Garmin 396 'installation' in the Maule

Mike Granby wrote:
I've had silly numbers (30+ hours) without the antenna, so perhaps it
varies from unit to unit. Still, it's not a big deal. I'm planning to
wire the unit into ship's power this weekend, so it'll be rather
academic after that. As long as it can last long enough to get me
somewhere safe if I lose electrical power, that's good enough.

You probably already did this, but upgrade the firmware to 2.40 and try
again. There's nothing specific in the release notes for 2.40
indicating a power management-related fix (and I didn't bother to read
back to the notes on the previous versions), but it shouldn't hurt to
upgrade.

If the problem persists the battery is likely at fault, as it contains
logic to transmit the state of the battery to the GPS firmware. The GPS
firmware, then, merely reports what it's being told. Try to borrow
someone else's battery and see if the problem goes away.

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, CFIMEIA

http://www.dvcfi.com
--------------------

Good points, Doug. I'll try the firmware, and if that doesn't fix it,
no big deal. I notice, too, that the firmware notes mention an
improvement to Aviation In format. I'm hoping that fixes the CR vs.
CR-LF issue I've discovered that prevents use with King panel-mount
GPSs. That'll save me some work...

FWIW, I set up my 296 to keep the display backlight on for only about 30
seconds after it detects an input from me. This makes my battery last much
longer and the display is still reasonably legible with the backlight off.


"xyzzy" wrote in message
...
Dave Butler wrote:
xyzzy wrote:
Battery life seems excellent so far, I had it on for about three hours
without plugging it in, and the battery meter still showed at least
7/8 charge

Now that's really good news. I was concerned about the number of wires.
If the GPS reception is good on the yoke, and the battery life is good
enough to leave it unplugged, then life will indeed be good.

Not so fast on this one. I turned on the GPS this morning for the first
time after that flight and the battery showed over 3/4 charge, so I
drove into work with it, about a 40 minute drive. Just as I was pulling
into my parking space it complained of low battery and immediately
turned itself off. I turned it back on and the battery meter showed
over 1/2 charge.

Conclusion: Don't trust the battery monitoring software, and don't
expect any real warning of an impending low-battery shutdown.

Btw adding the flight and the drive I figure I got a little over 3.5
hours out of a full battery charge, with the GXM-30 plugged in the whole
time. I guess I can't really complain given Garmin's promise of 4 hours
and Aviation Consumer's observation of 2 hours.

Further testing shows the floor doesn't work. Back to the tubing crotch.

BTW, I tried and rejected the yoke mount. It places the display to
close to my eyes compared to the rest of the panel (aging eyes). I
fabricated a bracket to hang it from the panel over the flap handle.
May be OK but taking a trip this weekend to test.

This is my first 'portable'. I am not happy with the wires and location
options. Definitely a compromise over panel mounts, but I guess that's
no surprise.

Maule Driver wrote:
Well, it definitely can sit up there in the tubing crotch, well clear of
cables, etc. But it definitely won't be removeable.

I'm now looking at just laying it on the floor in the baggage area and
stringing the cable along the floor. The extension plug will end up
right under my seat. The question I haven't answered yet is whether it
will receive well from there but I think it might given the extensive
composite construction on the Maule (composite = tubing, sheet metal,
fabric, and glass :-) )

Maule Driver wrote:
It seems to work just fine up there thru fabric and insulation -
perfect! I can get as far away from the compass as the cable allows.
Looks like the magnet naturally finds a crotch a in the tubing to
magnetize itself too.

Great! Just keep it away from the aileron cables.

Maule Driver wrote:
Further testing shows the floor doesn't work. Back to the tubing crotch.

Try putting it high behind the rear bulkhead. You'll be able to get it out
easily, but it might work better there. Michelle has her ELT back there. If it
works well, you could screw a metal plate onto the rear bulkhead (above the
removable part) and attach it to that with the magnet.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

"Maule Driver" wrote:

BTW, I tried and rejected the yoke mount. It places the display to
close to my eyes compared to the rest of the panel (aging eyes).

Trifocals.

I got my first pair eight years ago for precisely this reason. They're
perfect for flying. The bottom lens makes a yoke-mounted GPS clear, and
the middle lens is perfect for the panel (you can get the eye doc to
write the prescription for the distance you want).

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Well, I ended up with it in the overhead crotch. I might stay with that
awhile until I figure out how much I'll want to remove it for land use.

Turns out that it can easily and securely be popped in and out right
thru one of the the headliner zippers and I just let the cable hang. OK
for now.

I'll have to write a trip report for the weekend. What a machine!!

George Patterson wrote:
Maule Driver wrote:

Further testing shows the floor doesn't work. Back to the tubing crotch.


Try putting it high behind the rear bulkhead. You'll be able to get it
out easily, but it might work better there. Michelle has her ELT back
there. If it works well, you could screw a metal plate onto the rear
bulkhead (above the removable part) and attach it to that with the magnet.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Maule Driver wrote:
Well, I ended up with it in the overhead crotch. I might stay with that
awhile until I figure out how much I'll want to remove it for land use.

You might consider buying another antenna for land use. IIRC, the price is about
$240.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

In article 8zjTe.15758$aG.13842@trndny01,
George Patterson wrote:

Maule Driver wrote:
Well, I ended up with it in the overhead crotch. I might stay with that
awhile until I figure out how much I'll want to remove it for land use.

You might consider buying another antenna for land use. IIRC, the price is
about
$240.


There's a catch: The 396 XM antenna is also the XM receiver. XM will
only allow one receiver to be assigned to each subscription.


JKG

I guessed that was the case.

Jonathan Goodish wrote:
There's a catch: The 396 XM antenna is also the XM receiver. XM will
only allow one receiver to be assigned to each subscription.