Marty,

I purchased a Garmin 396 a few weeks ago, with the lite weather package. I
don't need no stinkin' lightning info as I lead good life (unlike some of my
friends:c) and know I'd never get zapped for no good reason.

Once you have the lite weather package, you can call them and subscribe to
the full package for as little as 1 month. Other than the additional cost of
the full package, no other penalty for stopping and starting the upgrade so
you can get it before a winter trip etc.

Due to the relatively high power draw of the 396 with XM on, at least for
giders, I was planning on using it only in power aircraft, keeping the 196
in the glider. I guess I could "afford" the current draw if I left the
transponder off. I will say that the 396 represents a quantum leap over the
196 . . . really quite amazing in display quality and legibility in
sunlight, XM weather, terrain etc.

The power info you are looking for isn't in Garmin's "pilot guide" or specs.
I found it on the web at:


http://www.dvatp.com/aviation/articl...ws/garmin_396/


"Garmin 396 Current Draw by Function
GPS Only, Backlighting Minimum, Battery charged 360mA
Backlighting (10 levels) 20mA-110mA
XM Receiver 180mA
Charging Current (tapers to 0 when battery is charged) 300-0mA

For planning purposes, you can assume that the unit will pull about 540mA
with the XM receiver connected or nearly 840mA at maximum charge rate. When
you're charging the internal battery you would normally not care about the
additional load the charging circuitry places on the external power source,
but I required this information because all batteries have a maximum
discharge current and I needed to size my external batteries appropriately."

all the best,

bumper

wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone know how much current the 396 draws from a 12 volt system?
It's fused for 1.5 amps, but none of the specs specifies the actual
current draw. If it draws much over 500 mA then it's going to run down
the 12 volt battery pretty fast. I currently use a 196 and went to my
owner's manual to compare and, surprise, it doesn't specify a current
draw either! But I suspect the 196 is in the 250 mA range at 12 volts.
Anyone know for sure?

One other problem with the 396 is cost. Not only is it $2500 for the
unit, but $600 a year for the weather subscription that I'd want. (The
lite version is $360 a year but doesn't include lightning info.) I
suppose with all that we spend on our ships maybe that shouldn't bother
me so much, but it does.

Martin