Garmin 396 Replacement Antennas

[Mike Spera]

Folks,

My nagging problem of lost sat reception appears to still be with me.
Switching off the entire electrical system does not help. So, I believe
we have eliminated the Narco radios as a possible source. Moving the
antenna around the glareshield may or may not help.

I am beginning to think I may have a bad cable on the antenna. Nudging
it a bit will, at times cause a significant jump in reception. Sometimes
not.

Anyone tried any of the "high gain" replacements (Gilsson and others)?.
At less that $50, I may just give it a try.

Still seems odd that my old Apollo and Lowrance units never had these
problems.

Mike

[Jay Honeck]

> My nagging problem of lost sat reception appears to still be with me.

Here's an interesting data point for ya, Mike:

Coming out of Myrtle Beach, SC, last week, our 496 lost all but one
satellite, while our Lowrance Airmap 2000c never lost lock on all
12.

We tried everything -- cycling it on an off, complete power down with
battery removal, unplugging and re-plugging all the various cords and
cables -- nothing mattered. We still had XM radio, but no weather,
and no GPS, for about 20 miles.

Then, just as suddenly, it all came back. It was rock-solid before
then, and it's been rock solid ever since, with another three flights
and 10 or so hours. Very weird.

We've got Narco radios, BTW.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Blueskies]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message oups.com...
:> My nagging problem of lost sat reception appears to still be with me.
:
: Here's an interesting data point for ya, Mike:
:
: Coming out of Myrtle Beach, SC, last week, our 496 lost all but one
: satellite, while our Lowrance Airmap 2000c never lost lock on all
: 12.
:
: We tried everything -- cycling it on an off, complete power down with
: battery removal, unplugging and re-plugging all the various cords and
: cables -- nothing mattered. We still had XM radio, but no weather,
: and no GPS, for about 20 miles.
:
: Then, just as suddenly, it all came back. It was rock-solid before
: then, and it's been rock solid ever since, with another three flights
: and 10 or so hours. Very weird.
:
: We've got Narco radios, BTW.
: --
: Jay Honeck
: Iowa City, IA
: Pathfinder N56993
: www.AlexisParkInn.com
: "Your Aviation Destination"
:

I guess the Garmins have gremlins, but since there is nothing that rhymes like that for Lowrance, they just keep on
workin...

;-)

[Doug Vetter]

Mike Spera wrote:
<snip>
> Still seems odd that my old Apollo and Lowrance units never had these
> problems.
>
> Mike

Hey Mike,

I haven't been doing much flying with the 396 lately, but I can tell you
that my problems persist as well. I was able to track some of the
interference down to the Narco radios. Just putting the comm radios on
some popular CTAFs and local ASOS frequencies (no TX) is enough to take
out the 396. The flip flop button acts much like a light switch when I
watch the GPS satellite status page. Yes, it's that obvious (and
repeatable).

That said, there are times that, like you, I have turned off the master
in flight and the poor reception has continued, so other (as yet
unknown) factors are at work here as well.

For what it's worth, I will soon begin experimenting with a bluetooth
GPS, so I'll report back on any loss of signal there. If a $100 BT GPS
fails to lose lock while my $2500 396 does, Garmin will get an earful
from me, that's for sure.

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI

http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

[Dan Luke]

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

>> My nagging problem of lost sat reception appears to still be with me.
>
> Here's an interesting data point for ya, Mike:
>
> Coming out of Myrtle Beach, SC, last week, our 496 lost all but one
> satellite, while our Lowrance Airmap 2000c never lost lock on all
> 12.
>
> We tried everything -- cycling it on an off, complete power down with
> battery removal, unplugging and re-plugging all the various cords and
> cables -- nothing mattered. We still had XM radio, but no weather,
> and no GPS, for about 20 miles.
>
> Then, just as suddenly, it all came back. It was rock-solid before
> then, and it's been rock solid ever since, with another three flights
> and 10 or so hours. Very weird.
>

This is a known fault in the remote antennas originally shipped with 496s.
Did you ever call Garmin for the free replacement?

