WSI’s AV200 datalink box, above, was well received. It can display on both the Garmin MX20 and the GNS430/530 navigators.

When it comes to competition and the free market, count us as cheering all for it from the cheap seats. Everyone benefits when companies compete. But in aviation, the normal rules occasionally become distorted and the unwary customer—or even a careful one—can find himself caught in the middle or, worse, the proud owner of an orphaned product with all the market appeal of a 1958 Edsel.

It’s not quite that bad for owners who bought an AV200 WSI weatherlink box to look at NEXRAD on a Garmin MX20, but they can be forgiven for being rightfully annoyed at both companies. When it brought out its sophisticated satellite weather box two years…