How To Upload A Set Of Waypoints On A Garmin

Garmin Waypoint Import –Solved

This is one of our well-nigh asked questions – how do I get my landing sites into my Garmin Avionics?

Helipaddy'southward founders have an R66 with a GTN650, an Aera 660 and Garmin Pilot. Note that none of these systems allow you to upload logical landing sites, y'all have to fudge it by importing them as "waypoints". We were surprised to find that the 3 Garmin units utilise different formats for waypoints equally follows:

Garmin Aera 660 – as with most Garmin handheld devices, it uses a GPX file format. See Step 2A below.
Garmin Airplane pilot – uses CSV (or Excel) format and allows longer place names eg 24 characters – run into Step 2B below.
GTN650 / GTN750 – also uses CSV but with a proprietary format. Information technology does not allow you to ready the "Drome" flag for a waypoint, you have to do this manually from the GTN. If you don't then your terrain warnings will get off in your ear when you land at a "waypoint". See Step 2C below.

Fortunately, the Helipaddy chaps accept cracked all these formats significant y'all can employ Helipaddy to store your favourite sites and then button them all to Garmin (or SkyDemon or Foreflight etc.). This works very nicely if you lot like creating flying plans in the cockpit and/or use the HeliSAS autopilot with Garmin Avionics.

Nosotros have produced this guide independently of Garmin, SkyDemon or Foreflight. They are focused on fixed-wing markets, not us helicopter chaps at the time of writing. Helipaddy has approached all three companies on behalf of pilots because, unlike them, we subscribe to the Aviation Open Information Protocols AOD for data sharing and API'south.

Stride 1 – Prepare sites in Helipaddy

Mark any Helipaddy sites you want to export as Favourites which y'all can practise in the App or online in your dashboard. At present get to the online dashboard domicile folio and you will come across the export buttons CSV, GPX, CSV (Garmin GTN) and KML.

Pace 2A – Aera 660 (video)

The Aera takes a special GPX format and then click the HelipaddyGPX button and save the file to a micro SD card inserted into your laptop within the GARMIN folder. The name doesn't matter every bit long as it is a .gpx file.

Insert this is into the Aera 660 slot – the Aera can exist swsitched on. You don't get whatever notifications but they are now on the device nether Tools>User Waypoints. They bear witness upwards on the maps and can be searched when creating flight plans.

There is no way to practice this OTA (over the air) but you tin can use a mini USB cable from the Aera to your laptop if you cannot read the SD card.

If you delete a User Waypoint on the Aera, it remains deleted even if you pop out the SD card and reinsert it. When we tested this, if we renamed the GPX file on the SD card (triggering a newer file modification date) it did reimport the deleted waypoint.

Hither is a video to testify you how it works: https://youtu.be/z2KwzfxawkE

Step 2B – Garmin Pilot (video)

The Pilot App takes a proprietary CSV format which Helipaddy take made compatible so hit the HelipaddyCSV button. Y'all can practise this whilst on a mobile and then transport the CSV file straight to the Garmin Pilot app. No need for any SD cards or laptops.

If you want to ready information technology all offline, you lot can electronic mail the CSV file and and then share information technology to the Garmin Pilot app that style.

Tip: you tin also use Helipaddy's KML format and Garmin Pilot volition have KML layers as well. The waypoints exist in the App merely are not available when searching in flight plan mode. You lot have to click on them in the map to include them in a flight plan, however, if you are using the waypoints settings for something else then this gives y'all a 2d storage area. Hit the HelipaddyKML button to exercise this.

The CSV consign can be repeated safely and doesn't create duplicates. Unfortunately, Garmin doesn't provide a way to transfer these to the cockpit GTN via the Flightstream 510 WiFi menu. For that yous have to follow step 2C below.

Footstep 2C – GTN 650 or 750 (video)

The just way to get your waypoints onto the aircraft's Garmin avionics is via the GTN SD card (SD non Micro-SD) so this cannot exist done OTA (except via flight plans, run into below) and does crave a laptop for the menu as there is no USB connection on the GTN. On a computer, hit the HelipaddyCSV (Garmin GTN) push button and save the file as user.wpt (do not utilize any other name) on the root folder of the SD card.

In the GTN, there is a 6 character limit so nosotros have designed it to use a unique Helipaddy identifier for the proper name and the actual name in the Waypoint annotate field.

If y'all have a Flightstream 510 card in the GTN'due south bill of fare slot then remove this first. Identify the SD card into the GTN (this works for me without powering the GTN off and on although Garmin say information technology needs to be restarted). Note that you cannot use the spare slots on the G500H TXi screen so, once imported, you have to swap the SD carte back out for the Flightstream card.

From the Home page of the GTN touch the Waypoint Info > Import Waypoints icons.

Confirm the import – you won't get duplicates every bit it discards them.

The imported waypoints will show upwards with the Helkipaddy site ID equally the proper noun (due to the Garmin 6 graphic symbol limit) and the actual proper noun equally the waypoint comment.

The GTN currenly allows upward to 10000 user waypoints. You volition detect all your Helipaddy waypoints stored as numbers starting with 0 e.g. 007123. When you create a new flight plan, click Add Waypoint and then type 0. The Fast Find will show the nearest waypoint that starts with 0 in the name. Alternatively, you can press the Observe push button, then User and all of the Helipaddy waypoints are at the end starting with 0.

All Helipaddy members will be using the same numeric codes for a given landing site then they will exist able to share waypoint instructions easily.

Note that yous can use Garmin Pilot and a Flightstream to ship flight plans to the GTN. This can be useful where yous are in a hurry, and where you already accept your waypoint library on Garmin Pilot. Here is the process assuming your Garmin Airplane pilot is automatically connecting to the GTN via Bluetooth.

Set the flight plan to your desired waypoint in Garmin Airplane pilot and so printing the blueish Connext symbol:

The GTN will, unfortunately, rename whatever non-ICAO waypoints to USRxxx:

For SkyDemon, Foreflight etc., please see https://helipaddy.com/blog/2015/12/14/skydemon-foreflight-earth

Creating a Garmin flying plan to a waypoint using iOS

Let's say you want to export a Helipaddy location to your Garmin avionics whilst sitting in your helicopter with no cables. It'south possible if you take the Garmin Pilot app (no subscription needed) and EITHER a GTN650 or GTN750 with Flightstream 510 carte du jour inserted AND/OR a Garmin Aera 660.

Footstep i: as per Pace ane in a higher place – favourite the location in Helipaddy (add together it first if necessary)

Stride 2: In the Helipaddy app, go to Business relationship and click on Online Dashoard. Or, in a mobile browser, go to https://adm.helipaddy.com/business relationship/info/export_csv/ (it will ask you to login).

Stride three: Share the CSV to Garmin Pilot

Step 4: In Garmin Pilot, go to Flying Program and enter the location name in the flight plan. It works a fleck better if y'all can also put your current starting location in. Yous can discover nearby locations using the observe symbol and and so the User filter.

Step 5a – Aera 660 – make certain your Aera 660 is connected to your iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth. In the Aera, choose Setup>Bluetooth and connect.

Step 5b – GTN650 or GTN750 – make sure your phone is continued to the GTN via bluetooth, this should be automatic

Pace 6 – In Garmin Airplane pilot, click the blueish Connext symbol at the elevation and then Send To anmd the flight program is at present transferred to your avionics. Phew!