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Garmin 296 Vs Lowrance 2000C


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Below is the discussion from the RV Forum on these units.

 

Does anyone have any experience or opinion in OZ that compliments this.

 

Just look at those US prices.

 

Regards Geoff

 

Shine'r Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa

 

Posts: 8

 

Garmin or Lowrance

 

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Ok guys and gals...... getting ready to buy a new GPS which should it be? Garmin 296 (don't need the weather)

 

or the Lowrance 2000C . How about some input, which one should I buy and of course WHY. Thanks for the help

 

Shine'r

 

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#2 Yesterday, 11:20 AM

 

Mel Join Date: Mar 2005

 

Location: Dallas area

 

Posts: 550

 

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Just had the same decision a few months ago. I tried the Lowrance

 

first. I like to use Vnav. The lowrance does not have Vnav. I know,

 

they say it does, but you have to input all information every time.

 

It's just a calculator. Lowrance is too big physically for my taste.

 

Also you cannot change the scale when you are in "auto zoom" like you

 

can with Garmin. These are minor things that may or may not be your

 

preference. But these are the things that made my decision.

 

Mel...DAR

 

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#3 Yesterday, 11:53 AM

 

cobra Join Date: May 2005

 

Location: Utah

 

Posts: 166

 

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Mel,

 

Can you explain "... you cannot change the scale when you are in "auto zoom" like you can with Garmin."

 

Maybe I don't understand autozoom..., I know you can easily change the

 

screen scale by a touch with either unit. Personally, my aging eyes

 

prefer the larger Lawrence 2000 screen.

 

__________________

 

Mike Parker

 

RV-9a under construction,

 

planning Mazda 13B rotary power

 

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#4 Yesterday, 12:49 PM

 

Mustang Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Kamloops, B.C.

 

Posts: 127

 

Lowrance is my pick.

 

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Shiner,

 

I'm a Garmin guy from way back. I own two Garmins in addition to the

 

Lowrance. However, the Lowrance is our choice for the RV-8.

 

Here are my reasons for liking the Lowrance;

 

1. The screen is oriented in the correct way.

 

By that I mean it is in Portrait orientation rather than Landscape. Why

 

Garmin think that you might be more interested in what is beside you

 

rather than what is in front of you is beyond my comprehension.

 

2. Although the resolution is less than the Garmin, the font size is just right for my ancient eyes.

 

3. I like that I can download into the SD cards whatever mapping level

 

I choose. I currently have the Canadian Topo mapset downloaded for the

 

entire B.C. and NWT with every tiny creek and duckpond shown. Not to

 

mention roads with addresses.

 

4. I have just installed the Lowrance Terrain Awareness SD card which

 

is pretty good. The elevations are shown in relief rather than contour

 

lines as in the Topo map sets but the presentation is good.

 

5. This unit is very good for reading in the sunshine.

 

6. The unit is capable of running an autopilot and Trio Avionics have

 

set up our A/P to run off the Lowrance. The update interval is every

 

second.

 

Having flown to Wisconsin using this unit last summer from the Canadian

 

West Coast, I was very happy with the performance of the unit.( I was in an RV-4)

 

After crossing the border, I never used charts again. It was all there.

 

Even zipping under Milwaukee's control zone on the way into Racine was

 

a breeze with the Lowrance giving me the warnings and the layers of the

 

wedding cake.

 

If someone stole this unit, I would buy another one.

 

Cheers, Pete

 

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#5 Yesterday, 01:24 PM

 

L.Adamson Join Date: Apr 2005

 

Location: KSLC

 

Posts: 181

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Kitplanes magazine did a side by side comparison between these two

 

units last year. In the end, the 296 was the "hands down" winner due to

 

it's resolution and user interface.

 

They mentioned that the resolution and color of the 296 made it much

 

easier to define overlapping airspace boundary's, where the Lowrance

 

appeared to blend some together, and was harder to define.

 

I myself, think highly of improved resolution, as I don't like the

 

blocky look. I also found that I like the landscape mode, even though

 

my older Garmin used the portrait view.

 

My Trio A/P is also connected to the 296's output.

 

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#6 Yesterday, 01:36 PM

 

Ollie Join Date: May 2005

 

Location: Loves Landing Airpark (97FL)

 

Posts: 2

 

Price

 

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One thing everyone left out is price.If you shop around you can almost

 

buy 2 Lowrances for the price of one Garmin. I have used Lowrance since

 

they first came on the scene many years ago and they have never let me

 

down.

