Super Mini MEGA product review: Garmin Geko 201

Most "included as a free gift!" products are of dubious value or are soon placed in a box, on a shelf, in a closet some time after receiving them. Such is not the case with the Garmin Geko 201 that was included with my purchase of a Bose headset when I started my flying lessons last year. I knew from researching it beforehand that it would allow me to track my flights, and I would be able to import those tracks into GoogleEarth for later review. What I didn't realize was that it would come in handy as a training tool, a nifty back-up navigation tool, and an information resource as well. Any pilot would agree, it's better to have more information about your location than less information!


I did purchase two accessories necessary to use this diminutive GPS device to its fullest. The first was the cable that connects the Geko to my PC (a pricey cable, which I give a wag of my finger to Garmin for gouging, as it only works with this device). The second was a suction cup mount, which does a good job (though it needs some babysitting, which I will explain later).


Let's get to some pics!




















Here is the unit (attached to suction cup mount, folded up) in its powered OFF state.

Press the power button (flush mounted to prevent inadvertent activation) and you are soon greeted with a welcome screen which you can customize... mine says "If found call this PHONE #"
After a short delay, the unit switches to the GPS satellite status screen. shown below:















You can choose between two different "skyviews" from this page. I prefer this look, which is called the "Advanced Skyview" as it shows the various satellites in the GPS constellation overhead and highlights which ones the unit is receiving and shows a signal strength bar for each. Once the unit is talking to enough of the GPS satellites it reports the estimated accuracy in feet, and shows the letters "3D" in between the battery life indicator and the satellite icon at the bottom of the screen if the unit has linked to 4 or more satellites.

Pressing the PAGE button (to the right of the big OK button), begins cycling through the different pages in this order: MAP page














The NAVIGATION page.














The TRIP COMPUTER page














and the MENU page














From the MENU page you can select the top item on the list "MARK" and start creating your database of waypoints.
















Hitting MARK brings up this screen, which identifies your current location and stores it as "001" in your waypoint list. Creating a database of waypoints is as easy as marking your current location, going to the waypoint list, searching for "nearest", picking 001, and editing the numbers to match a known location. Granted, it could be considered tedious to mark points, search Airnav.com for GPS coordinates of airports and VORs, but the end result is worth it. You can create 500 waypoints in this manner. I haven't added up all the ones I've entered, but I don't think I am anywhere close to the limit.

Once you have a waypoint stored, flying to it is simple... use the arrow buttons to scroll to WAYPOINTS from the MENU page, find the waypoint in your list:














Select the waypoint, select GOTO, and the page automatically changes to the NAVIGATION page with waypoint name at the top, your distance from it, a compass type face, an arrow pointing to your waypoint and box at the bottom which can show a bunch of different data.

Speed in knots (units are changeable in the OPTIONS menu)














A trip odometer














Current heading














Your bearing (heading required to get TO the waypoint)














Time enroute to waypoint














Time of Arrival at waypoint














Distance to waypoint














Altitude in feet above MSL














LAT / LON coordinates














Time and Date (I have my unit set to ZULU time)














The other useful page is the TRIP COMPUTER page, which can be customized to show whatever data fields you prefer. Mine is set to display speed in knots, elevation, bearing and time of day.














Here is the MAP page again, just wanted to talk about the waypoint icons... I chose airplanes for airports (crazy I know), and the tee pee icon for VOR's. Of all the pages, this one is the least useful because of the small screen size. Zooming out to see all my waypoints just mashes all the icons together in a big jumbled mess, clearly I need to fly to places farther away!















Here is the unit, with the suction cup mount extended out.














This is a pic of the back of the unit, the suction cup mount screw can be turned with a coin, and the 4 circles is the location where the data cable attaches (it is hidden under a rubber grommet)















Here is the unit on the 2007 FAR/AIM for size comparison.















All in all, the Geko 201 has been a nifty companion in the cockpit. As a flight training aid, I found it be helpful in many situations. Learning how to judge distances when spotting airports was huge, also being able to report exact distances in relation to an airfield increases safety. Being able to review a flight in GoogleEarth is not only fun, but instructive...especially when evaluating S-turns along a road. There are many more functions that I could have discussed, creating and flying routes (up to 20 of them), creating a projected waypoint, and all the different data fields that can be displayed.

The suction cup can be tricky as it cycles through different temperatures, warm on the ground, cold aloft, warm on the ground.. pop! it's in your lap. Not the way you want to practice "realistic cockpit distractions", the game is to find the right spot to attach the mount on a per airplane basis.

As a teaching tool, I could see a unit like this being useful for the CFI who wants to introduce a student to the basics of GPS technology. The club airplanes I will be flying all have Garmin 430 Nav/Com GPS units, but unless there is an easy way to download my flight path info... I think you might catch me with this little green Geko in the cockpit for some time to come.