REFLECTOR: Blue Mountain EIFS

[Alex]

Hi Larry,

I agree with you about expectations- difference is that I have had my unit
for only 17 months and it is already "10 year old technology" according to
Blue Mountain - not sure how that adds up, but I am not happy about it- also
they promised WX 500 interface and WXI weather- won't have those as it turns
out- and the basis of their sales pitch was that "unlike other units", their
features would upgrade via software- only things that have been changed have
been patches to get the units working properly, and current maps- no "new
features as they become available" and unfortunately the motherboard
manufacturer did die, and now Blue Mountain can not source replacements. The
G4 boards are built in house, so no such problem with them I hope.

Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Lawrence Epstein,MD
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 12:34 PM
To: whbarker at earthlink.net; 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Blue Mountain EIFS

These discussions have reinforced what I consider to be a basic tenet of
building an aircraft- Do not buy any Avionics until the very last minute,
especially if it is an "electronic" or microprocessor controlled device.

I think that it must be remembered that computer processor speed doubles
approximately every 18 months (since it's invention). It is unreasonable to
expect any "computer" to be upgradeable to current standards for more than a
couple of years as new software is written to take advantage of newer/faster
processors. Assuming that the manufacturer maintains the platform for a
couple of years beyond the relative obsolescence of the processor (in order
to mature the device) you may have an upgradeable lifespan of 5 years from
inception.  That having been said, I think a consumer (particularly in
Aviation) should be able to expect that the manufacturer will stockpile
enough replacement parts for at least 10 years after the last 1 is sold.
Promises of upgradeability need to be considered with the above in mind.
Along with the viability of the company for support (I doubt any of these
products will have any support/repair options if the manufacturer dies.

Puts a whole new light on my panel plan! (I am considering the BMA).

Larry Epstein
Just my 20c

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