Garmin 396 'installation' in the Maule

Well, it came yesterday. Great box. Looks like the challenge will be
'mounting' the GXM 30 XM antenna in the Maule.

The thing has a big non-removeable magnet so distance from the compass
is needed. It has an extension cord and mounting screws but needs good
sky exposure... any thoughts are welcome.

Otherwise, the yoke mount looks fine and the unit itself has me
drooling. NC to FL next week!

"Maule Driver" wrote:

Well, it came yesterday. Great box. Looks like the challenge will be
'mounting' the GXM 30 XM antenna in the Maule.

The thing has a big non-removeable magnet so distance from the compass is
needed. It has an extension cord and mounting screws but needs good sky
exposure... any thoughts are welcome.

Yeah, this is a problem.

I put the XM antenna on the dash of the car for the drive home yesterday, and
it affected my aircraft compass from nearly two feet away. That's a hell of
a magnet; Garmin needs to provide a way for us to get rid of it without
voiding the warranty.

Otherwise, the yoke mount looks fine and the unit itself has me drooling.
NC to FL next week!

Nature put on a booming L-6 thunderstorm for my test drive yesterday, so the
396 got a nice workout on the way home. Wow. This thing is going to take a
lot of stress out of flying the Gulf Coast.


--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM
______________
\0/
o/ \o

Maule Driver wrote:

The thing has a big non-removeable magnet so distance from the compass
is needed. It has an extension cord and mounting screws but needs good
sky exposure... any thoughts are welcome.

Try tucking it up between the headliner and the fabric top of the fuselage. I
had my MBR antenna under the floor boards and it worked well through the fabric.
IIRC, M. Powell has a gps antenna mounted over the headliner in this way. If it
works, you can clamp a mounting plate to the frame tubes up there.

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, it came yesterday. Great box. Looks like the challenge will be
'mounting' the GXM 30 XM antenna in the Maule.

The thing has a big non-removeable magnet so distance from the compass
is needed. It has an extension cord and mounting screws but needs good
sky exposure... any thoughts are welcome.

Garmin should know better. What were they thinking?


Otherwise, the yoke mount looks fine and the unit itself has me
drooling. NC to FL next week!

Mine came Wednesday, been foolin' around with it in the car. I think I'm going
to like it a lot, but that antenna thing is a definite drawback: the fact that
you have 2 separate antennas with two wires to manage, and the magnet.

Let us know if you come up with an elegant solution.

Dave

Dan Luke wrote:

That's a hell of
a magnet; Garmin needs to provide a way for us to get rid of it without
voiding the warranty.

If I read the manual I found on their web site correctly, it won't work without
the magnet. Dunno why an antenna would require a magnet, though.

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 ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:
I put the XM antenna on the dash of the car for the drive home yesterday, and
it affected my aircraft compass from nearly two feet away. That's a hell of
a magnet; Garmin needs to provide a way for us to get rid of it without
voiding the warranty.


Good luck. The GPS10 has similar herculean magnets, and they affected
my compass no matter where I put the GPS10 on the glare shield. I
finally had to (carefully) pry open the unit and remove them.

Some folks with GPS10 units tried to get Garmin to take the magnets out,
even for a fee, and Garmin refused to do it.

My understanding is that the 396 XM antenna is glued shut in a similar
manner to the GPS10, and if so, some patient and careful prying will
open it up--but it will void the warranty.



JKG

In article f8JPe.42$fP.7@trndny08,
George Patterson wrote:
That's a hell of
a magnet; Garmin needs to provide a way for us to get rid of it without
voiding the warranty.

If I read the manual I found on their web site correctly, it won't work
without
the magnet. Dunno why an antenna would require a magnet, though.


The magnets do not affect the operation of the XM or GPS receiver.
There are reports on some forums of folks prying the antenna open and
removing them without a problem, but it does void the warranty.



JKG

Dave Butler wrote:

Maule Driver wrote:

Well, it came yesterday. Great box. Looks like the challenge will be
'mounting' the GXM 30 XM antenna in the Maule.

The thing has a big non-removeable magnet so distance from the compass
is needed. It has an extension cord and mounting screws but needs
good sky exposure... any thoughts are welcome.


Garmin should know better. What were they thinking?


Otherwise, the yoke mount looks fine and the unit itself has me
drooling. NC to FL next week!


Mine came Wednesday, been foolin' around with it in the car. I think I'm
going to like it a lot, but that antenna thing is a definite drawback:
the fact that you have 2 separate antennas with two wires to manage, and
the magnet.

Let us know if you come up with an elegant solution.

Dave

They must have just sent out a big shipment, mine came yesterday
(promised ship date of 8/31). I came home to find it then had to leave
immediately for a flight lesson. Since it was a "preparation for
checkride" instrument lesson, playing with the new toy on the flight was
out of the question. Bummer.

I'll be taking it up on Saturday though.

I wonder why the GXM-30 has to have view of the sky? The WxWorx antenna
that comes with the ControlVision solution works fine in the side pocket
of a Cherokee. I may try my GXM-30 there just to see what happens.

And at any rate are we losing a little bit of perspective, complaining
that our W-compass's already marginal accuracy is negatively affected by
our much-more-accurate GPS?

--
"You can support the troops but not the president"
--Representative Tom Delay (R-TX), during the Kosovo war.

In article , xyzzy
wrote:
I wonder why the GXM-30 has to have view of the sky? The WxWorx antenna
that comes with the ControlVision solution works fine in the side pocket
of a Cherokee. I may try my GXM-30 there just to see what happens.


I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that the XM antenna works while
stowed in the side pocket. I have a difficult time getting a good
signal for weather even when it's on the glare shield, unless it's in
just the right spot.

Are you sure that you aren't getting the antenna and receiver confused?
With the Control Vision solution, they are separate, but the receiver
and antenna are integrated into one unit with the 396.



JKG

Garmin needs to provide a way for us to
get rid of it without voiding the warranty.

Would sticking a steel (or better, soft iron) disk to the antenna help
by keeping the field lines contained? My physics is a bit rusty, but
ISTR it would help...