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Steve - KDMW]

On Mar 18, 8:56 am, Mike Spera > wrote:
> Folks,
>
> My nagging problem of lost sat reception appears to still be with me.
> Switching off the entire electrical system does not help. So, I believe
> we have eliminated the Narco radios as a possible source. Moving the
> antenna around the glareshield may or may not help.
>
> I am beginning to think I may have a bad cable on the antenna. Nudging
> it a bit will, at times cause a significant jump in reception. Sometimes
> not.
>
> Anyone tried any of the "high gain" replacements (Gilsson and others)?.
> At less that $50, I may just give it a try.
>
> Still seems odd that my old Apollo and Lowrance units never had these
> problems.
>
> Mike

Interesting. My Garmin 196 immediately loses all satellites as soon as
I tune the ASOS freq at one of my local airports, 119.275 at KTHV.
It's the only freq I have found where that happens. I have a Narco Com
810.

[Mike Spera]

>
>
> This is a known fault in the remote antennas originally shipped with 496s.
> Did you ever call Garmin for the free replacement?
>

Was that ever acknowledged or published anywhere?

I have a LATE 396 (496 came out 1 week or so after I bought the unit).
The 496 you mention has the same antenna.

Thanks for any info.
Mike

[Mike Spera]

>
>
> Interesting. My Garmin 196 immediately loses all satellites as soon as
> I tune the ASOS freq at one of my local airports, 119.275 at KTHV.
> It's the only freq I have found where that happens. I have a Narco Com
> 810.
>

109.5 on the Nav side will instantly kill the Garmin. Transmitting on
123.0 will show all sats marching down to zero in about 5-6 seconds. I
saw a list someone published that had all the freqs that cause problems
and I see those 2 are on it.

But, I still lose sat lock even with the master and all radios turned off.

Mike

[Mike Spera]

>
> Coming out of Myrtle Beach, SC, last week, our 496 lost all but one
> satellite, while our Lowrance Airmap 2000c never lost lock on all
> 12.
>

Jay,

Mine comes and goes. A few hours of flying and it is fine. Then, fritz
out time for the entire flight. Change direction and it gets better and
worse. Next flight, fine again.

Another poster says the 496 antenna has a "known problem" and suggested
I can get Garmin to replace it. I have the same antenna. Hear anything
about this?

Thanks,
Mike

[Jay Honeck]

> Another poster says the 496 antenna has a "known problem" and suggested
> I can get Garmin to replace it. I have the same antenna. Hear anything
> about this?

Nope.

Mine has only done this the one time. I'm hopeful that it remains a
one-time affair.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jonathan Goodish]

In article . com>,
"Jay Honeck" > wrote:

> > Another poster says the 496 antenna has a "known problem" and suggested
> > I can get Garmin to replace it. I have the same antenna. Hear anything
> > about this?
>
> Nope.
>
> Mine has only done this the one time. I'm hopeful that it remains a
> one-time affair.


The GA25 (I believe) is a known poor performer. If you have the GA26C,
you should be okay. If you don't, you might want to request one from
Garmin.


JKG

[Dan Luke]

"Mike Spera" wrote:

>>
>> This is a known fault in the remote antennas originally shipped with 496s.
>> Did you ever call Garmin for the free replacement?
>>
>
> Was that ever acknowledged or published anywhere?

Not to my knowledge, and shame on Garmin for not making a better effort to
notify owners. This is a safety of flight issue, IMO.

Get the model # off your antenna and call them about it.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Dan Luke]

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

>> Another poster says the 496 antenna has a "known problem" and suggested
>> I can get Garmin to replace it. I have the same antenna. Hear anything
>> about this?
>
> Nope.
>
> Mine has only done this the one time. I'm hopeful that it remains a
> one-time affair.

That's an odd attitude. The antenna design is known to be faulty, a
replacement that works is free, but you're depending on hope to keep your GPS
working properly?

