I had a similar problem with my 296 except that is would turn itself off in
the air. I sent it in and Garmin ended up calling it corrupted user data.
After they purged the stored data, it worked OK for a while. When it
started doing it again the Garmin tech had me clear the data by removing
and re-inserting the battery, then holding down three buttons to give it a
lobotomy.

It's working OK for now, but I suspect I will have to kill the user data
again sometime to re-fix it.



"Maule Driver" wrote in message
. com...
No loss of signal... but I just sent my 396 in for service.

Long story short -it would just stop working for no apparent reason.
Screen would go black. Only way to restart was with a battery re-insert.

The only apparent pattern it that it would never happen in the a/c.
Only on the ground. Swapped everything except for the stick attenna
which I used 100% on the ground and 0% in air.

So back it goes for repair.

Jeff B wrote:
Has anyone experienced significant "loss of signal" hiccups with their
new 396?? Since getting ours a few months ago, we have had
several...some lasting 15-20 minutes. System shutdowns/start ups may
or may not re-initialize it. THe antenna is unobstructed and in plain
view of the sky. An older Garmin is still in our plane and works fine
so its not some GPS system glitch.

I've thought about re-installing the software. There is a new upgrade
on the Garmin site so it wouldn't hurt, but none of the fixes address
any "loss of signal" problems.

Any similar experiences out there???

Thanks!!!