Garmin 496 compared to the 396

I also use the zoom-out, pan, zoom-in technique and that works much better than
trying to scroll over long distances while zoomed in.

How do you get around the problem of detail disappearing when you zoom
out?

Example: Flying to Michigan, we wanted to see what the weather was
like in Joliet, IL -- an area of questionable weather.

If you zoom out so that you don't have to "slew" (or scroll), Joliet
disappears. You then have to put your cursor where you *think* Joliet
is, and hit the "zoom in" button to see it again.

If you set detail levels to so that Joliet doesn't disappear at that
zoom level, you can't see it, cuz it's buried in too many airports.

Worse, not all airports are weather reporting stations -- and those
cute little triangles (that indicate XM weather reporting) also
disappear when you zoom out. Now, you're stuck selecting an area and
zooming in on it, hoping that there will be a reporting station there
-- wherever "there" is.

The only solution we've found is to slew around, and put up with the
slow refresh rate.

Ultimately, the solution will come when Garmin (or Lowrance)
incorporates weather into a larger display that can display everything
in a readable format at a usable zoom level.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I have to admit, I'm still in the honeymoon phase with my 'old' 396 with
autokit. But isn't it great that we're fussing about the need to
zooming out and guessing where a weather reporting station before
zooming in to get the weather? All overlaid on a combined Nexrad and
cloud cover image. I mean, doesn't it all beat calling Fligh****ch and
trying to jot down some facts while hand flying in some choppy soup?

I gotta get an autopilot so I can more fully enjoy playing with this
thing while motoring along. "Honey, would you prefer the 60s or 70s
music channel now? The US Open broadcast just ended, I'm sorry you
missed listening to Phil self destruct but I muted it when you went to
sleep"

Heck, my panel mount 300XL seems like a stone tablet now... talk about
refresh time!

Loving it all

Jay Honeck wrote:
I also use the zoom-out, pan, zoom-in technique and that works much better than
trying to scroll over long distances while zoomed in.


How do you get around the problem of detail disappearing when you zoom
out?

Example: Flying to Michigan, we wanted to see what the weather was
like in Joliet, IL -- an area of questionable weather.

If you zoom out so that you don't have to "slew" (or scroll), Joliet
disappears. You then have to put your cursor where you *think* Joliet
is, and hit the "zoom in" button to see it again.

If you set detail levels to so that Joliet doesn't disappear at that
zoom level, you can't see it, cuz it's buried in too many airports.

Worse, not all airports are weather reporting stations -- and those
cute little triangles (that indicate XM weather reporting) also
disappear when you zoom out. Now, you're stuck selecting an area and
zooming in on it, hoping that there will be a reporting station there
-- wherever "there" is.

The only solution we've found is to slew around, and put up with the
slow refresh rate.

Ultimately, the solution will come when Garmin (or Lowrance)
incorporates weather into a larger display that can display everything
in a readable format at a usable zoom level.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:
How do you get around the problem of detail disappearing when you zoom
out?

Example: Flying to Michigan, we wanted to see what the weather was
like in Joliet, IL -- an area of questionable weather.

If you zoom out so that you don't have to "slew" (or scroll), Joliet
disappears. You then have to put your cursor where you *think* Joliet
is, and hit the "zoom in" button to see it again.

Presumably you know approximately where Joliet is in IL, correct? You
can zoom out, then position the cursor over the approximate location,
zoom in a little more (now you see IL), position the cursor more
accurately, and zoom in further. No scrolling required.

Alternately, if Joliet is in your flight plan route, simply go to the
route page and select it to see the weather at that point in your route.
No scrolling required.

If you had an instrument rating you'd probably be more concerned with
the NEXRAD image and convective activity than enroute surface
observations, and that information can be obtained without zooming in to
the individual airport. Also, don't forget about NRST weather.

I haven't tried it, but I'll bet if you turned off terrain shading on
the base map, scrolling performance would improve significantly.


JKG

Jay Honeck wrote:
I also use the zoom-out, pan, zoom-in technique and that works much better than
trying to scroll over long distances while zoomed in.


How do you get around the problem of detail disappearing when you zoom
out?

I don't get around it, I just don't see it as a serious problem.

Example: Flying to Michigan, we wanted to see what the weather was
like in Joliet, IL -- an area of questionable weather.

If you zoom out so that you don't have to "slew" (or scroll), Joliet
disappears. You then have to put your cursor where you *think* Joliet
is, and hit the "zoom in" button to see it again.

Yep. Not too hard.

If you set detail levels to so that Joliet doesn't disappear at that
zoom level, you can't see it, cuz it's buried in too many airports.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Worse, not all airports are weather reporting stations -- and those
cute little triangles (that indicate XM weather reporting) also
disappear when you zoom out. Now, you're stuck selecting an area and
zooming in on it, hoping that there will be a reporting station there
-- wherever "there" is.

XM doesn't get to decide which airports report weather. As far as I know, any
airport that reports SAs shows up on the XM display. Is your experience different?

The only solution we've found is to slew around, and put up with the
slow refresh rate.

You could demand a refund, then take the money and go buy the unit that works
better.

