496 lost track

[N941WR]

About a month ago my 496 stopped locking down my route line. What I mean by that is the my waypoint was fixed but as I drifted off course, the course line would originate with the little airplane symbol and move with it. It was a real ego booster as it looked like you never flew off course.

However, the CDI on the HSI would continue to track my course correctly and show me x number of dots off course.

After reading the manual, playing with every setting I could think, and three calls to Garmin I finally found someone who knew how to fix it.

The fix was a hard reset, which wipes out all user information.

Here are the steps to reset your 496:

1. Turn the unit off.
2. Hold the "OUT", "QUIT", and "NRST" buttons down while you turn it on.
3. Hold all three of those buttons down for 15 seconds after it powers up.

This will wipe out any info you have stored in the 496 and restore its defaults. It will also place the airplane icon in the middle the US until it acquires the satellites again.

[Brantel]

Sounds to me like you had your course line turned off and the bearing line turned on. This is a setting on the map setup page.

[pierre smith]

....because I had the course line showing after I upgraded to version 3.5, in addition to my position line to the waypoint. I didn't like both lines so I called Garmin and turned off the course line on the map page so that I only have the present position/waypoint line. This allows you to easily navigate around restricted areas, etc.

BTW, in case you don't know, you can easily establish a new course line from your present position by pressing "direct to" and "enter" drawing a new line from your present postion to your waypoint.

Regards,

ps....been putting 8 to 9 hours a day on the Air Tractor hobbs spraying wheat (12-13 loads/landings) so you guys can enjoy your daily bread

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by Brantel

Sounds to me like you had your course line turned off and the bearing line turned on. This is a setting on the map setup page.

Brian & Pierre,

I wish it was that simple. They were both turned on. When trying to solve the problem, I tried them on, off, and auto in different combinations and nothing changed.

In fact I brought it to the Garmin booth at SnF and they couldn't figure it. Then again, they couldn't tell me how to reboot the thing either.

[wv4i]

Use at your own risk....

http://home.online.no/~sigurdhu/GPSm...C_commands.htm

[N941WR]

Once you reset your x96, you will have to go to the "Interface" tab of the "Setup" menu and change change the "Serial Data Format" to whatever matches your EFIS.

In the case of my Dynon, it has to be set to "NMEA In/NMEA Out".