On several flights at night, I found my Garmin GPSMAP 295's display didn't
dim enough to suite me, so I finally decided to try to fix the problem.

I went to a local professional photographer's store and bought a packet of
neutral density filter material for a few bucks. It had 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9
densities. The sheets are paper thin plastic. I cut pieces the size of my
GPS's display and found 0.9 ND worked perfectly.

Jon

Gee, I'm surprised Garmin doesn't have a better dimmer circuit. My AvMap
has a dimmer circuit that tones it all the way down to nuthin'.

In fact, we actually thought the unit was broken one day when it wouldn't
"power up." It turned out we had dimmed it so much the night before that
we couldn't see it in the daylight!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
> Gee, I'm surprised Garmin doesn't have a better dimmer circuit. My
> AvMap has a dimmer circuit that tones it all the way down to nuthin'.
>
> In fact, we actually thought the unit was broken one day when it
> wouldn't "power up." It turned out we had dimmed it so much the
> night before that we couldn't see it in the daylight!

That's likely why it has a minimum brightness setting - it keeps the
service calls down.

My GPSMAP 295 can be dimmed to black! I would like it to be brighter. I'm
surprised you can't dim it to your satisfaction.

Rod

"Jon Woellhaf" > wrote in message
news:ku8Zb.359882$na.536009@attbi_s04...
> On several flights at night, I found my Garmin GPSMAP 295's display didn't
> dim enough to suite me, so I finally decided to try to fix the problem.
>
> I went to a local professional photographer's store and bought a packet of
> neutral density filter material for a few bucks. It had 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9
> densities. The sheets are paper thin plastic. I cut pieces the size of my
> GPS's display and found 0.9 ND worked perfectly.
>
> Jon
>
>

Ditto here.

I think there is something wrong with your unit. You should be able to dim
it all the way to barely visible.

I wrote that I can't dim my GPSMAP 295 sufficiently and Rod Madsen said he
can dim his to black. "Hudson Valley Amusement" agreed, and Chris Campbell
said he can dim his to barely visible and suggested something might be wrong
with my unit.

Very interesting! I hadn't thought that it might be defective.

My 295, S/N 98802510, is one of the first. I received it on 4 Feb 2000. I'm
running the latest firmware, ver 2.50.

Rod also said he'd like his to be brighter. Mine is plenty bright when
running on external power. I wonder if a production change was made that
lowered both the maximum and minimum brightness.

I'll ask Garmin.

Thanks for the responses.

Jon

I found that the contrast seemed to have an overly significant effect too




"Jon Woellhaf" > wrote in message
news:MFfZb.81462$jk2.424947@attbi_s53...
> I wrote that I can't dim my GPSMAP 295 sufficiently and Rod Madsen said he
> can dim his to black. "Hudson Valley Amusement" agreed, and Chris Campbell
> said he can dim his to barely visible and suggested something might be
wrong
> with my unit.
>
> Very interesting! I hadn't thought that it might be defective.
>
> My 295, S/N 98802510, is one of the first. I received it on 4 Feb 2000.
I'm
> running the latest firmware, ver 2.50.
>
> Rod also said he'd like his to be brighter. Mine is plenty bright when
> running on external power. I wonder if a production change was made that
> lowered both the maximum and minimum brightness.
>
> I'll ask Garmin.
>
> Thanks for the responses.
>
> Jon
>
>

Recently, Rod Madsen > posted:

> My GPSMAP 295 can be dimmed to black! I would like it to be
> brighter. I'm surprised you can't dim it to your satisfaction.
>
> Rod
>
> "Jon Woellhaf" > wrote in message
> news:ku8Zb.359882$na.536009@attbi_s04...
>> On several flights at night, I found my Garmin GPSMAP 295's display
>> didn't dim enough to suite me, so I finally decided to try to fix
>> the problem.
>>
How did you try to dim your 295? Mine dims to black, and coupled with the
"night view", the range of brightness is certainly more than enough.
Unlike Rod, I don't need it to be brighter in daylight!

Neil

My 295 is also an early model S/N 98802855 which was sent back to the
factory for warranty repair 2/06/01. It has firmware from the latter date.
My lack of brightness may be a defect or maybe the LCD is just getting old
and tired. It's got a lot of hours on it.

Rod
"Jon Woellhaf" > wrote in message
news:MFfZb.81462$jk2.424947@attbi_s53...
> I wrote that I can't dim my GPSMAP 295 sufficiently and Rod Madsen said he
> can dim his to black. "Hudson Valley Amusement" agreed, and Chris Campbell
> said he can dim his to barely visible and suggested something might be
wrong
> with my unit.
>
> Very interesting! I hadn't thought that it might be defective.
>
> My 295, S/N 98802510, is one of the first. I received it on 4 Feb 2000.
I'm
> running the latest firmware, ver 2.50.
>
> Rod also said he'd like his to be brighter. Mine is plenty bright when
> running on external power. I wonder if a production change was made that
> lowered both the maximum and minimum brightness.
>
> I'll ask Garmin.
>
> Thanks for the responses.
>
> Jon
>
>

Neil Gould asked, "How did you try to dim your 295?" He also said his dims
to black, and doesn't need to be brighter in daylight.

