Howdy All,

So I decide to go for a Sunday morning local flight from Grangeville(S80) to Slate Creek(1S7) made 2 landings there, then over to Kooskia(S82) for 2 more and back to Grangeville. I count that as 5 landings but I brought the GPS home to update my log book & it claims I made 8 landings. Is it time to update it or is the settings??

Good flight & both strips were in good shape.

Dave

Musta been the landings! Did ya bounce high enough for the machine to think you were back in the air????

Gump

That's exactally what I was thinking

Hey Dave
I'm thinkin too much air in those 26's
Gary

Ah Sh*t I forgot to turn off the automatic bounce counter.....

Gary I did just finish the annual so I may have gotten out of hand with the air...

If your Garmin 196 is recording number of landings you have not upgrade your software. Garmin has a web site for upgrading soft ware that is free and easy to use. It is called webupdater. If you update the soft ware you will lose the landing function. But the GPS is much better.


http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupda ... nstall.jsp

If you haven't updated your garmin software in a long time, I highly recommend backing up any routes, tracks, or waypoints you want to save elsewhere, like on the computer - large version updates often (though not always) erase the onboard memory!

Dot_AK wrote:If you haven't updated your garmin software in a long time, I highly recommend backing up any routes, tracks, or waypoints you want to save elsewhere, like on the computer - large version updates often (though not always) erase the onboard memory!

For sure!! I lost everything off mine when I did the big update a while back. It basically formatted the thing. It won't prompt you or anything before it does it. They took away the page that had the airplane instruments on it too with that update.

Dot_AK wrote:If you haven't updated your garmin software in a long time, I highly recommend backing up any routes, tracks, or waypoints you want to save elsewhere, like on the computer - large version updates often (though not always) erase the onboard memory!

You know I had that happen to me because I did not know how to back up that information. Care to share how you do that?

hilda170b wrote:.... If you update the soft ware you will lose the landing function. But the GPS is much better. .............

Just how is it better? I thought that just updated airport identifiers & stuff like that. And why would the update take the "instrument panel" page away? Not that I use it that much, but it's kinda handy sometime.

Eric

Below is the address for the change history.
Some changes you will not notice a difference but others have a big impact.
These units are great. And the updates make them better. Read through the list and make your own decision. For me up dates make it better.

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download ... jsp?id=433

hotrod150 wrote:

hilda170b wrote:.... If you update the soft ware you will lose the landing function. But the GPS is much better. .............

Just how is it better? I thought that just updated airport identifiers & stuff like that. And why would the update take the "instrument panel" page away? Not that I use it that much, but it's kinda handy sometime.

Eric

You may be confusing things . . . there are two areas that can be updated on-line, software version using the Garmin WebUpdater as previously posted (this if a free service and is the way Garmin fixes bugs and adds incremental improvements to the units operating system). The other area is the database which is the airport identifiers, info, and on later GPS's terrain and obstruction info etc - - database updates are not free.

It's a good idea to check for software version updates every few months or at least once in awhile. When you turn the GPS on, the version is usually displayed briefly at the bottom of the screen.

AvidFlyer wrote:....They took away the page that had the airplane instruments on it too with that update.

Like I said, I don't use this page that often but it's handy sometimes. I set it up to display the big HSI on the left & 4 data blocks on the right. So does this "panel" page just go away in it's entirety? I got my 196 used so am not sure , but I suspect it's never been updated. About the only gripe I have is that some of the more recently changed identifiers aren't in it. I looked at the change history, quite a list. I'm not sure if I wanna bother though, esp if it means I'd lose the HSI page.

Eric

I just updated my 496 to version 4.20 of the software with the WebUpdater (not the map database) and my HSI page is still available. I can't imagine Garmin removing this functionality only for the 196. Avid, are you sure that your page configuration wasn't changed somehow?

Go to a page that you think is similar, perhaps one that shows the CDI, and hit the Menu button, select "Set up Page Layout", and see if your desired HSI layout ("panel") is there.

hotrod150 wrote:

hilda170b wrote:.... If you update the soft ware you will lose the landing function. But the GPS is much better. .............

Just how is it better? I thought that just updated airport identifiers & stuff like that. And why would the update take the "instrument panel" page away? Not that I use it that much, but it's kinda handy sometime.

Eric

I have got this info from a 'friend'

Word on the street is ............. Some Darwin award winner actually used to instrument page to fly his plane and stalled it and ended up a smoking hole. The heirs are/will file suit against Garmin for defective equipment.....

Seems the 'less then smart' pilot thought the page reflected the true reading of his flight.... he didn't take into consideration the airspeed dial is actually ground speed based on GPS input and he apparently got into a downwind leg with the panel page showing 60 knts. Unfortunately the 20 knot tailwind gave him 40 knots airspeed,,, not 60 !!!!! Crater resulted from that move..

Ya can't protect the 'down on the foodchain' pilots from killing themselves sometimes.

Ben.

Stol wrote:...he apparently got into a downwind leg with the panel page showing 60 knts. Unfortunately the 20 knot tailwind gave him 40 knots airspeed,,, not 60 !!!!!

Ouch... I started in to bust you on the downwind turn myth, but re-read this and realized it is a reported GS vs actual AS issue, so myths not applicable! However, given that my freshly updated 496 still shows the HSI full array of tiny dials, perhaps what your friend says is not true?

Strange that the crater-maker would focus on the Garmin unit vs a larger easy-to-see ASI in instrument conditions. It seems like such a basic tenet of flying theory to disregard.

Skystrider,

Depends on how fancy you want to get. Garmin tends to ship a program that'll do it with the GPS these days, but options range from the free programs like http://www.easygps.com/ to spending lots of money for a geographic overlay to somehow tying google earth in that I've never actually learned, just heard other folks talk about.

For just straight backup, download a free program to connect with your GPS and save your files, and figure out if it's otherwise useful later, eh?

Thanks Dot_AK!

I have had the 196 for a number of years and never really thought about 3rd party software for it. I will have to spend a little time and educate myself!