Who has bought a new Garmin 396?

I hear Garmin sold 3000 of these at Osh.

I've had the AnywhereMap system for a year now and find the system has
been prone to losing the XM weather.

I'd like to hear from 396 users how reliable the weather link has been,
particular from people that don't fly regularly.

"Paul kgyy" wrote:

I'd like to hear from 396 users how reliable the weather link has been,
particular from people that don't fly regularly.

XM receivers will lose the service authorization if not used regularly. It
times out.

As to losing satellite lock, I have not had this happen in nearly two years
of using a WxWorx receiver and antenna connected to a notebook pc. I have
ordered a 396 but don't have it yet.

The Garmin 396 uses a "smart" antenna, i.e. a combination receiver/antenna.
As are you, I am anxious to see how well this will work. I plan to velcro it
on the glare shield where my Xm antenna is now.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

Dan Luke wrote:
XM receivers will lose the service authorization if not used regularly. It
times out.

I stopped by the XM booth at AirVenture and inquired about this.
The rep explained that it was their problem and that it has been fixed
and should not continue to happen.

john smith wrote:

Dan Luke wrote:

XM receivers will lose the service authorization if not used
regularly. It times out.


I stopped by the XM booth at AirVenture and inquired about this.
The rep explained that it was their problem and that it has been fixed
and should not continue to happen.

Must have been the wx receivers that do this. I have four XM radio
receivers and they've never done this.

Well, it just happened to me 2 days ago :-(

"Newps" wrote in message
...


john smith wrote:

Dan Luke wrote:

XM receivers will lose the service authorization if not used regularly.
It times out.


I stopped by the XM booth at AirVenture and inquired about this.
The rep explained that it was their problem and that it has been fixed
and should not continue to happen.

Must have been the wx receivers that do this. I have four XM radio
receivers and they've never done this.


Where are those 4 receivers. If they are factory auto mounted they will
always get signal if the antenna can see the satellite. Same goes for the
boom box if it is connected to AC power.

"Paul kgyy" wrote:

Well, it just happened to me 2 days ago :-(

Aw, nuts! I was about to reply "Yay!" to John Smith's post.

How long had your receiver been off?

They *really* need to fix this.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

I hear Garmin sold 3000 of these at Osh.

Until Garmin addresses the poor resolution of the 396's color screen, I
wouldn't consider buying it.

I did, however, purchase the Lowrance 2000C color GPS to replace our
old Airmap 300. It's not as nice as our AvMap (which still occupies
the pilot's yoke), but Lowrance FINALLY saw the error of their ways and
issued us a $225 instant rebate for our old unit.

(For those who don't know, Lowrance stopped supporting the 300 just two
years after we bought it. When it stopped recognizing the airport
database, and reverted to a "raw" GPS, Lowrance refused to fix it, and
refused to give us anything toward the purchase of a different unit.
At OSH '05 they finally "made it right"...)

Applying that rebate against a show-special price of $695 ($300 under
list), we just couldn't pass the 2000C by.

It's got a much bigger and higher resolution screen than the Garmin,
and would be perfect for XM weather. (And the even better AvMap would
be awesome with weather.) Unfortunately, Garmin has beat 'em both to
it...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56992
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Until Garmin addresses the poor resolution of the 396's color screen,
I
wouldn't consider buying it.

You gotta be kidding, Jay. That's like not buying a prime steak because
you don't like the plate they serve it on. Anyhow, 320 x 480 ain't that
bad on a unit like this--what's higher resolution gonna *really* give
you besides higher cost?

Did you go to one of the 396 intro sessions at OSH? Maybe I'm
prejudiced because I fly in the land of endless thunderstorms, but to me
this thing is beyond awesome. What else has all the following in one
compact box?

o Li-Ion battery rechargeble from ship's power
o Synthetic panel
o Terrain & obstacles
o V-NAV
o Approaches
o Airport data
o Flight recorder
o W & B calculator
o E6B
o Data exchange with Garmin panel mounts
o NEXRAD, animated
o Lightning
o TFRs
o Graphical METARs
o TAFs
o Satellite view (cloud cover)
o XM Radio tuner & audio output
o Auto and marine modes that do all kinds of cool things
o All the usual GPS moving map stuff
o All the usual GPS route stuff
o A lot of stuff I'm forgetting

Yeah, I'd like a little larger screen, but other than that, this thing
is exactly what I wanted in a portable aviation GPS. Why wait to have
all these great tools right at my fingertips? When they come out with a
cooler one, I'll trade the 396 in to JA Air Center or Gulf Coast
Avionics like I've done with all my previous Garmins.

--

Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Dan Luke" wrote

As to losing satellite lock, I have not had this happen in nearly two
years
of using a WxWorx receiver and antenna connected to a notebook pc. I have
ordered a 396 but don't have it yet.

A heads up for anyone using an XM antenna.
Be careful with the wire where it goes into the plug on the XM antenna. The
wire is fine, and the strain relief is not so great. It will lose satellite
lock (or so it will appear) if the wire is an open connection.
--
Jim in NC