Garmin 396 'installation' in the Maule

Maule Driver wrote:
It seems to work just fine up there thru fabric and insulation -
perfect! I can get as far away from the compass as the cable allows.
Looks like the magnet naturally finds a crotch a in the tubing to
magnetize itself too.

Great! Just keep it away from the aileron cables.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Well, it definitely can sit up there in the tubing crotch, well clear of
cables, etc. But it definitely won't be removeable.

I'm now looking at just laying it on the floor in the baggage area and
stringing the cable along the floor. The extension plug will end up
right under my seat. The question I haven't answered yet is whether it
will receive well from there but I think it might given the extensive
composite construction on the Maule (composite = tubing, sheet metal,
fabric, and glass :-) )



George Patterson wrote:
Maule Driver wrote:

It seems to work just fine up there thru fabric and insulation -
perfect! I can get as far away from the compass as the cable allows.
Looks like the magnet naturally finds a crotch a in the tubing to
magnetize itself too.


Great! Just keep it away from the aileron cables.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Further testing shows the floor doesn't work. Back to the tubing crotch.

BTW, I tried and rejected the yoke mount. It places the display to
close to my eyes compared to the rest of the panel (aging eyes). I
fabricated a bracket to hang it from the panel over the flap handle.
May be OK but taking a trip this weekend to test.

This is my first 'portable'. I am not happy with the wires and location
options. Definitely a compromise over panel mounts, but I guess that's
no surprise.

Maule Driver wrote:
Well, it definitely can sit up there in the tubing crotch, well clear of
cables, etc. But it definitely won't be removeable.

I'm now looking at just laying it on the floor in the baggage area and
stringing the cable along the floor. The extension plug will end up
right under my seat. The question I haven't answered yet is whether it
will receive well from there but I think it might given the extensive
composite construction on the Maule (composite = tubing, sheet metal,
fabric, and glass :-) )

Maule Driver wrote:
It seems to work just fine up there thru fabric and insulation -
perfect! I can get as far away from the compass as the cable allows.
Looks like the magnet naturally finds a crotch a in the tubing to
magnetize itself too.

Great! Just keep it away from the aileron cables.

Maule Driver wrote:
Further testing shows the floor doesn't work. Back to the tubing crotch.

Try putting it high behind the rear bulkhead. You'll be able to get it out
easily, but it might work better there. Michelle has her ELT back there. If it
works well, you could screw a metal plate onto the rear bulkhead (above the
removable part) and attach it to that with the magnet.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Well, I ended up with it in the overhead crotch. I might stay with that
awhile until I figure out how much I'll want to remove it for land use.

Turns out that it can easily and securely be popped in and out right
thru one of the the headliner zippers and I just let the cable hang. OK
for now.

I'll have to write a trip report for the weekend. What a machine!!

George Patterson wrote:
Maule Driver wrote:

Further testing shows the floor doesn't work. Back to the tubing crotch.


Try putting it high behind the rear bulkhead. You'll be able to get it
out easily, but it might work better there. Michelle has her ELT back
there. If it works well, you could screw a metal plate onto the rear
bulkhead (above the removable part) and attach it to that with the magnet.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Maule Driver wrote:
Well, I ended up with it in the overhead crotch. I might stay with that
awhile until I figure out how much I'll want to remove it for land use.

You might consider buying another antenna for land use. IIRC, the price is about
$240.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

In article 8zjTe.15758$aG.13842@trndny01,
George Patterson wrote:

Maule Driver wrote:
Well, I ended up with it in the overhead crotch. I might stay with that
awhile until I figure out how much I'll want to remove it for land use.

You might consider buying another antenna for land use. IIRC, the price is
about
$240.


There's a catch: The 396 XM antenna is also the XM receiver. XM will
only allow one receiver to be assigned to each subscription.


JKG

"Maule Driver" wrote:

BTW, I tried and rejected the yoke mount. It places the display to
close to my eyes compared to the rest of the panel (aging eyes).

Trifocals.

I got my first pair eight years ago for precisely this reason. They're
perfect for flying. The bottom lens makes a yoke-mounted GPS clear, and
the middle lens is perfect for the panel (you can get the eye doc to
write the prescription for the distance you want).

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM