GPS Longevity

My first aviation GPS (a Trimble Flightmate Pro) lasted about 7 years before
the LCD screen started acting wonky.

Then I bought a Lowrance Airmap 100, which has done very well for about 7
years, but seems to be having problems recently on both the internal and
external antennae. Sometimes it goes for a looong time before it can
determine its location. Beyond that, updates are no longer available for
this unit, so if things don't change, I'll probably be in the market for a
GPS.

Which brings to mind the question of how long of a service life do most of
you experience on your handheld GPS's? Do you usually retire them because
someone has marketed a better mousetrap, because the unit is unsupported, or
because the unit no longer works properly?

By the way, does anyone have information about Lowrance putting out an XM
product? At SnF last year, someone who was in a position to know indicated
that Lowrance would probably have an XM aviation GPS available this year. I
prefer Lowrance over Garmin, and am hoping Lowrance will introduce a new
product at SnF....

"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..
Do you usually retire them because someone has marketed a better
mousetrap,
because the unit is unsupported, or because the unit no longer works
properly?

I vote for no longer works properly.

I bought a Garmin Pilot III back around 2001 from someone who had upgraded
to a 295. The screen started losing lines and now is unreadable (It's even
worse since I opened it and tried to fix it).

I'll probably look around for a lightly used 295. There's a manufacturing
defect in the Pilot III's that made all of the screens shrink. They were
perfectly usable ten years ago, now they're all too small

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:68Ijj.10440$ac7.7748@trndny03...
"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..
Do you usually retire them because someone has marketed a better
mousetrap,
because the unit is unsupported, or because the unit no longer works
properly?

I vote for no longer works properly.

I bought a Garmin Pilot III back around 2001 from someone who had upgraded
to a 295. The screen started losing lines and now is unreadable (It's even
worse since I opened it and tried to fix it).

I'll probably look around for a lightly used 295. There's a manufacturing
defect in the Pilot III's that made all of the screens shrink. They were
perfectly usable ten years ago, now they're all too small


If I were you I would look for a 296. The 295 does not have a built-in
ability to charge the batteries. If you lose the ship's electrical power
you have only the remaining battery life. The 296 will charge the batteries
while in use; if you lose the ship's power you should still have fully
charged batteries.

I have a 295 and that is the only drawback between the two. I use ni-cads
and have to remember to charge them between use.

--

*H. Allen Smith*
WACO - We are all here, because we are not all there.

"Allen" wrote in message
. ..

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:68Ijj.10440$ac7.7748@trndny03...

I'll probably look around for a lightly used 295. There's a
manufacturing
defect in the Pilot III's that made all of the screens shrink. They were
perfectly usable ten years ago, now they're all too small


If I were you I would look for a 296. The 295 does not have a built-in
ability to charge the batteries. If you lose the ship's electrical power
you have only the remaining battery life. The 296 will charge the
batteries
while in use; if you lose the ship's power you should still have fully
charged batteries.

I have a 295 and that is the only drawback between the two. I use ni-cads
and have to remember to charge them between use.

295s are selling for $250 to $500 on Ebay. 296s are $900 to $1100. I can
sneak a $500 purchase by she-who-must-be-obeyed. $1000 would generate
questions.

Keeping a package of Duracells in the plane is a cheap fix.

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:FdLjj.9199$YW6.6112@trndny07...
"Allen" wrote in message
. ..

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:68Ijj.10440$ac7.7748@trndny03...

I'll probably look around for a lightly used 295. There's a
manufacturing
defect in the Pilot III's that made all of the screens shrink. They
were
perfectly usable ten years ago, now they're all too small


If I were you I would look for a 296. The 295 does not have a built-in
ability to charge the batteries. If you lose the ship's electrical power
you have only the remaining battery life. The 296 will charge the
batteries
while in use; if you lose the ship's power you should still have fully
charged batteries.

I have a 295 and that is the only drawback between the two. I use
ni-cads
and have to remember to charge them between use.

295s are selling for $250 to $500 on Ebay. 296s are $900 to $1100. I can
sneak a $500 purchase by she-who-must-be-obeyed. $1000 would generate
questions.

Keeping a package of Duracells in the plane is a cheap fix.

That's true, I did not realize there was that much difference in price.

On Jan 17, 10:18 am, "Steve Foley" wrote:
295s are selling for $250 to $500 on Ebay. 296s are $900 to $1100. I can
sneak a $500 purchase by she-who-must-be-obeyed. $1000 would generate
questions.

