New Garmin 396

"Richard Kaplan" wrote

That is a good point but then again there are some cockpits where it is
already hard to fit a 296; anything bigger and the GPS would simply not
work
in some cockpits. So there is a tradeoff to be made.

All cockpits have knees, and an external antenna could be used.

I won't buy until size increases, but my guess is that Lowrance will soon
come out with equal or better features on it's 1000/2000 series, and that
Jay's unit (can't remember the name right now) will be close behind that.

I will make a prediction and say that a "fly though the boxes" display will
not be too much further behind, (2 years or less) on a portable model, for
not much more money.
--
Jim in NC

True... all cockpits have knees. But a lot of pilots do not like
kneeboards, no less equipment on their knees. My 296 stays on my
glareshield and I would not want it on my knee... different strokes for
different folks; Garmin is clearly trying to make as many people happy as
possible and I think the current form factor does that, although it cannot
make everyone happy.


--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

In article 1120746983.96c8ea236aee82fdb45a0f6f90deb804@teran ews,
"Richard Kaplan" wrote:
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.


No dealing with power cables? Do these things run on fuel cells?

You will still have at least two cables running from the GPS: one for
power and one for the antenna. That's a greater number of cables than
are presently running to my PDA, using Bluetooth to the XM receiver and
GPS with a competing software product. As someone else pointed out, you
will have a $2500 paperweight when the a new version with new
capabilities is released, if you want those new capabilities. And, as
far as I know, you can't take the 396 out of your airplane, pop it into
your back pocket, and jump on the WiFi network when you get to the
airport/hotel/restaurant, etc. I found the WiFi capability of even a
PDA to be very helpful for simple things like checking weather, filing
flight plans, etc. on a recent trip. Didn't have to lug the laptop
around.

That all being said, Garmin produces a very good, polished navigation
system that is hard to beat--in my opinion, none of the PDA-based
software products does navigation as cleanly. I wouldn't be surprised
if Garmin has implemented all of the XM weather features on the 395, but
I haven't seen confirmation. Garmin's development resources are much
greater than most of the PDA-based competitors.

As far as interfacing for TIS display, I wonder for how much longer this
will be a useful feature? Has anyone been able to confirm the reported
plans to start turning down TIS sites? I'm not sure that I'd invest in
a GTX330 at this point with TIS on its way out, but if you have one
already, it's certainly a selling point.



JKG

The size is fine. I dont think I would want my 296 any bigger.
"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message
news:1120746983.96c8ea236aee82fdb45a0f6f90deb804@t eranews...


wrote about freezing issues and the like on the
CV
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.

Only thing that gives me pause, is the size. That is a slew of info, for
the same size display as earlier models. Seems like it should be at least
25%, if not 50% larger, for that much money and features.
--
Jim in NC

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote

You will still have at least two cables running from the GPS: one for
power and one for the antenna.

Garmin is claiming 5 to 10 hours battery life. Scratch one cable. (use
rechargeable NiMH, and most likely increase the run time)

Many have said their 295 gets great reception with no external antenna, when
mounted on the dash, or even the yoke. Scratch second power cable.

Looks like no cables to me, are possible.

I guess if you want to use the XM music output function, you will use one
cable, to go to the intercom, or earphones.
--
Jim in NC

In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote

You will still have at least two cables running from the GPS: one for
power and one for the antenna.

Garmin is claiming 5 to 10 hours battery life. Scratch one cable. (use
rechargeable NiMH, and most likely increase the run time)

Many have said their 295 gets great reception with no external antenna, when
mounted on the dash, or even the yoke. Scratch second power cable.

Looks like no cables to me, are possible.

I guess if you want to use the XM music output function, you will use one
cable, to go to the intercom, or earphones.


It looks like the 396 uses a lithium-ion battery pack. Not sure that
you would gain anything if you're even able to replace that with NiMH.
If you use the backlight all the time, Garmin's claim is 5 hours, which
is maybe enough for one leg of a long trip, and then you have to take
the unit out of the airplane to charge. The only way to eliminate
running out of juice in flight is to have it plugged in to aircraft
power, so that is plus one power cable. For what it's worth, PDAs also
run on batteries and I could get 5 hours out of a PDA with full
backlight if I used an extended battery back.

Second, it is my understanding that the XM antenna only resides in the
EXTERNAL "smart" antenna, which means if you want to use XM weather, you
are required to use the external antenna. Plus one more cable.

That equals at least 2 cables running from the GPS for full
functionality.



JKG

Jonathan Goodish wrote:
In article 1120746983.96c8ea236aee82fdb45a0f6f90deb804@teran ews,
"Richard Kaplan" wrote:
forums to give me pause
about whether I want to mess with such things while flying. Here, the
Garmin approach wins, and solidly.

That is absolutely true... not to mention no dealing with power cables,
bluetooth, configuring windows, etc. etc.

GPS with a competing software product. As someone else pointed out, you
will have a $2500 paperweight when the a new version with new
capabilities is released, if you want those new capabilities. And, as

It's been my impression that as serious capability upgrades are
introduced to the PDA software, the hardware requirements grow with it.
As a result, if you bought a PDA solution 3 years back, and wanted to
upgrade the software now, wouldn't you find yourself upgrading the PDA
too? (And the GPS if, say, you wanted a WAAS unit) Of course, actual
cost might still be lower since they sell 25 PDAs for every 1 Garmin
GPS.

As far as interfacing for TIS display, I wonder for how much longer this
will be a useful feature? Has anyone been able to confirm the reported
plans to start turning down TIS sites? I'm not sure that I'd invest in
a GTX330 at this point with TIS on its way out, but if you have one
already, it's certainly a selling point.

This is the first I've heard of such rumors, though I'm not in the
know. Is the plan to replace TIS with ADS-B? I'm surprised to hear
something so (relatively) new going out so fast. We're still using
NDBs, ferchrissakes.

Still, this opens up a new front in the old game of, "what will Garmin
think of next?"

The only remaining thing the current technology would support would be
some kind of solid-state backup AI. Nice, but (1) serious liability
issues and (2) only of interest to IFR pilots, which is a much smaller
group than the current gizmos attract. I therefore bravely speculate
that we won't see this anytime soon.

The real big next step will be portable ADS-B. Traffic, terrain, and
weather, all in one unit. I'm guessing $5000 or so, and it would be a
steal even at that price.

-cwk.

Man, I wonder if it will interface with my autopilot. My old King
KLN90B is not that reliable any more. I am wondering if I could chuck
it and get a 396. I don't do GPS approaches, but do use the King to
back up my ILS's and VORs and mostly use it on long trips with the
autopilot.

Morgans wrote:

I guess if you want to use the XM music output function, you will use one
cable, to go to the intercom, or earphones.

Its probably loop through satellite feed to the XM Radio, thats how the
current XM Weather RX boxes work...

If the receiver is in the Garmin, then that alot of stuff packed in
there, plus another monthly subscription...

Doug wrote:

Man, I wonder if it will interface with my autopilot. My old King
KLN90B is not that reliable any more. I am wondering if I could chuck
it and get a 396. I don't do GPS approaches, but do use the King to
back up my ILS's and VORs and mostly use it on long trips with the
autopilot.

It has a USB output, that gets kinda cludgy converting to RS232 or
whatever you'd need to drive the AP...