Garmin Antenna placement

[gkey]

I have a Garmin 396 with Wx. I thought I was being smart by buying an antenna farm. Not satisfied at all. Besides the fact that it totally obscures my far left windscreen, the antenna seems to ONLY pick up signals when I am flying North or West. Guess 'm not going to fly East or South then...

Anyway, I'm back with the good 'ol Steering column mounting (from Garmin) and using the Garmin window suction cup plates.

Here is my question: Where do you place your (1) antenna and (2) Wx antenna? I am thinking of placing the antenna in the windscreen, front and centre down below, and the Wx antenna off to the far left or right side on the glareshield, as far forward as it will go.

[Pete Somers]

Jakes
Why don't you go the hole hog and fit an external antenna, as this the only way you are going to pick up a proper signal and fitting the antenna is easy on the 337 as the the roof is to get at, route the cable down the center pillar or down the windshield side pillars, and you will find that it will work, same with your Wx antenna

Pete

[gkey]

Thanks Pete, I was thinking about that too - should have said that in my initial post. I am saving up for changing out my centre panel to Garmin 530W, SL30, new audio panel etc, and that is when the new Garmin antenna(s) will be installed on the roof.

I thought of keeping the 396 as a mobile unit (as I have a few planes) so that I can swap it to whichever plane I fly.

So this brings up an interesting question (to me): If I install an antenna on the roof, can I install it so that I can use it on the 396 initially, and then later on use it for the 530?

Did you also mention that the Wx antenna can be mounted on the roof (i.e. outside)?

[JeffAxel]

Jake,
I put my GPS antenna on the glareshield as far forward as I can get it, and the XM antenna is suction cupped to the very top of the windshield. This seems to work ok for me. Permanent mounting would be nice, but very expensive in a Pressurized 337. Not as big an expense in a non-pressurized plane though.

[gkey]

Originally Posted by JeffAxel

...and the XM antenna is suction cupped to the very top of the windshield.

Hmmm, never thought of that. Maybe one of the G-Force platforms (the one the XM Wx is currently mounted on) may come to goood use afterall...

So where or how did you route the wires? I absolutely detest spaghetti in a plane, so I know I will have to make a plan with that so that the wires are very neatly tucked away.

I am gonig to see if the second G-Force platform will be able to mount my DVD camcoder on too.

[JeffAxel]

Jakes,
I just tucked the wires behind all the plastic trim on the windshield posts, and ran it down to behind the panel, then over to the pilot's yoke. The XM weather receiver is in a pocket near the copilots feet, power for the computer and the XM receiver comes from the cigar lighter under the co-pilot's yoke. All of it is tied up nicely, and the only wiring you see is the bundle coming from under the panel to the pilot's control wheel. I use a Sony UX280P touch screen computer as a display, it is the same size as a Garmin x96 essentially. I am a happy AnywhereWX XP user. Come on down to KHIO, I will show you!!

[hharney]

Jakes

You are making this way to hard, think simple. I have my 496 on the control yoke with the garmin factory mount. I had the avionics shop wire in a 24 V so I don't have to have to use the CIG lighter plug. The antenna, power and phones from the 496 are nicely wrapped with some nylon spring tube that holds them all together but provides firm flexibilty. I keep the XM antenna seperate so that I can transfer it to my other plane with the 496. Then I just use the second CIG plug in the other plane, I have a second antenna already in the other plane for the 196 and I am ready to go. In the main plane I keep the GPS antenna on the glareshield, far left side tucked in between the glareshild and windshild. I have never had a reception problem. GPS antenna stays in the plane so it's wrapped in the nylon spring tube. I do like Jeff and tuck the wire down behind the plastic and it hides really nice. For the XM antenna I just set it up next to the GPS antenna and keep it away from the compass as far as I can. Never had a reception problem yet. I will post some pictures if you would like.

[Jim Rainer]

Herb, please post some pictures. Might help us all.

[gkey]

Originally Posted by Jim Rainer

Herb, please post some pictures. Might help us all.

AHA! I'n not alone in this, afterall...

