GPS questions

I have a 296. The terrain feature is nice. If you have the money get the 396
I tested one and it is incredible.
"Ronald Gardner" wrote in message
...
As a new PPL your call to Flight Service should negate need for weather.
Try
finding a used Garmin 295 on ebay. Not sure what they now go for but with
the
new stuff out the prices should have dropped. I picked one up on a great
deal
several years ago and I think it is great for PPL VFR. With the yoke
mount it
does not cover up a large portion of instrument panel, but because it is
close
to you the smaller screen is fine.

Ron Gardner

Jase Vanover wrote:

Background... newly minted PPL, looking to ease navigation via GPS. I
actually find it cool to navigate via maps, compass and timepiece, but I
realize there is a lot more capability out there.

I'll be renting for awhile, so portability is important. I've done the
standard research (including searching prior posts on this newsgroup),
but
still have a few questions that remain unanswered.

The Garmin 396 looks pretty awesome. I don't know if I'll fly enough to
warrant the Wx subscription, but I have a healthy respect for weather and
so
lean towards it for the additional security.

The only downside I see in the 396 is screen size. I like what I've seen
of
the Avmap (Jay... figure I can count on your endorsement here, based on
reading past postings). I think all it's missing vs. the 396 is weather.
Would be interesting to know if anyone has heard if this will be a soft
upgrade in the future. Also, I believe the Avmap is direct powered from
the
plane, and I don't know if and how this will be possible on rental
aircraft.
Any insight?

I've also run into the Flight Cheetah in my searches, though haven't
found
much talk about it on the newsgroups. It seems to have everything, but I
hesitate to be a "test pilot" being a neophyte at flying to start with.

I won't say cost isn't an issue, but I have room enough to spare to
pretty
much get whatever portable is best. I welcome any and all advice on the
issue. Thank you to all in advance.

Jase Vanover wrote:
Also, I believe the Avmap is direct powered from the
plane, and I don't know if and how this will be possible on rental aircraft.
Any insight?

As a practical matter, I think the Garmin 396 will require ship's power as well.
It has rechargables that recharge from your 12 v. outlet.

Dave

Dave Butler wrote:

Jase Vanover wrote:
Also, I believe the Avmap is direct powered from the
plane, and I don't know if and how this will be possible on rental
aircraft. Any insight?

As a practical matter, I think the Garmin 396 will require ship's power as
well. It has rechargables that recharge from your 12 v. outlet.

Dave

The AvMap EKP-IV has backup battery capability to run the unit for about an
hour after loss of power. You supply your own AA rechargeables. In normal
use it's powered via the auxillary power receptacle a.k.a. cigar lighter.

One thing I have noted about my EKP-IV is that it produces radio noise on
the aviation frequencies.

"10Squared" wrote

One thing I have noted about my EKP-IV is that it produces radio noise on
the aviation frequencies.

Hard to believe that an aviation GPS would cause problems with your aviation
radios.

Does it make noise on the batteries and the power converter?

Power converters are often the source of much RF noise.

I also would be interested in hearing from other EKP-IV owners, to see if
they experience these problems, also. If not, it could be a problem with
you radio installation.
--
Jim in NC

"10Squared" wrote
One thing I have noted about my EKP-IV is that it produces radio noise on
the aviation frequencies.

Morgans wrote:
Hard to believe that an aviation GPS would cause problems with your aviation
radios.
Does it make noise on the batteries and the power converter?
Power converters are often the source of much RF noise.
I also would be interested in hearing from other EKP-IV owners, to see if
they experience these problems, also. If not, it could be a problem with
you radio installation.

It is a tablet computer with a gps receiver.
The power supply, processor clock and display driver are all sources of
RF noise.

Morgans wrote:


"10Squared" wrote

One thing I have noted about my EKP-IV is that it produces radio noise on
the aviation frequencies.

Hard to believe that an aviation GPS would cause problems with your
aviation radios.

Yeah, that was my reaction. I noticed on my Icom IC-A23 handheld that I was
getting static on 122.8. I turned the squelch up all the way and that
didn't help. Turned off the AvMap and that cured the problem. Proximity to
the unit was a factor, but I haven't done any additional tests to quantify
the amount of interference or the specific sources of interference (power
cable, antenna, or cpu).

Does it make noise on the batteries and the power converter?

Power converters are often the source of much RF noise.

Not sure what you mean by power converter. There is a power cord for DC
power from the aircraft to the GPS. However, since the batteries are for
emergency use the only practical configuration is with the unit powered by
the aircraft power supply.


I also would be interested in hearing from other EKP-IV owners, to see if
they experience these problems, also. If not, it could be a problem with
you radio installation.

Me too. And note too, AvMap Navigation has turned off their web forum on
their website.

Repeat after me. A handheld is NOT an aircraft radio. Devices tested to
work with "normal" aircraft radios may or may not work with handhelds. The
designer did not intend the antenna of the radio to be less than a meter
from the device he tested.

A handheld is NOT an aircraft radio. Most of them do NOT have the noise
suppression capability OR the filtering of an aircraft radio.

Jim



"10Squared" wrote in message
.. .
Morgans wrote:



Yeah, that was my reaction. I noticed on my Icom IC-A23 handheld that I
was
getting static on 122.8.

Morgans wrote:
"10Squared" wrote

...

Power converters are often the source of much RF noise.
Yes. One of our cell phone rechargers wipes out the AM radio in the
car. The noise is especially noticeable when tuned to a weak station
near the bottom of the dial.

Dave wrote:
As a practical matter, I think the Garmin 396 will require ship's power as well.
It has rechargables that recharge from your 12 v. outlet.

Certainly it would be most convenient to plug it in if that's
available. But with a rated battery life of 5 - 15 hours depending on
backlight use it appears to be usable in rental planes without a
suitable outlet, especially if one brings along an extra charged
battery pack. OTOH, the one hour battery life on the Avmap seems
designed as an emergency backup in the event of an electrical power
failure.

In article .com,
"peter" wrote:
As a practical matter, I think the Garmin 396 will require ship's power as
well.
It has rechargables that recharge from your 12 v. outlet.

Certainly it would be most convenient to plug it in if that's
available. But with a rated battery life of 5 - 15 hours depending on
backlight use it appears to be usable in rental planes without a
suitable outlet, especially if one brings along an extra charged
battery pack. OTOH, the one hour battery life on the Avmap seems
designed as an emergency backup in the event of an electrical power
failure.


Folks seem to be reporting battery life quite a bit less than 5 hours
when using XM on the 396. And, do you really want to shut down the GPS
in flight, change a battery, and power it back up again? Doesn't seem
too practical to me.

I suspect that you would see much better battery life on the 396 if you
did not use the XM features.



JKG