 

Ollie 6a

 

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#7 Yesterday, 02:35 PM

 

yooper Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Boston. MA

 

Posts: 16

 

Evil Empire

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

And don't forget Garmin is the Evil Empire building their monopoly slowly but surely.

 

Check out the new Lowrance 600C. Looks pretty cool. Smaller, but has neat Terrain features . ..

 

TDT

 

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#8 Yesterday, 03:08 PM

 

Mel Join Date: Mar 2005

 

Location: Dallas area

 

Posts: 550

 

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Mike,

 

Unless they have changed since I tried it, with the Lowrance, you must

 

be in manual zoom to change scales. In the auto zoom mode you cannot

 

change the scale without first changing to manual zoom.

 

I will certainly admit that there are several things I like about the

 

Lowrance; mainly the vertical orientation of the screen. But just the

 

physical size made it difficult to use in the -6.

 

Mel...DAR

 

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#9 Yesterday, 06:23 PM

 

svanarts Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Modesto, CA

 

Posts: 176

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I've been a longtime Garmin user but this time around I went with a

 

Lowrance unit. I went with the new 600C model because in my RV-4 I

 

don't have much room. I have to confess I really like the unit. It's

 

not as configurable as the Garmin unit and I'm still getting used to

 

the interface but overall I really like it. It locks on quick, has

 

great resolution, terrain awareness, SD cards for hi-rez mapping,

 

ground navigation mode, marine navigation mode, all for $500. Not bad.

 

__________________

 

--

 

Scott VanArtsdalen

 

RV-4 N311SV Flying since 2002!

 

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#10 Yesterday, 06:24 PM

 

Sam Buchanan Join Date: Dec 2004

 

Location: RV-6 based at DCU, Athens, AL

 

Posts: 102

 

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I will certainly admit that there are several things I like about the

 

Lowrance; mainly the vertical orientation of the screen. But just the

 

physical size made it difficult to use in the -6.

 

The large Lowrance Airmap 1000 fits nicely in my RV-6, my eyes appreciate it, and my wallet really liked it!

 

Does a fine job of driving the very capable EZ-Pilot, too. The only

 

quirk of the Lowrance units when used with the Trio units is that

 

Lowrance doesn't send the standard airport identifier via the NMEA data

 

stream. The EZ-Pilot works precisely as advertised, but the waypoint in

 

the EZ-Pilot display will be a number instead of a K-indentifier. The

 

same issue was present in my old Airmap 100. If I forget where I've

 

pointed the plane, I just glance over at the GPS.

 

Sam Buchanan

 

Yesterday, 06:26 PM

 

aparchment Join Date: Oct 2005

 

Posts: 84

 

product support

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

My experience with Lowrance left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I was

 

pretty unimpressed with how they supported, or failed to support, my

 

Airmap. I basically got to use it for a little over a year (I bought it new) before it became obsolete (database became too big for the unit).

 

They offered me $100 for it if I bought another of their models. I am

 

sure Lowrance knew that memory size would soon be an issue for the

 

unit. Buyer beware you may say, but I view it as borderline deceitful.

 

Then to offer to buy the unit back for a fraction of its purchase price

 

is a great way to treat customers. How difficult could it have been to

 

charge the customer for a memory upgrade? Maybe that would have been

 

cost prohibitive, who knows.

 

Has this sort of thing happened to the Garmin 296 people?

 

Antony

 

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#12 Yesterday, 07:18 PM

 

Mitch757 Join Date: Aug 2005

 

Posts: 3

 

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I'd like to chime in here as a budget limited shopper. A couple weeks

 

ago, I found a dealer for the Lowrance 2000C who was selling them for

 

$695 plus $12 shipping (SnF special carryover).

 

He told me about a rebate program that allowed an additional $225 for

 

trading in my old Airmap 300. I gave him my credit card info and

 

received the unit 2 days later.

 

In the meantime, per his instructions, a call to Lowrance got me an RMA

 

number to ship my old unit in for the credit. Within a week, the credit

 

letter arrived and the $225 credit was issued...net cost: $470!

 

I use it in my RV4 on a kneeboard and it works like a charm. It also

 

comes with a bunch of different mounts and several CD's for loading

 

auto stuff.

 

The dealer I got it from is "Rollison Airplane Company", http://www.AirplaneGear.com, 812-384-4972....very prompt transactions.

