Lowrance GPS

Regardless of your opinion on the magnets, the fact is that if you want
XM weather in a hand held GPS, you have only one choice--Garmin.

For now.

As with everything in our economy, a little competition ought to help. If
and when Lowrance jumps into the on-board weather market, it'll get
interesting...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 12:42:00 -0500, Jonathan Goodish
wrote:

Judging by the popularity of the Garmin 396, and the fact that the vast
majority of general aviation operations occur in the US, I'd say that
Lowrance missed the boat with XM--big time.



Not really, Lowrance is far bigger in the Marine market than Garmin
cever hope to be..

Dave

Maybe, but Lowrance has always been a little slow..

A rep told me yrs ago, (we talking marine instruments now)
that they never wanted their customers to have "test" their "new"
stuff.

They really wanted to get the bugs out of them BEFORE they
ship them...

Other manufacturers have the same philosophy , and I like it.

YMMV...

Dave


On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 17:36:17 +0100, Thomas Borchert
wrote:

Jonathan,

that Lowrance cannot deliver


How do you know that? Maybe they just don't want to yet. After all, XM
requires quite an investment from the buyer and is usable only in the
US.

Air updates coming, via XM-radio? Company buys air time from XM and
broadcast update database. All user has to do is have unit on and
receiving and in update mode. Presto -- updated via air!!!

And BTW, if you haven't used an automobile GPS to navigate that
courtesy car and get the "nearest Italian resturant list" as well as
turn by turn instructions, well.......you aren't in the top 40 of the
lordie.

Comments interspersed below..

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 12:31:08 -0500, Jonathan Goodish
wrote:

While not ideal, Garmin's solution is certainly more convenient than a
comparable WxWorx + PDA or TabletPC installation.

Agreed... much better....

I suspect that the magnets in the XM receiver were not a mistake,

They were not, they just did not think very much about the aviation
market..

In fact, they did not think at all...

but rather an intentional design element that appeals to the automotive
market.

Correct

Garmin was able to reduce production costs on the receiver by
manufacturing only one type of receiver.

Ummm... a lot of customers would have appreciated it if they had
"saved" the cost of the magnets....

Still, I would have preferred to see a magnetic base that screws on to
the receiver. Such a design element could be easily excluded from the
aviation kits, but included with the automotive kits.


Agreed....


However, I just
don't see why the magnets should be of big practical impact for most
people.

They are not, for MOST customers, but they are aparently an serious
issue with the pilot customers, and should be..


Simply put, it is in the instruction books on flying, boating,
navigation, the manuals for the compasses, (marine & aviation),
placards on instrument panels, even some sunglasses....DO NOT, EVER,
FOR ANY REASON , place ANY object near the magnetic compass, in case
it MIGHT affect it.

Regardless if you or others EVER use it, it is the LAST available
directional instrument available when everything else goes tango
uniform.

I use mine constantly, to set the DG, and to cross check all
directional equipment...

Then, all of a sudden, we have an experienced aviation manufacturer
BUILD magnets in a device to be placed on the cowl of an aircraft !!

Then when CUSTOMERS complain, with VERY valid reasons to do so,
Garmin says, in effect, leave them in, or void your warranty.... (!)

If Lowrance or any other manufacturer "has to catch up" well, they
have a great opportunity..

The (alleged) leader just stumbled.... big time...

And instead if saying , "oops, sorry, lets fix this now" , they say,
tough, thats the way it is, don't void your warranty.....

Not the best marketing/service strategy in a tight , well connected
market - hmmmm?

.........word travels fast.... (and has)

Dave




and Lowrance does NOT have XM capability.

Yet,...... lately, the DO have a habit of delivering on what they say
they will...

I haven't seen any official comment from Lowrance on an XM-enabled
portable GPS unit.



Being "second" in introducing a new feature is not always a bad
thing..

No, but Garmin has done just about everything right with their
implementation. I hope that Lowrance does bring a unit to market at a
lower price, because I think that XM weather is fantastic, and a
capability that more pilots should employ.

In article ,
Dave wrote:

Judging by the popularity of the Garmin 396, and the fact that the vast
majority of general aviation operations occur in the US, I'd say that
Lowrance missed the boat with XM--big time.



Not really, Lowrance is far bigger in the Marine market than Garmin
cever hope to be..

Dave


And Lowrance's marine unit with XM is... where?


JKG

In article ,
Dave wrote:
Simply put, it is in the instruction books on flying, boating,
navigation, the manuals for the compasses, (marine & aviation),
placards on instrument panels, even some sunglasses....DO NOT, EVER,
FOR ANY REASON , place ANY object near the magnetic compass, in case
it MIGHT affect it.

None of my books make such a statement. I suspect that the deviation
cards in the aircraft most of us fly are not very accurate, unless you
have a compass swing done periodically. There are lots of things that
surround the magnetic compass that could affect it. A portable XM
receiver that can be easily removed if the compass is your last hope of
survival doesn't rate very highly on my list of concerns.


JKG

Jonathan Goodish wrote:

I suspect that the deviation
cards in the aircraft most of us fly are not very accurate, unless you
have a compass swing done periodically.

The one in my Maule was way off. The card provided by the factory said it was 5
degrees off all the cardinal headings. With the engine and avionics on, I saw
from 5 to over 15 degrees off those headings using a Army nav compass.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

Dan,

The 396 is a great piece of gear, but we desperately need some real
competition in this field. What's Lowrance's problem, anyway?


We have competition. Only not in the very top end of the market. Glad
you can all afford that kind of unit. I certainly can't.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Dan,

If you know of an aviation portable that comes anywhere near the
capability of Garmin's 396, tell us about it, Thomas.


If yo know of an aviation portable that comes anywhere near the PRICE
of the 396...

All I'm trying to say is that a maximum of features is not the only
thing to consider. Display size and resolution, for example, matter,
too. Price as well, for some.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)