Garmin GPSMAP 296 & Sun n Fun

[Cockpit Colin]

Now that Sun n Fun appears to have come and gone, can anyone confirm that
Garmin are actually shipping 296s?

Any PIREPs from anyone who's used one yet?

[John Bell]

Sorry, no information one way or the other on the availability-- I just
didn't bother to check. I did get to play with the 296 for several minutes
and was very impressed. I used the simulator mode and created the Cali
crash scenario and it created a beautiful depiction of the terrain as well
as warnings.

The screen is very nice. There were a couple of angles where the screen was
hard to read in direct sunlight, but overall it was very good. If you can
find an iQue at a local retailer, the screen is the same.

If you are familiar with the 196, the learning curve will be very minimal.

John Bell
www.cockpitgps.com


"Cockpit Colin" > wrote in message
...
> Now that Sun n Fun appears to have come and gone, can anyone confirm that
> Garmin are actually shipping 296s?
>
> Any PIREPs from anyone who's used one yet?
>
>
>

[C J Campbell]

"Cockpit Colin" > wrote in message
...
> Now that Sun n Fun appears to have come and gone, can anyone confirm that
> Garmin are actually shipping 296s?
>

Garmin has said that I should not expect the one I ordered until the middle
of May.

[Cockpit Colin]

For those who may be interested, Garmin just posted the following firmware
update for the 296 ...

http://www.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?product=010-00356-00

[Cockpit Colin]

Thanks John,

I'll be jumping from a 295 to a 296.

One feature I'm hoping for will be a means to get a relative bearing FROM a
(eg) VOR rather than to it (and having to workout the reciprocal) -
sometimes where you've been is just as significant as where you're going!

[John Bell]

> One feature I'm hoping for will be a means to get a relative bearing FROM
a
> (eg) VOR rather than to it (and having to workout the reciprocal) -
> sometimes where you've been is just as significant as where you're going!


Colin,

I don't think that there is any change in this. I am assuming that instead
of seeing a BEARING of say 234, you might see something like 234 (054). I
have not seen any GPS that does this.

Why do you want this? I can see some cases where it would be useful, but
the reason that I am asking is that perhaps there is another way of
accomplishing the same thing.

Also, here is a trick to find the reciprocal: Take the first digit and
increase it by two if it is 0 or decrease it by 2 if it is 2 or 3. Now just
decrease or increase the second digit the opposite direction by 2. Instead
of adding 180, you are adding 200 and then subtracting 20, which is the same
thing.

John Bell
www.cockpitgps.com