 

Mitch Garner

 

RV-4 N10TH

 

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#13 Yesterday, 011 PM

 

wingtime Join Date: Jul 2005

 

Location: Clearwater, FL

 

Posts: 72

 

Lowrance

 

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I have been a Garmin guy for a long time. I never even looked at

 

Lowrance untill a buddy showed me one he was selling since he picked up

 

the color model. I was shocked at the value you get for the $$$. You

 

can get the 600C for HALF the price of a color Garmin.

 

__________________

 

Bruce Smith

 

RV-7A Fuse

 

N27DB reserved

 

 

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I do not have muc experience with the Garmins.

 

However, I do own a Lowrance 500 Airmap, and find it great for my type

 

of flying. I have a Jeppeson Database, and it also comes with some good

 

software for designing, keeping routes etc.

 

Easy to read - easy to program - and big buttons with an intuitive menu

 

system. However Garmin users may well say the same thing. Mine is mono

 

and I find that is just fine for my use, and means the costs is a lot

 

less.

 

Alongside I am now trialling a PDA with a GPS using Oziexploer software

 

with WAC / VNC / VTC charts. It is fiddly but if you get it setup

 

properly where you dont need to interact much it is a good aid to

 

visual navigation.

 

 

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Guest Fred Bear

The SeaCaptain will know that I am a big fan of the Garmin 296, so I thought I'd mention that again.

 

1-10 scale with 10 being the best.

 

Price 6

 

Features 10

 

Terrain 9

 

Battery 10

 

Accessories 10

 

Readability in sun 7

 

Usability 10

 

Size of unit 8

 

Size of screen 7

 

Database features 9

 

My only main gripe about the Lowrance - It's very big and bulky and the resolution isn't brilliant, therefore it's blocky.

 

Either way, both units should satifsy your "VFR" requirements. Hooked up to AutoPilot would be nice too.

 

 

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It's interesting that there have been so few replies to my question.

 

Particular thanks to Clem for his ratings. That was a very welcome response.

 

And nobody has (yet?) come back with a glowing response about the 2000C.

 

As this one purchase will add a fair bit to my cost and my cockpit, and

 

for anyone else who cares, below is an update of the comments that RV

 

owners have given to this question since my original post:

 

Regards Geoff

 

Garmin is the new Bendix/King

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I've been buying Garmin GPS units since the days when Beindix/King

 

owned the market, and acted like they thought that situation would

 

never change. Today, Garmin has taken over the role of the "take it or

 

leave it" monolith.

 

I had a problem with my 295: turn it on, go to the moving map page, and

 

the unit would shut itself off. Called Garmin support: send it in with

 

a check for $250 and we'll fix it. Having been around computers since I

 

bought a TRS-80 Model I back in the 70's, I figured this to be more of

 

a software glitch than a hardware problem since it only happened with

 

one of the pages. No way I was blindly sending then $250 for that. A

 

little time with Google led me to a little internet backwater where I

 

found a list of the apparently trade-secret master reboot codes for

 

Garmin GPS units. Three finger salute and the problem was resolved.

 

It is inconceivable to me that Garmin has never heard of the problem I

 

had, and equally inconceivable that the first response from the tech

 

support team wasn't to suggest trying a reboot. I also find it somewhat

 

less than customer friendly to not have the reboot codes available on

 

their support web site. Al I can assume is that they make a bundle on

 

charging $250 to press three keys. Yes, I understand that $250 is a

 

blended flat rate, and if I had a $500 fix it would look like a

 

bargain, but as the first step in the support process, I find their

 

motives questionable.

 

The whole thing left me wondering why I would ever buy another Garmin unit.

 

Having shared my $.02 on the topic, I now have $249.98 left in the bank for my next Garmin support issue.

 

Originally Posted by aparchment

 

My experience with Lowrance left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I was

 

pretty unimpressed with how they supported, or failed to support, my

 

Airmap. I basically got to use it for a little over a year (I bought it new) before it became obsolete (database became too big for the unit).

 

They offered me $100 for it if I bought another of their models. I am

 

sure Lowrance knew that memory size would soon be an issue for the

 

unit. Buyer beware you may say, but I view it as borderline deceitful.

 

Then to offer to buy the unit back for a fraction of its purchase price

 

is a great way to treat customers. How difficult could it have been to

 

charge the customer for a memory upgrade? Maybe that would have been

 

cost prohibitive, who knows.

 

Has this sort of thing happened to the Garmin 296 people?