There's a Chinese (I think) saying: When you ask the question, you may be a fool for a minute, but if you don't ask the question, you'll be a fool for life.

I will experiment with placements over the coming weekend, and report back. I have never subscribed to XM since I bought the unit almost a yeaqr ago, but I think it's high time.

I've got a 496 that works flawlessly in 2 airplanes but works intermittently in a third airplane. What I finally discovered after much angst and troubleshooting in the 3rd is that for some reason, when I have a certain nav frequency tuned in to either radio (Narcos)(109.7 -- my ILS freq at GMU), neither the GPS nor wx signal will activate.

Change the freq, and all is well within 5 minutes. Pete, you can explain this RFI (I assume)mystery to us common folk. It not only does this to my 496, but also does it to my Anywhere Map Wx PDA. So clearly, there's some sort of blocking of signals going on in the 3rd plane (TwinCo).

So, back to the original query, it may not be an antenna issue, but maybe a freq issue on a nav/com.

FWIW

Keven

P.S. Did I read somewhere that Larry sold his 337?
________
Lovely Wendie

[stackj]

Keven,

There are some communication frequencies that interfere with GPS signals. I forget which harmonic it is, but it somehow seems to drive the GPS wild. There is a little item called a "notch filter" which goes in the communications radio antenna cable which will usually prevent this interference. IFR GPS systems have to be tested at each of the frequencies known to cause problems before they can be certified for IFR use. Sometimes the tank circuit in the output of certain ELTs will cause similiar problems. I think this only causes interference when transmitting on a comm radio.

Check with a good avionics shop. They should be able to resolve the issue.

Ever coming to Richmond? Does Peyton still speak to skymaster people?

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...s/tednotch.php

[gkey]

Kevin, I think you are right on the frequency issue. I did a search on Google "Garmin handheld no reception" and landed on a blog site, where someone wrote about the same thing. He stated that he contacted Garmin about the fact that his 396 would loose satellite reception out of the blue from time to time, and apparently they confirmed it was inteference with certain frequencies.

Get this: they sent him an "old" antenna (from the previous 196 series) and told him to try it. Apparently he does not have the problem anymore. Makes me wish I kept my 196...

I went to my plane yesterday to connect the antenna(s). I waited 30 minutes for the 396 to aquire satellites, and not a single one appeared on the screen. I took the handheld out, snapped on the little stub antenna and brought it home. I made it stand on the balcony railing were it had at least 270 degrees of clear view. Again it took about 20 minutes, but at last it aquired the satellites. I thought maybe it took that long because I had not used it for about 4 months, and it was setting up the whole calendar again from scratch. But, alas, I switched it off and on again, and waited another half hour before it would start getting the satellites. I can remember my 196 was as quick as lightning. Why is this unit so slow???

And I thought that I had found every way possible to spend money on an airplane . . . .

Well, I guess I'll be a couple hundred bucks poorer this week after buying a couple!

Jim, sorry to hear about the heart issues. As you may know, I had my own issues a few years back and was able to be back up in the air, so don't despair if you're not back up there yet.

Regarding Peyton, sometimes he'll stoop to the likes of me -- a 3-way twin driver, but is pretty preoccupied with his Cherokee 6 and his most recent acquisition -- a round engine, oil slobberin, aerobatic, deep gowlin, Yak. It sure is pretty, but as we like to kid about each time he lands at our airport, the fuel truck follows him from landing to his hangar!!!

kk
________
Dc medical marijuana dispensary

[stackj]

Keven,

Be sure to check with your avionics guy (or gal) before buying a notch filter. That seems to be a likely solution, but your wiring may not have BNC connectors. Your avionics person may need to add or revise some connectors.

You can't just spend money on parts... You must buy labor too!

Don't despair... We just overhauled two props and the rear engine... now we are $42K poorer. At this point, we have invested about 220K in our 50K machine.

I'm sure the $ was a typo. Everyone who owns an airplane ends up making money on the acquisition and sale of the bird . . . at least that's what other folks/non-flying spouses hear!

Thanks for the reminder.

kk
________
SabrinaCutie