Garmin 496!!!

"kontiki" wrote in message
...
Michael Ware wrote:

That will be a while, that's about what a used 296 (in good cond with
accesories) brings.


So be it. The 296 is too slow.. we have 'em in the 182's we use for fire
patrol and my 196 is way faster.

Too slow...? I've never had any trouble with mine? What do you mean?

Yes, except for the faster update, EVERYTHING ELSE
could be provided to owners of a 396 via software and be
put on the data card. Wanna bet they don't offer it?

I'm sure they won't, but I'm also not sure that you get all that on a
data card and access it at a reasonable rate. The 496 must have quite a
lot more memory than the 396, and processing that data will take
horsepower, too.

Well, the street maps for the 396 are already available on CD for
installation on the data card. The 496 just has the internal memory to
store them without a data card. Garmin basically just "threw in" the
auto kit. Taxiways are nothing more than "streets", so they could easily
be put on a card. The AOPA Directory is mixed text and graphics that are
the same as other text/graphics that the 396 already displays. Add a tab
to the airport listing page and pull up the AOPA data and taxiways. A
1Gb card should do it all for a couple of major metro areas, the
taxiways, and the AOPA directory. May even need less. Someone would have
to do the math.

The data itself for the taxiways and the AOPA directory may exist
outside the Garmin walls. Not sure what the license would cost or if
they gave Garmin an exclusive for the taxiway coordinates/data and the
AOPA data. The cards are also available from an alternate source (or you
could just buy one from Garmin). The rest is getting the data formatted
for the 396 and tweaking their firmware. Not a monumental chore. You are
flirting with the license prohibition against reverse engineering. If
you don't sell it or give it away... well... The biggest headache would
be updating your firmware patch whenever Garmin put out an update that
stomped on it. The usual problem when you mess with factory code.

Not sure what the "real" data card is inside those Garmin proprietary
wrappers, but I'm sure the speed of today's cards should be plenty fast
enough. They must be because the auto kit essentially already does this
(street moving maps via the data card). How fast does it need to be to
display a moving map of a taxiway when moving at 10kts?

Sounds like an interesting project. I would rather Garmin did it for a
reasonable price though.

Good Luck,
Mike

Mike Granby wrote:
Thomas Borchert wrote:
so what exactly is different from the 396?

Faster update; integrated street maps; better terrain resolution;
taxiway information; AOPA directory. All in all, not that much, but the
faster update might tip it for me.

and private airports DB - a feature I'd like.

Interestingly, having flown in and out of our private grass strip a few
times, we have a very nice set of tracks on the Garmin that outline the
runway and taxiway. It appears that in zero-zero conditions, one could
taxi from the runway to my hangar door just following the tracks. Sort
of a every-man's runway/taxiway diagram. If it cools off a bit, I may
just take the hood and a safety pilot and see if it works.... remember
'dither'? May it RIP.

Michael Ware wrote:
Too slow...? I've never had any trouble with mine? What do you mean?


My mistake, I re-read your first post... I was referring to the 295.

"ktbr" wrote in message
...
Michael Ware wrote:
Too slow...? I've never had any trouble with mine? What do you mean?


My mistake, I re-read your first post... I was referring to the 295.
No problem. My 296 is the first handheld GPS I have ever owned, so nothing
to compare it to. Does what I need!

On 19 Jul 2006 15:46:07 -0700, "Mike Granby" wrote
in om::


Just got this...

JA Air Center, your Garmin source, is pleased to announce the new
Garmin GPSmap 496 with XM Weather, Terrain, AOPA Airport Guide, Taxiway
Database, and built in StreetPilot Automotive GPS.


http://www.avshop.com/prodinfo.asp?number=6957
Item Number : 6957
List Price: $2,995.00
You Save: $200.00
AvShop Price: $2,795.00