 

Antony

 

__________________

 

Dave Gamble

 

#15 Yesterday, 06:19 AM

 

mrreddick Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Hangar/home at Hicks Airfield (T67), Fort Worth, TX

 

Posts: 78

 

Lowrance

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

All,

 

The 2000C can be flown in the "auto zoom" mode and if you need a closer

 

look you can zoom in to check an airport identifier, lake name, highway

 

name, whatever!, and within a short time delay, the Lowrance returns to

 

the auto zoom range for your route.

 

I keep one of the nav maps on auto zoom and one on manual. I can

 

navigate out of the DFW Class B using the manual map and then switch to

 

the other when I don't need as much surface detail.

 

I've been a Lowrance user since 1998 and have never had a problem with

 

them. I prefer my 2000C over my panel mounted Garmin, any day of the

 

week!

 

__________________

 

Mike Reddick

 

#16 Yesterday, 06:37 AM

 

L.Adamson Join Date: Apr 2005

 

Location: KSLC

 

Posts: 183

 

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Originally Posted by mrreddick

 

I prefer my 2000C over my panel mounted Garmin, any day of the week!

 

The resolution and memory of a panel mounted Garmin 430/530 is much lower compared to a Garmin 296/396.

 

How about the 2000C versus the Garmin 1000 panel mount?

 

L.Adamson

 

#17 Yesterday, 07:47 AM

 

cobra Join Date: May 2005

 

Location: Utah

 

Posts: 170

 

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Larry,

 

It seems to me the resolution issue might be significant if you use the 396 as a handheld (close to your eyes)

 

or mounted a "steering wheel", but not if it is mounted on the panel.

 

On the panel, bigger seems better to me, particularly with the digital

 

number displays.

 

__________________

 

Mike Parker

 

#18 Yesterday, 023 AM

 

RV8N Join Date: Mar 2006

 

Location: Richmond, Tx.

 

Posts: 17

 

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I bought an Airmap 100 in 1999 at Oshkosh. I would have bought a Garmin

 

but I needed a vertical orientation for the only place I can mount it.

 

If you buy a Garmin with vertical orientation, the buttons are above

 

the screen, you cover the screen every time you push a button. That was

 

unacceptable. I bought the Airmap 100 and have been very happy with it.

 

I recently tried to upgrade the database and was told the about the

 

memory size and the $100 trade-in. I will probably buy an Airmap 500 or

 

600C but will not trade in the Airmap 100. I will use a RAM mount to

 

attach it to the seat back support so my wife can play with it and

 

navigate from the back seat. She will love it and it will be worth a

 

lot more than $100 to her.

 

Karl

 

__________________

 

RV-8 N288K

 

#19 Yesterday, 07:13 PM

 

L.Adamson Join Date: Apr 2005

 

Location: KSLC

 

Posts: 183

 

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Originally Posted by cobra

 

Larry,

 

It seems to me the resolution issue might be significant if you use the 396 as a handheld (close to your eyes)

 

or mounted a "steering wheel", but not if it is mounted on the panel.

 

On the panel, bigger seems better to me, particularly with the digital

 

number displays.

 

Mike,

 

The Garmin 1000 "glass panel" system uses 1024*768 resolution for it's

 

10 & 15" MFD displays. The Avidyne Entegra uses 800*600, and the

 

difference is quite noticeable. High res gets rid of the "blocky" look.

 

With the 296/396 you have choices for sizing the letters & numbers,

 

as well as a host of other display options, and I'll assume the same

 

with the Garmin 1000.

 

L.Adamson

 

Garmin or Lorance

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[/img]I have the Lorance 1000 and I must admit I think it is a great

 

value and very easy to read with old eyes. But the Garmin has a logbook

 

feature that I wish I had. I wanted to upgrade at Sun-N-Fun to the 2000

 

but the color did not show up in the sun as well as the 1000

 

mono-chrome.

 

Tom McCutcheon Join Date: Oct 2005

 

Location: Vancouver, Washington

 

Posts: 42

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I have a Lowrance 2000c and really like it for all the reasons already

 

described. My son has the Garman 296 and he really likes it. We both

 

have RV-4's. Each gps unit has it's advantages and drawbacks. Trying to

 

be completely fair I think the 296 is a bit more user friendly and does

 

have a bit more information available about airports and services. It

 

also has an instrument page that is sometimes nice.

 

The 296 also displayes a bit more overlay information than the 2000c

 

such as ground speed, altitude, ete, and distance remaining. The 2000c

 

does these things just fewer at a time. Seems like I run out of overlay

 

available at 3 items. The 296 displays at least 4 items at a time.