I have a Garmin 92 from 2000 that's still working fine today, but I
just bought a used 196 for $495 at an avionics vendor who happened to
have taken on trade-in. Several of the online vendors offer them on
their websites for $450-500, but you'll have to call each of them to
see if they have one in stock, because they sell very fast whenever
they get one traded in. The 196 is still a dependable and easy to use
GPS unit, even though it's not color. I actually prefer being able to
use ordinary "AA" penlight batteries in it too.

$695 for a new 196 is just too much money for one, IMHO.

Recently, Allen posted:

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:68Ijj.10440$ac7.7748@trndny03...
"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..
Do you usually retire them because someone has marketed a better
mousetrap, because the unit is unsupported, or because the unit no
longer works properly?

I vote for no longer works properly.

I bought a Garmin Pilot III back around 2001 from someone who had
upgraded to a 295. The screen started losing lines and now is
unreadable (It's even worse since I opened it and tried to fix it).

I'll probably look around for a lightly used 295. There's a
manufacturing defect in the Pilot III's that made all of the screens
shrink. They were perfectly usable ten years ago, now they're all
too small


If I were you I would look for a 296. The 295 does not have a
built-in ability to charge the batteries. If you lose the ship's
electrical power you have only the remaining battery life. The 296
will charge the batteries while in use; if you lose the ship's power
you should still have fully charged batteries.

I have a 295 and that is the only drawback between the two. I use
ni-cads and have to remember to charge them between use.

I also have a 295, and use Li-ions with it. I haven't been inconvenienced
by the lack of charging, but as I fly club planes I don't leave the unit
in it anyway. I get about 3-4 hours on a charge, and the Li-ions retain
their charge during non-use better than Ni-Cads. For long XC, I carry an
extra set but still run the unit on the ship's power.

Hope this helps some...

Neil

"Neil Gould" wrote in message
et...
Recently, Allen posted:

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
news:68Ijj.10440$ac7.7748@trndny03...
"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..
Do you usually retire them because someone has marketed a better
mousetrap, because the unit is unsupported, or because the unit no
longer works properly?

I vote for no longer works properly.

I bought a Garmin Pilot III back around 2001 from someone who had
upgraded to a 295. The screen started losing lines and now is
unreadable (It's even worse since I opened it and tried to fix it).

I'll probably look around for a lightly used 295. There's a
manufacturing defect in the Pilot III's that made all of the screens
shrink. They were perfectly usable ten years ago, now they're all
too small


If I were you I would look for a 296. The 295 does not have a
built-in ability to charge the batteries. If you lose the ship's
electrical power you have only the remaining battery life. The 296
will charge the batteries while in use; if you lose the ship's power
you should still have fully charged batteries.

I have a 295 and that is the only drawback between the two. I use
ni-cads and have to remember to charge them between use.

I also have a 295, and use Li-ions with it. I haven't been inconvenienced
by the lack of charging, but as I fly club planes I don't leave the unit
in it anyway. I get about 3-4 hours on a charge, and the Li-ions retain
their charge during non-use better than Ni-Cads. For long XC, I carry an
extra set but still run the unit on the ship's power.

Hope this helps some...

Neil

I keep mine in my flight bag in the nylon pouch it came with in between use.
It has the unfortunate ability to turn itself on while in the bag. The
power button needs a guard.

I will look into the Li-ions; they use the same setting in the 295 as the
ni-cads do?

Allen

Recently, Allen posted:

"Neil Gould" wrote in message
et...

I also have a 295, and use Li-ions with it. I haven't been
inconvenienced by the lack of charging, but as I fly club planes I
don't leave the unit in it anyway. I get about 3-4 hours on a
charge, and the Li-ions retain their charge during non-use better
than Ni-Cads. For long XC, I carry an extra set but still run the
unit on the ship's power.

Hope this helps some...

Neil

I keep mine in my flight bag in the nylon pouch it came with in
between use. It has the unfortunate ability to turn itself on while
in the bag. The power button needs a guard.

I haven't run into that problem.

I will look into the Li-ions; they use the same setting in the 295 as
the ni-cads do?

Yes. They have the same power ratings as Ni-Cads as far as the 295 is
concerned.

--
Neil

"Steve Foley" wrote:


I bought a Garmin Pilot III back around 2001 from someone who had upgraded
to a 295. The screen started losing lines and now is unreadable (It's even
worse since I opened it and tried to fix it).

I bought a Garmin Pilot III ten years ago and sold it a couple of years
later.

The guy that bought it is still using it.

--
Dan
T-182T at BFM