rv7boy
Forum Peruser
A good friend and fellow pilot (RV-9A) and I both bought 396's at Oshkosh in 2006. And we both have had similar problems...occasionally the GPS just quits, with a message that says something like "Lost Satellite Reception." I have noticed that mine always drops out on the way to my favorite grass airport, Moontown, 3M5, near Huntsville, Alabama.
I mentioned this to Paul Dye a few months ago who is also using a Garmin 396 with XM Weather. He said his always drops out near a certain "antenna farm" near Houston.
Hmmm....looking at my usual trip to Moontown through Huntsville (HSV) Class C airspace, I notice that I travel BETWEEN two hilltops with lots of TV and RADIO ANTENNAs on top of them. This last Saturday I also had the dropout on the way to Moontown, but on the way back I avoided going between the hills and chose rather to go around them on the north side, and I had continuous satellite coverage. More hmmm...
My friend is more frustrated than I am as his 396 refused to acquire satellites during a 30 minute flight around the local airport (DCU) last Saturday. We both have updated the software from the web site and I believe we are operating the latest version.
So the question is "Is anyone else having similar problems with their 396 (or 496's)?"
If there is a preponderance of such satellite reception dropouts across the country, I am wondering if we could have a map of "thumbpins" showing where they are. More importantly, I am wondering if Garmin has a problem that has been reported by many of us but has not fixed the problem. I also recently had a momentary dropout near Dayton, Ohio, so I am beginning to suspect my 396 may not be as reliable as I thought it was.
My friend is planning to call Garmin and expects to send his 396 back to them for a thorough checkout. I'm not ready to do that yet.
Also, do Lowrance or other brands of handheld GPS's have the same occurrence?
Obviously, my friend and I should do a side-by-side test on the Moontown trip but he is so aggravated that he is ready to send his back to Garmin.
Any similar experiences out there?
Don
I mentioned this to Paul Dye a few months ago who is also using a Garmin 396 with XM Weather. He said his always drops out near a certain "antenna farm" near Houston.
Hmmm....looking at my usual trip to Moontown through Huntsville (HSV) Class C airspace, I notice that I travel BETWEEN two hilltops with lots of TV and RADIO ANTENNAs on top of them. This last Saturday I also had the dropout on the way to Moontown, but on the way back I avoided going between the hills and chose rather to go around them on the north side, and I had continuous satellite coverage. More hmmm...
My friend is more frustrated than I am as his 396 refused to acquire satellites during a 30 minute flight around the local airport (DCU) last Saturday. We both have updated the software from the web site and I believe we are operating the latest version.
So the question is "Is anyone else having similar problems with their 396 (or 496's)?"
If there is a preponderance of such satellite reception dropouts across the country, I am wondering if we could have a map of "thumbpins" showing where they are. More importantly, I am wondering if Garmin has a problem that has been reported by many of us but has not fixed the problem. I also recently had a momentary dropout near Dayton, Ohio, so I am beginning to suspect my 396 may not be as reliable as I thought it was.
My friend is planning to call Garmin and expects to send his 396 back to them for a thorough checkout. I'm not ready to do that yet.
Also, do Lowrance or other brands of handheld GPS's have the same occurrence?
Obviously, my friend and I should do a side-by-side test on the Moontown trip but he is so aggravated that he is ready to send his back to Garmin.
Any similar experiences out there?
Don