 

The Lowrance has a big advantage in price. And, I really like it's size of display for my aging eyes (although I didn't have a problem with the 296).

 

The 296 also has a big advantage in battery life. We flew from south of

 

Houston TX to Vancouver, WA on one charge with the 296. The 2000c

 

required airplane power. It's own batteries will probably only go about

 

5 minutes. Forget buying the external battery for the 2000c as I never

 

would have room for that.

 

In the end each have advantages and compromises. I can live with the

 

compromises of the 2000c and I am very happy with it. My son loves his

 

296 and is talking about getting a 396 for the WX.

 

Either unit becomes a bit of a challenge for room in an RV-4. We both

 

have them mounted down by the fuel selector valve. Out of the sun and

 

seems to work pretty good there. No room on the panel in a -4 for

 

either. At least not on either of our panels. Good luck in deciding.

 

Tom McCutcheon

 

#22 Today, 06:42 AM

 

mrreddick Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Hangar/home at Hicks Airfield (T67), Fort Worth, TX

 

Posts: 78

 

Lowrance vs Garmin 1000

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

L Adamson wrote:

 

How about the 2000C versus the Garmin 1000 panel mount?

 

Okay! How many pallets of Lowrance 2000C's could I get for the price of one installed Garmin 1000 system? Hmmm..........

 

__________________

 

Mike Reddick

 

#23 Today, 12:44 PM

 

Shine'r Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa

 

Posts: 9

 

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Has anyone else had problems with the color not showing up in the

 

sunlight? What about the Garmin in the sunlight? For less than half the

 

cost the 2000C is looking real good!!!!!!!!

 

Shine'r

 

#24 Today, 01:02 PM

 

AZtailwind Join Date: Nov 2005

 

Posts: 12

 

Discounted 2000C

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Originally Posted by Shine'r

 

Has anyone else had problems with the color not showing up in the

 

sunlight? What about the Garmin in the sunlight? For less than half the

 

cost the 2000C is looking real good!!!!!!!!

 

And check out PAcific Coast-

 

http://www.pacificcoastavionics.com

 

Is that a mistake? $699 for a 2000C?

 

I just read this thread and started looking at the differences and ...

 

wow Ther must be no accessories included or something? what a deal mon!

 

Brad

 

AZtailwind

 

#25 Today, 01:08 PM

 

rv8ch Join Date: Feb 2005

 

Location: Switzerland

 

Posts: 848

 

Airmap 2000C

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Originally Posted by AZtailwind

 

And check out PAcific Coast-

 

http://www.pacificcoastavionics.com

 

Is that a mistake? $699 for a 2000C?

 

I just read this thread and started looking at the differences and ...

 

wow Ther must be no accessories included or something? what a deal mon!

 

Brad

 

That's the price I get. Wow - that is really a lot cheaper than the

 

296. I hope they come out with a model with weather and traffic!

 

__________________

 

Mickey Coggins

 

#26 Today, 01:20 PM

 

cobra Join Date: May 2005

 

Location: Utah

 

Posts: 170

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dont forget the the 2000C also comes with "free" software for auto

 

navigation- the Garman charges a bundle extra for theirs. It doesn't do

 

weather mapping yet

 

__________________

 

Mike Parker

 

#27 Today, 02:22 PM

 

alpinelakespilot2000 Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Posts: 598

 

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Originally Posted by cobra

 

Dont forget the the 2000C also comes with "free" software for auto

 

navigation- the Garman charges a bundle extra for theirs. It doesn't do

 

weather mapping yet

 

Out of curiosity, how much does a weather subscription for a 296 cost each month?

 

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Steve Moore

 

#28 Today, 04:03 PM

 

cobra Join Date: May 2005

 

Location: Utah

 

Posts: 170

 

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Only the 396 has WX- expect a one time charge of $75+ either $30 or

 

$50/month for the weather data feed depending on level of service

 

options. Id expect you will have to suscribe to XM radio as well (~10/month).

 

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Mike Parker

 

#29 Today, 04:19 PM

 

keen9a Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Location: St. Louis, MO

 

Posts: 68

 

XM Weather Cost

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The costs/service for XM are here: XM Aviation Weather

 

You don't have to subscribe to XM radio, but its only $6.99 to add it to a weather subscription (click on the .pdf pricing guide on the left).

 

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Ben Keen

 

#30 Today, 04:31 PM

 

alpinelakespilot2000 Join Date: Jan 2005

 

Posts: 598

 

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$30 a month doesn't sound too bad, but $50... ouch. That would mean

 

$600 a year extra! I'm not sure I'd get even $360 worth out of it,

 

though if someone were determined to try to weave their way around or

 

through storms it would be a nice thing to have.

