Garmin AERA 560
I bought one a while back and love it. But flyin from Riverside Ca to The Bacon Strip (with 58Skylane) a few weeks back just after passing HEC VOR it shut off. I thought I lost charging, not. about 4 weeks later 58skylane (Pat) and I again in separate planes made the same trip and it did it again, his did not (Garmin 396). I tried to reboot and every time I'd get to the Accept touch point it'd shut off, I joked that maybe it doesn't like it hear. When I'd leave the area seems like a 5-10 mile radias it would stay on. Now Sunday the wife and I flew to Las Vegas and as we passed HEC VOR heading about 030' it failed in the same area, way too coincidental. Same thing it shut off would start to boot back up and shut off, black screen. About 10 miles and it would start up and keep going, keeps track of the time in route. I inverted the flight for the return and sure as you know what it failed again on the return in the same area. Heard of anything or experienced that yourself? That's been 4 times in the same area. Anybody had a similar experience with a GPS?

My Garmin 396 does the same thing, always in the same places. Going into Hillsboro OR, Eugene OR, and between Goodyear and Stellar AZ. If I'm wandering that way I'll throw my old Garmin 89 up on the glareshield because that thing has NEVER quit on me.

We had this discussion here a couple years ago, and one of the guys (way smarter than most of us) posted about signals coming off the ELT circutry when exposed to high power radiation from TV/radio transmitters that overpower the GPS. His answer was to remove the ELT from the aircraft and re-fly the route and see if that cured the problem.

Gump

I'll re-fly that area soon and look for some antennas in the area. I looked at the track log for all 4 flights and the first 2 it happened south of the VOR. This last Sunday Monday it happened north of the VOR one of my tracks showed a 90' right hand turn for a short distance then it quit logging for about I'd say 10 miles and started recording on the original line but with a gap.

I've had my 396 for 2.5 years and have not had one shut down or problem (as I'm knocking on the wood end table). But yeah, Flying with Russ in the area he's talking about near the Hector VOR I heard him talk about his malfunctioning GPS. Mine worked fine in the same area. I do keep my 396 plugged into the 12v cig. lighter, though. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Ya happened to me again Pat same place going to Vegas and coming back same area. Really weird gonna call George Norry tonight and see what he knows about it I'm sure some of his callers know bout this stuff.

Glidergeek wrote:Ya happened to me again Pat same place going to Vegas and coming back same area. Really weird gonna call George Norry tonight and see what he knows about it I'm sure some of his callers know bout this stuff.

You mean this guy?? George Noory: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

Oh......I think it's the aliens F ing with you!!

Strange things do happen in the wastelands of the desert!!

I got your solution right here:

What the heck is that, Z??

I like what it says on the bottom right corner!!

Many for sale here: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=apollo+loran

My 696 "locks up" and will not shut off or anything else every once in a while. My old 496 was way more dependable in my opinion. The only fix when locked up is to both pull the cig plug AND take out the battery pack. Then it reboots and goes good. I have been in some hairy situations and have that happen. I don't think it is at any particular place though.

If you don't get an answer from your contact for Garmin I can try with mine. I have a guy from Garmin who hunts pheasants here in the fall. I sent my 296 back with him. It had a dead internal clock battery which causes chronic date and time issues. It was 20 minutes at boot up to locate itself using both hands in broad daylight. He sent a reconditioned one back with a new battery at no charge. He said if I ever needed anything to give him a call.
Post up what you find.

I found it...

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2992&start=0&hilit=elt+gps

by MikeMl » Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:48 pm

GumpAir wrote:
....From about ten miles south of Troutdale in to the airport my satellite reception just goes away. Nothing. It's completely blind. Five miles north of Eugene and into the airport, same thing. Down in the Phoenix area I can tell you the exact spot on the ground between Goodyear and Stellar Airpark where the damn thing is gonna quit...



Disconnect the coax cable from the ELT antenna where it goes into the ELT and try your GPS again. If that fixes it, it is because high signal levels from very high power TV and FM transmitters couple into the ELT antenna, travel down the coax, mix and generate intermodulation products in the ELT's transistor output stage (even though it is unpowered), the intermod products travel back up the ELT coax, and then radiate off the ELT antenna to the GPS antenna, where they clobber the very low level GPS signal.

If you tell me that you are using one of the ELTs that have an antenna inside the cockpit, same deal; just leave it home for a test flight.

What kind of ELT do you have?

Fast work Gump. I wasn't even done folding my tinfoil hat yet. '
MikeMI sounds like he does have it together.

Gump
It's an old SOB I think a Dorne & Margolin. OK if I take it out and leave it in the hanger how they gonna find me if I crash?
Who's gone to the 406 what brands are out there and how much?

Old 121.5 ELTs are boat anchors now so heck with the thing... Ya probably don't want people knowing where you're flying anyways

Gump

I had this problem in a rather expensive airplane, turned out that the XM antenna is a "active" antenna
and the antenna was radiating over the GPS antenna's and making it lose its signal. Changed XM antenna
(not the first thing, I'm afraid) and had no problems since. Early in the diagnostic phase it was mentioned that there are areas out west were GPS won't work for certain security reasons.
Dave

My 296 went TU twice on me, both times over busy metropolitan areas. It came right back as soon as I flew away from the area.

Not surprising, given all the radio stuff operating in a big city, and the nature of gps:
"The GPS signal strength measured at the surface of the Earth is about –160dBw (1 x 10–16 watts), which is roughly equivalent to viewing a 25-watt light bulb from a distance of 10,000 miles. This weak signal can easily be blocked by destroying or shielding the GPS receiver’s antenna. The GPS signal can also be effectively jammed by a signal of a similar frequency but greater strength. "

Z is stirring the pot with the Loran picture, but I'll certainly miss mine!

1SeventyZ wrote:I got your solution right here:

Send it down it will go great with my new 530W MX200 gdl-90 I have just about enough room left.

Hector is just south of Goldstone, the big "deep space communications center" in Fort Irwin, and just east of the mirror farm boiling water. Probably a cauldron of signals.
I used to run a radar speed meter study all through that area, and got a lot of strange readings. I also gave the space command funny readings until they found me. My radar blanked out a Army payroll microwave once. Lot of strange goings on in the desert.

My old 396 has shut off several times on me, hence the word "old". I just upgraded to the new aera 510. Hopefully I won't have any issues with it.