting in Tools/Options/Flightplan to "Export User Generated Waypoints"

Try it!

Edited October 28, 2020 by Bert Pieke

[mslim 12]

Yes I turned that up in my research and I have enabled it in LNM but I'm not sure that it works yet. The core question that I asked has not yet been answered or I haven't been clear in my query.

When you say "and I tend to delete them in the GNS to get a valid flightplan" what is the process used to delete the locked waypoints?

RXP has done a lot of clever work here but he basically does a search for "locked waypoints" and points me in a dozen different directions rather than answering a simple question. Is there a chapter I missed in the User Manual entitled "How to Unlock Waypoints" ?  I think not. I searched on both "waypoints" and "locked" and was unable to turn up an answer.

Oh and BTW, FPpilot who is a very smart and experienced guy, takes the opportunity to virtually slap my hands with his condescending tone of "Did you read this topic before posting?  There is a lot of information in the messages above about how and why waypoints get locked.  It gets tedious to type the same information over and over again." [edited] I did not ask "how and why" waypoints get locked. I just want to unlock them so I can use the flightplan I created in LMN with this darn gadget.

It's like I asked him "what time is it?" and he told me how to build a watch.

Edited October 30, 2020 by RXP

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I think you need to take a chill pill, frankly..

You are dealing with users who are trying to help users here, and you show up with this "entitled" attitude..

What does this mean:  "Yes I turned that up in my research and I have enabled it in LNM but I'm not sure that it works yet. "  That in response to me trying to help you 🤔

[mslim 12]

I have just tried it as we speak and it did not work for me.

Bert you are tops in my pantheon of helpful gents so I'm disappointed you think I am "entitled." I may be too thick to understand what I'm reading, but I have read and tried to understand all the responses I have been given. No one yet has pointed me to a procedure to unlock "locked waypoints."

I stand by my statement that it is FPpilot's quoted response is demeaning and condescending and if anyone has an entitled attitude it's not me.