Ultimately, the solution will come when Garmin (or Lowrance)
incorporates weather into a larger display that can display everything
in a readable format at a usable zoom level.

While we're waiting, I'll just enjoy my 396.

Dave

If you set detail levels to so that Joliet doesn't disappear at that
zoom level, you can't see it, cuz it's buried in too many airports.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Yes. For $3000, I should be able to demand any cheese I'd like.

Face it -- Garmin just hasn't kept up with the competition in the
crucial area of display design. Worse, the only work-around to using a
too-small display -- slewing around -- doesn't work very well because
of insufficient processing power.

It's a design flaw.

Fortunately for Garmin, if you want XM weather in a box, they are
currently the only show in town.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Face it -- Garmin just hasn't kept up with the competition in the
crucial area of display design. Worse, the only work-around to using a
too-small display -- slewing around -- doesn't work very well because
of insufficient processing power.

That isn't the only work-around, as pointed out by myself and others.
For some reason, you apparently refuse to acknowledge the alternatives,
which work fairly well.



It's a design flaw.

No, it's not. I'm sorry, but while I wish the 396/496 screen was
perhaps twice as big, that still wouldn't solve the "problem" of having
to scroll around. And, I don't believe that the mass aviation market
wants a 7" or 10" or 12" screen in a portable GPS.



JKG

Face it -- Garmin just hasn't kept up with the competition in the
crucial area of display design. Worse, the only work-around to using a
too-small display -- slewing around -- doesn't work very well because
of insufficient processing power.

That isn't the only work-around, as pointed out by myself and others.
For some reason, you apparently refuse to acknowledge the alternatives,
which work fairly well.

Something that works "fairly well" isn't what I expect in a $3,000
piece of equipment the size of my son's PSP. Zooming out causes the
target you are searching for to disappear, as that tiny little screen
"declutters" itself. If it DIDN'T do that, all you would see was a
giant glob of gibberish, with the airport names entangled with one
another.

The only solution to that problem is video screen acreage -- period.
The screen is simply too small, and the landscape orientation doesn't
let you see far enough ahead without slewing.

It's a design flaw.

No, it's not. I'm sorry, but while I wish the 396/496 screen was
perhaps twice as big, that still wouldn't solve the "problem" of having
to scroll around. And, I don't believe that the mass aviation market
wants a 7" or 10" or 12" screen in a portable GPS.

Check the sales of Lowrance's Airmap 2000c. THAT is a usably-sized
screen -- and they were selling like hot-cakes at OSH.

Don't get me wrong -- XM weather is awesome, I absolutely love flying
with it, and the 496 is a nice, robust unit. But as soon as Garmin (or
anyone else) comes out with a larger screened version, you'll see
hundreds of 396s/496s on Ebay, overnight.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Something that works "fairly well" isn't what I expect in a $3,000
piece of equipment the size of my son's PSP. Zooming out causes the
target you are searching for to disappear, as that tiny little screen
"declutters" itself. If it DIDN'T do that, all you would see was a
giant glob of gibberish, with the airport names entangled with one
another.

Zooming out--even to hundreds of miles--still shows the state outlines,
and presumably you know where your "target" is in the appropriate state.
Zoom out, position the target on the appropriate location, zoom in, and
repeat progressively until you've acquired your target. Alternately, if
your target is in your flight plan route, just select it and hit "enter"
to view the weather. It isn't "perfect," but I'm not sure of a better
solution; you would need something like a 46" wide-screen to maintain a
practical high detail display over long distances.



Check the sales of Lowrance's Airmap 2000c. THAT is a usably-sized
screen -- and they were selling like hot-cakes at OSH.

The AirMap 2000c has a slightly larger screen, but actually displays
LESS on that big screen because of its lower resolution. The big
selling point to the Lowrance units is price. However, I suspect that
Garmin far outsells Lowrance with portable aviation GPS units.

One point I will give to Lowrance is that they have the screen oriented
the right way. I don't care so much what's on my sides as I do what's
in front of me, and the Garmin units are lacking with the landscape
orientation of the display.



with it, and the 496 is a nice, robust unit. But as soon as Garmin (or
anyone else) comes out with a larger screened version, you'll see
hundreds of 396s/496s on Ebay, overnight.

That's always the case, and it has nothing to do with a larger screen.
There are plenty of 396 units on the used market because folks want the
"latest and greatest."

I would love to see a larger screen version of the 396/496, but it can't
be so large that it is cumbersome, and even a screen twice the size as
that of the 396/496 will still require some manipulation to see
conditions over longer distances. It is always going to be a compromise.



JKG

I would love to see a larger screen version of the 396/496, but it can't
be so large that it is cumbersome, and even a screen twice the size as
that of the 396/496 will still require some manipulation to see
conditions over longer distances. It is always going to be a compromise.

On this, we agree.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Fortunately for Garmin, if you want XM weather in a box, they are
currently the only show in town.

vistanav also provides XM weather. It looks like a waaaay bigger bigger
display, too.

Unfortunately, I can't figure out where to put that big a display in my airplane.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate