REFLECTOR: Blue Mountain EIFS

Mon Apr 23 00:00:38 CDT 2007

Tom,

I think the correct way to state this is, if we have hardware problems ...
we MAY be screwed.  I don't believe this has happened to anyone yet, but I
could be wrong.  I think it's a little premature to be talking about
lawsuits.  I still have confidence that Greg will come up with a replacement
processor if/when he finally runs out of stock.

If you want to go after him on failure to deliver promised features, that
point could be argued.

Darrell

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Tom Martino
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 11:15 PM
To: Velocity List
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Blue Mountain EIFS

DARRELL,

The important thing is NOT the weather, traffic or map scaling.  The
important thing is that OUR UNITS ARE NOT SUPPORTED.  If we have hardware
problems ... WE'RE SCREWED.

Tom

On 4/22/07 10:09 PM, "Darrell & Nora Kufalk" <kufalk at wi.rr.com> wrote:

> Alex,
> 
> I too have a BMA Efis One gold box and an Efis Lite G3.  I am not flying
yet
> so I can't tell you how well they actually work yet but so far all the
> testing I have done looks good.
> 
> I agree with Richard's opinion of how he was sold on the upgradeability of
> these units.  The same things were told to me too.  The difference with me
> was my expectations.  I took a very close look at the Efis One and pressed
> Greg on a few occasions to see how he felt about the upgradeability of
these
> units.  When asked directly, he could never guarantee that the units would
> be able to do all the weather, traffic and map scaling.  I had my doubts
too
> but I purchased the units anyway.  At the time (Oshkosh 2005) they were
> still, by far the best units available and I do not regret my decision.
> Yea, I'm bummed out that I will never see traffic and weather on this
screen
> but I kind of knew it may come to this.  I'll have to look into those $200
> units the get what I ultimately want.
> 
> One thing all of us who lust after glass panels are going to have to get
use
> to is how quickly this equipment is going to be obsolete.  It's not just
BMA
> who has these issues.  All the manufacturers are in the same boat.  Even
> Garmin.  Just watch.  In 5 years the +$80,000 G1000 will be replaced by
> something that will makes it look like an Atari 2600.  The Garmin 396
wasn't
> even out for 1 full year when they announced the 496.  Anyone who bought
the
> 396 can't be too happy about that deal.
> 
> There is nothing you can do about it.  It's the nature of the business.
> 
> Darrell
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
> Behalf Of Alex
> Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 9:46 PM
> To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Blue Mountain EIFS
> 
> Well- no effect for those who have not received theirs yet/ or have the G4
> unit- so all is well for you guys- my main problem was that the big sell (
> and I want everyone to tell me if I am wrong about this) is that their
unit
> would be software upgradeable to keep it fairly current- the only upgrades
I
> have heard anyone getting from Blue Mountain have been related to map
> currency or problem fixes. - they claimed when I ordered and paid for mine
> that it would eventually  display WX-500 data, and current weather,  and
in
> the future, and that they were working out how to display traffic. I
> received mine in Feb of 2006- not too long ago- it is the older style with
> the separate gold box- new units have everything built into the display
> unit- I was watching Greg do his schpeal and noticed that the new units
have
> a USB port on the front- so I just asked how exactly I get my updates via
> the internet so get current with the software- he determined that I have a
> G2 unit (not sure what happened to G3) and that the technology in that box
> is 10 years old, and NOT Upgradeable, in fact, I found out that the
> manufacturer of the board is no longer in business, so I am not sure how
> long they will be able to support it if there is a physical problem. I did
> find out that I can get a basic terrain view, but it is on only a single
> pre-set scale- I was a bit shocked about this since I have flown with a
$200
> PDA that had fully scaleable mapping, in fact it would auto-zoom when you
> reached your destination so you can see where you are in the airport
> environment. Greg just said repeatedly " it does exactly what it did when
> you bought it" and it isn't his fault that the features like WX-500
display
> (dropped apparently due to lack of interest) and weather depiction are
never
> going to be available on a "gold box" unit, nor is map scaling.
> The second day, I went to visit with them after sleeping on this, and
spoke
> with Larry and Sheila about this situation, since Greg was not there when
I
> arrived- they got pretty agitated with me even asking about this subject
and
> gave me a "too bad for you" kind of response- even asked me if I had asked
> anyone at blue mountain specifically if the maps zoomed  before I bought
it
> and thereby if they had lied about that- my response was that I did not
ask
> because it is such a basic function of having a moving map that I would
not
> even think to ask- kind of like asking of the radio in your new Mercedes
> receives FM signals- not to mention that EVERY other moving map company
> represented at SNF - and there were a lot of them - had zoom- and lots of
> other features not present on the $15k Blue mountain-   they just kept
> saying that the hardware in the gold box is 10 old technology,(despite the
> fact that I had it only 14 months),  that not physically upgradeable (non-
> socketed processor and memory) and it was too slow to allow for map
zooming.
> 
> My main reason to buy their box was the fact that the magic internal
> workings were software related and would be regularly upgraded as new
> features became available, I believe that this was the basis of their
sales
> pitch- at least it was to me-  I know I was promised WX display and WSI
> weather- even checked their sales brochure when I got home and said right
> there in big letters about that too- so now I will see how many other
folks
> have this problem or feel that this is a problem, and take it from there.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
> Behalf Of Richard J. Gentil
> Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 3:49 PM
> To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Blue Mountain EIFS
> 
> Hey Alex,
> 
> I have a new Dual EFIS/ONE waiting for delivery when I am to the point of
> installing my panel.
> 
> What did you find out?
> 
> Richard
> 
> Alex wrote:
>> Hello Everyone-
>> Just back from Sun N Fun, and I had an "interesting" talk with the
>> Blue Mountain folks about what the system does and does not do, and
>> what they promised would be available for those of us who purchased
>> it- can I please request a show of hands from anyone that has/had one
>> of their EIFS one units for some further discussions on this
>> subject........ Anyone else that is not on the reflector - Rvators ect.
> would also be helpful to speak with.
>> 
>> Alex
>> 
>> 
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