 

Lowrance 2000C, sans weather, is looking pretty good at $699, particularly since I'm "budget" ($50K +/-)building.

 

Other's I've heard, on this forum as elsewhere, have indicated the

 

lowrance resolution is more than adequate, though I'm sure that is a

 

preference thing. Fortunately I've still got 12 months or so before I

 

have to commit.

 

__________________

 

Steve Moore

 

Ellensburg WA

 

RV-9

 

Fuse upside down

 

 

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Guest Guest

I was looking at this a while ago.

 

I don't think the Lowrance timestamps its trackpoints. I like to download my tracks after the flight.

 

Since I already had a Dell Axim PDA, I decided to buy a bluetooth GPS receiver with the new SiRF chip (receives indoors).

 

Bluetooth GPS receiver can be placed in the best receiving position and

 

the PDA can be placed in the best viewing position; no wires.

 

I use the free PocketFMS software and it seems to work well for me. I also found some free soaring software as well.

 

If I don't like the software I'm running, I can always find other (free or commercial) software to install for a particular purpose.

 

I have a bluetooth keyboard for the PDA, so it works as a laptop when I'm away from home. Emails, word, excel etc...

 

The PDA doesn't look quite a solid as the Garmin or Lowrance (doubt it would survive in water). The screen may also be an issue (I generally have my backlight turned down), but not significant enough to worry me.

 

Overall it was cheaper for me than buying a Garmin or Lowrance GPS unit. Doubt if I'd ever consider a Garmin or Lowrance again.

 

 

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Regarding the 'timestamping' of the waypoints - I am not sure if you

 

get an actual time with the Garmin, however the Lowrance records your

 

actual track made good if you select it on. I think each trail is up to

 

2000 points, number of trails I think is memory limited to your card

 

size you put in there. Each point interval is up to you when you record

 

it, every second to every 5 minutes or something like that.

 

 

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G'day 'Team',

 

Not sure if this (highly edited and cropped)

 

printout example helps in this thread but it's from my Garmin 196 and

 

I'm able to record quite a surprising amount of detailed data

 

especially with a large memory card.

 

I

 

find this high levelof data recording an excellent tool to download

 

and printout in conjunction with the mapping software. I’m able to

 

printout both the tracking route overlaid of the flight map and also

 

have a graphical printout of the flight profile plus all the tracking

 

details for record keeping, etc.

 

Regarding

 

the 196 itself, the hardware internals I believe are quite well

 

designed and robust but I dislike the keyboard usage and the

 

multifunction keys though... If you are using rechargeable batteries be

 

warned though, as the quality and reliability of a number of brands of

 

so-called high-capacity batteries can see you running out of battery

 

power a lot quicker than you planned for.

 

The

 

other point is if you are running the unit through the panel power,

 

ensure you have a voltage regular between the power source and the GPS.

 

Have a power spike or other electrical glitch and you could very easily

 

have a ‘cooked’ GPS… With these few ponderings in mind, GPS is a must

 

have item, I believe, as a secondary navigation/backup piece of

 

equipment to our mark 1 human interface.

 

20060528_075310_Log1.jpg

 

Cheers.

 

Rodger

 

 

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Guest Fred Bear

The 196 / 296 can handle up to around 38 volts from memory - more than enough for the average Jabiru spike.

 

The 296 wins nicely over the 196 because of the built in rechargeable

 

lithium battery. 5-15 hours on a charge, depending on whether or not

 

you use the backlight, which is mantatory if you need to read the

 

screen.

 

 

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I've tried both and am satisfied with neither. Why are proprietary GPS devices so clunky to use? It's like having a typewriter with only one key which you'd have to press 26 times to type the letter "Z"! Is it beyond the ability of manufacturers to design a large touch-screen PDA or tablet PC able to run third-party GPS software?

 

 

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Guest Fred Bear

You don't have to press the rocker-pad 26 times to get to Z... you can press it in the reverse direction thus removing the requirement to press it 25 times to get to Z. That will take you through 9876543210-+=/.

 

 

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I did not mean literally that you have to hit a key on the GPS 26 times to type the letter "Z". I was trying to make a point about the way designers of electronic devices these days (digital watches, mobile phones, etc.) seem to enjoy putting commands into a series of nested menus that you have to patiently scroll through one by one to get at the command you want.

 

 

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