I dim my 295 by momentarily pressing the power button then repeatedly
pressing the down rocker. I never change the contrast setting (except once,
unknowingly, after which I thought my display had failed). I have my
contrast bar set about in the middle of the green bar below it. If I dim the
display to minimum then adjust the contrast to the right, I can get the
display to dim much more but I lose the gray bar below the color bars.

Where do you guys who can dim to black have your contrast set and do you see
the gray bar when you've dimmed the display way down?

Jon

Rod,

Why did you need to return your 295 for repair?

Jon

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 21:45:44 GMT, "Jon Woellhaf"
> wrote:

>Neil Gould asked, "How did you try to dim your 295?" He also said his dims
>to black, and doesn't need to be brighter in daylight.
>
>I dim my 295 by momentarily pressing the power button then repeatedly
>pressing the down rocker. I never change the contrast setting (except once,
>unknowingly, after which I thought my display had failed). I have my
>contrast bar set about in the middle of the green bar below it. If I dim the
>display to minimum then adjust the contrast to the right, I can get the
>display to dim much more but I lose the gray bar below the color bars.
>
>Where do you guys who can dim to black have your contrast set and do you see
>the gray bar when you've dimmed the display way down?

Jon - my 295 is the same way. It goes pretty dark - but is still
bright when flying on a pitch black night.

Mine is a very old 295, can't remember exactly when I got it, but it
was 3-4 years ago, so maybe that has something to do with it.

-Nathan

"Jon Woellhaf" > wrote in message news:<MFfZb.81462$jk2.424947@attbi_s53>...
> I
> Rod also said he'd like his to be brighter. Mine is plenty bright when
> running on external power. I wonder if a production change was made that
> lowered both the maximum and minimum brightness.

I have a GPS that is too bright too. Mine will go black but when you
turn it up just a bit, its bright. I'm extra sensitive and like my
lights very, very dim when flying at night (especially in the clouds
where things reflect). My partner hasn't noticed. I assumed it was
just me. One option is to put photo filter paper over it.

Bad connection inside. Couldn't see ship's power...only internal batteries.

Rod

"Jon Woellhaf" > wrote in message
news:WjvZb.88591$jk2.435208@attbi_s53...
> Rod,
>
> Why did you need to return your 295 for repair?
>
> Jon
>
>

I find mine way too dim in daylight with my shades on. Wish there was
an easy fix for that.

Jon Woellhaf wrote:

> On several flights at night, I found my Garmin GPSMAP 295's display didn't
> dim enough to suite me, so I finally decided to try to fix the problem.
>
> I went to a local professional photographer's store and bought a packet of
> neutral density filter material for a few bucks. It had 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9
> densities. The sheets are paper thin plastic. I cut pieces the size of my
> GPS's display and found 0.9 ND worked perfectly.
>
> Jon
>
>

> I find mine way too dim in daylight with my shades on. Wish there was
> an easy fix for that.

Gradient sunglasses.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I'll keep that in mind next time I get glasses. But, these are
prescription shades and only half a year old.

Jay Honeck wrote:

>>I find mine way too dim in daylight with my shades on. Wish there was
>>an easy fix for that.
>
>
> Gradient sunglasses.

Paul

#1. Easy fix, take shades off :o)

#2. Get clip on 'shades' that will flip up with one finger when you
need to see weak screen and then flip back down.

You gotta think out of the box sometimes.

If you can't fix the display, then fix the lookee end.


Big John


On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 15:58:50 GMT, Paul Folbrecht
> wrote:

>I find mine way too dim in daylight with my shades on. Wish there was
>an easy fix for that.
>
----clip----

> I'll keep that in mind next time I get glasses. But, these are
> prescription shades and only half a year old.

Mary, who is far-sighted, had prescription reading sunglasses made for
flying, with a gradient tint. The bottom half -- the prescription part --
is clear. The top half -- the sunglass part -- is non-prescription. The
split between clear and prescription is right at the top of the panel, as
you're looking through the glasses -- perfect for flying.

I also have a pair of gradient sunglasses, but I am near-sighted. The whole
lens is prescription, just clear at the bottom to make seeing the
instruments easier.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Rod Madsen" wrote:
> My GPSMAP 295 can be dimmed to black!

Have you actually tried this in a blacked-out room?

Mine can't be dimmed to black. I have one built very early in
production, but it's had every sw update. At minimum brightness, it'a a
bit too bright for me for night flying.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

No. I haven't tried it in a blacked-out room. I've tried it in my
windowless garage which leaks a little light around the door. I have
firmware version 2.10 which is pretty old, and I have the contrast set in
the middle where the white, gray, and black bars are all easily
distinguishable.

Rod
"Dan Luke" > wrote in message
...
> "Rod Madsen" wrote:
> > My GPSMAP 295 can be dimmed to black!
>
> Have you actually tried this in a blacked-out room?
>
> Mine can't be dimmed to black. I have one built very early in
> production, but it's had every sw update. At minimum brightness, it'a a
> bit too bright for me for night flying.
> --
> Dan
> C172RG at BFM
> (remove pants to reply by email)
>
>