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Mike Spera]

I left an e-mail support question to Garmin on Monday night. 9:45
Tuesday morning I got the following reply:
__________________________________________________ _________________________
I first recommend that you update the GPSMAP 396 unit software from the
following link to the Garmin Website:
http://www.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=921. I also recommend that
you use the GPSMAP 396 with the flip up antenna and the external antenna
to see if you experience loss of GPS signals with either of the two
antennas. We will be happy to replace any antenna that is not
acquiring satellites.

Thank you and best regards,

Aaron S
Product Support Specialist
Garmin International
1200 E 151st St
Olathe, KS 66062
Toll Free: 1-800-800-1020
Fax: 913-440-5488
__________________________________________________ _________________________
I checked the link and was surprised to see I was several versions
behind (7 versions in 6 months - YIKES!). Downloaded the latest (3.9)
and loaded it into the unit. I will check it out this weekend. I also
plan to buy another antenna. Given the very intermittent nature of the
failure(s), I may be out of warranty by the time it happens again. And,
I want to have a replacement on hand when it happens. As I said, they
are relatively cheap (about $40 - $50).

If I recall correctly, the original unit I bought would lose lock
immediately upon takeoff pretty regularly. Switching to the stubby did
nothing to correct the problem. I swapped the unit for a new one and it
did the same thing. Updating the SW appeared to make the problem go
away. The "fix" lasted for months. Now it is back again.

I hate intermittent crap...

Mike

[Jonathan Goodish]

In article . net>,
Mike Spera > wrote:
> I checked the link and was surprised to see I was several versions
> behind (7 versions in 6 months - YIKES!). Downloaded the latest (3.9)
> and loaded it into the unit. I will check it out this weekend. I also
> plan to buy another antenna. Given the very intermittent nature of the
> failure(s), I may be out of warranty by the time it happens again. And,
> I want to have a replacement on hand when it happens. As I said, they
> are relatively cheap (about $40 - $50).


Just call them, tell them you're on the latest software, and ask them to
send you another antenna. If you have the GA25 antenna, mention that
you're aware that the GA25 has a history of issues with sat reception,
and that you want the GA26C to which they eventually switched back.

If you have the GA26C already, chances are that your problem isn't the
antenna.



JKG

[Ross]

Mike Spera wrote:
> I left an e-mail support question to Garmin on Monday night. 9:45
> Tuesday morning I got the following reply:
> __________________________________________________ _________________________
> I first recommend that you update the GPSMAP 396 unit software from the
> following link to the Garmin Website:
> http://www.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=921. I also recommend that
> you use the GPSMAP 396 with the flip up antenna and the external antenna
> to see if you experience loss of GPS signals with either of the two
> antennas. We will be happy to replace any antenna that is not
> acquiring satellites.
>
> Thank you and best regards,
>
> Aaron S
> Product Support Specialist
> Garmin International
> 1200 E 151st St
> Olathe, KS 66062
> Toll Free: 1-800-800-1020
> Fax: 913-440-5488
> __________________________________________________ _________________________
> I checked the link and was surprised to see I was several versions
> behind (7 versions in 6 months - YIKES!). Downloaded the latest (3.9)
> and loaded it into the unit. I will check it out this weekend. I also
> plan to buy another antenna. Given the very intermittent nature of the
> failure(s), I may be out of warranty by the time it happens again. And,
> I want to have a replacement on hand when it happens. As I said, they
> are relatively cheap (about $40 - $50).
>
> If I recall correctly, the original unit I bought would lose lock
> immediately upon takeoff pretty regularly. Switching to the stubby did
> nothing to correct the problem. I swapped the unit for a new one and it
> did the same thing. Updating the SW appeared to make the problem go
> away. The "fix" lasted for months. Now it is back again.
>
> I hate intermittent crap...
>
> Mike

I would think that once this problem is reported (identified) it would
be covered even after the warranty period.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI