Garmin 396 'installation' in the Maule

In article 1125329228.174415@sj-nntpcache-5, Dave Butler
wrote:
Battery life seems excellent so far, I had it on for about three hours
without plugging it in, and the battery meter still showed at least 7/8
charge

Now that's really good news. I was concerned about the number of wires. If
the
GPS reception is good on the yoke, and the battery life is good enough to
leave
it unplugged, then life will indeed be good.


You can't get live weather without the external GXM30 antenna, because
that is where the XM receiver resides.



JKG

xyzzy wrote:

Jonathan Goodish wrote:

In article , xyzzy wrote:

I wonder why the GXM-30 has to have view of the sky? The WxWorx
antenna that comes with the ControlVision solution works fine in the
side pocket of a Cherokee. I may try my GXM-30 there just to see
what happens.




I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that the XM antenna works while
stowed in the side pocket. I have a difficult time getting a good
signal for weather even when it's on the glare shield, unless it's in
just the right spot.

Are you sure that you aren't getting the antenna and receiver
confused? With the Control Vision solution, they are separate, but
the receiver and antenna are integrated into one unit with the 396.


You may be right on my having the receiver and antenna confused,I'll
have to double check. I read it in an Aviation Consumer article, plus a
pilot I know who has one told me that, but they may have been referring
to the receiver now that I think about it.


Btw you were right, I checked with teh guy who had it and he said that
the receiver went in the side pocket and the antenna was a much smaller
piece that he had to put on the glareshield.

--
"You can support the troops but not the president"
--Representative Tom Delay (R-TX), during the Kosovo war.

In article , xyzzy
wrote:
Are you sure that you aren't getting the antenna and receiver
confused? With the Control Vision solution, they are separate, but
the receiver and antenna are integrated into one unit with the 396.


You may be right on my having the receiver and antenna confused,I'll
have to double check. I read it in an Aviation Consumer article, plus a
pilot I know who has one told me that, but they may have been referring
to the receiver now that I think about it.


Btw you were right, I checked with teh guy who had it and he said that
the receiver went in the side pocket and the antenna was a much smaller
piece that he had to put on the glareshield.


That's what I thought, as the little antenna seems to be sensitive to
position.

On the other hand, the Garmin GPS10 (Bluetooth GPS) that I use can get a
3D lock in the middle of the first floor of my 2-story house. It's
incredible. It doesn't surprise me to hear that the 396 has similar
capabilities.



JKG

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.

Dave Butler wrote:
xyzzy wrote:
Battery life seems excellent so far, I had it on for about three hours
without plugging it in, and the battery meter still showed at least
7/8 charge

Now that's really good news. I was concerned about the number of wires.
If the GPS reception is good on the yoke, and the battery life is good
enough to leave it unplugged, then life will indeed be good.

Not so fast on this one. I turned on the GPS this morning for the first
time after that flight and the battery showed over 3/4 charge, so I
drove into work with it, about a 40 minute drive. Just as I was pulling
into my parking space it complained of low battery and immediately
turned itself off. I turned it back on and the battery meter showed
over 1/2 charge.

Conclusion: Don't trust the battery monitoring software, and don't
expect any real warning of an impending low-battery shutdown.

Btw adding the flight and the drive I figure I got a little over 3.5
hours out of a full battery charge, with the GXM-30 plugged in the whole
time. I guess I can't really complain given Garmin's promise of 4 hours
and Aviation Consumer's observation of 2 hours.

Conclusion: Don't trust the battery monitoring software,
and don't expect any real warning of an impending
low-battery shutdown.

Amen! Mine was showing 17 hours' life, so I didn't bother taking the
power cable into the plane, and 40 mins later, the thing died!

In article .com,
"Mike Granby" wrote:

Conclusion: Don't trust the battery monitoring software,
and don't expect any real warning of an impending
low-battery shutdown.

Amen! Mine was showing 17 hours' life, so I didn't bother taking the
power cable into the plane, and 40 mins later, the thing died!

Don't you have to cycle Lion batteries a few times before they reach
maximum charge? For my laptop batteries, the manufacturer suggests
running them low and recharging once in a while to help ensure a more
accurate battery life indication, so there's some tie-in with the
software that guesstimates the battery life.



JKG

I've cycled it, but either way, the life estimation is way off.

Mike Granby wrote:
I've cycled it, but either way, the life estimation is way off.

For what it's worth, after charging overnight my unit's battery life
indicates 3:45 at full brightness (about 4:30 at moderate brightness)
with the XM antenna installed. It shows anywhere from 10-12 hours
without the antenna -- again, depending on brightness.

At this time, I have no reason to think these numbers don't represent
reality, but then again I haven't run it down yet.

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, CFIMEIA

http://www.dvcfi.com
--------------------

I've had silly numbers (30+ hours) without the antenna, so perhaps it
varies from unit to unit. Still, it's not a big deal. I'm planning to
wire the unit into ship's power this weekend, so it'll be rather
academic after that. As long as it can last long enough to get me
somewhere safe if I lose electrical power, that's good enough.