I hope no one here has to use it, but I had my scout go under water with a 496. After retrieval, the 496 is still going strong a year later.

I fly pipeline patrol 500 to 600 miles some days, and can't say enough about the weather radar feature. JG

patrol guy wrote:I hope no one here has to use it, but I had my scout go under water with a 496. After retrieval, the 496 is still going strong a year later.

I fly pipeline patrol 500 to 600 miles some days, and can't say enough about the weather radar feature. JG

The 496, like most Garmin units, is waterproof, it can be left under 3 meters of water for up to half an hour and still function normally.

I have a flight cheetah by true nav. This gps has a great screen, bright and has a lot of functionality. There are several of us using this gps here, we like it a lot. Take a look.

I used to work in a pilot shop (up until a few months ago) and was both trained and have used all of the GPS units being discussed. We had nothing but problems with Lowrance. The unit freezes, buttons just stop working but the biggest problem comes when you try to send it back or get help with the unit. The minimum wait time to speak to a Lowrance rep is 30 min. and the fastest turn around I have heard of is 6 weeks to receive a new unit or more likely to receive your own "fixed" unit. A few years back Lowrance moved its aviation plant to Mexico, since then nothing has been the same. Overall the geopilot is a good unit. The screen quality is not as good as the avmap EKP IV. If you hold the unit in your right hand then all of the buttons are within thumbs reach, so that is nice. The unit does not come with a battery pack so if you do not have it plugged in to a cigarette lighter you can not use the unit. You can buy a battery pack separately for $100 that will last you about four hours. The pack is a separate box the size od a small fist that attaches to the unit by the cigarette lighter cord. For my money I would buy a garmin 296 (it ends up being about $100 more than the geopilot if you buy the battery pack). I would rate the GPS units quality for the price: 496, 296, EKP IV, 396, geopilot, 600, 2000, 1000. If you have specific questions I can probably answer them. Hope that helps.

WWhunter,

Give us an update on your AV map after some flights, I've liked the looks of this unit for a few years now and would like some more feedback.

I like the big-screen looks of the EKP IV Pro, but I don't like FAQ #4 on their website:

http://www.avmapnavigation.com/index.ph ... id=624#624

4. The screen on my unit is freezing/stuck, what do I do to fix it?

RAM CLEAR:

With the unit OFF, hold down the ENTER key and turn the unit on. Keep the ENTER key depressed and the SYSTEM MENU will appear. Let go of the ENTER key. There will be a menu selection titled “RAM Menu.” Highlight this option and press ENTER. Another menu will open, select the second option: RAM CLEAR and press ENTER to select. You will be prompted to select ENTER to confirm that you want to perform this operation, press the ENTER key. A message will appear, "RAM CLEARED". The function has been completed. Please turn the unit off by pressing the POWER key and then turn the unit back on to confirm that the unit is now functioning properly.

NOTE: performing a RAM CLEAR with reset your unit to the Factory Default Settings. All waypoints, flight plans, or customized setting will be lost.


That's sounds bad to me. I strongly believe the unit should be able to undergo a soft reset without erasing waypoints, etc. I searched the Garmin website for "screen freeze" and saw nothing...not that Garmins can't freeze up also (does anyone know of a GPS496 freezing up (serious question)?). I really like the bigger screen of this EKP IV Pro, but it's too bad if it has a hanging problem. Any thoughts or experiences from you guys?

I just found the user's guide at http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/stylespi ... EKP-IV.pdf

On page 81, there is 15.5.3 When Nothing Else Works, which describes the RAM Clear process. Also,

When using the
RAM Clear feature, you will loose all user stored information and the EKP-IV will default to factory
settings. Before this step, you have the option of saving user Marks, Track history and Routes to a
User Compact Flash


My guess is that you can't save to Compact Flash if the screen has frozen. Again, that's not to say that Garmin and others don't freeze, the question is how often?

Am I worrying over nothing?

FWIW Over 2.5yr of heavy use my Garmin 396 only "froze" ~ 3 times and a simply turning it off & back on fixed the problem.

My Garmin 96c on the other hand has froze many times. But again it only took turning the thing off & on. I suspect this freezing problem is because I have ground nav maps also in it and showing during air nav and it's sometimes just too much data to handle at one time. Not a big issue really. I still highly recommend the 96c for flatland flyers that only want to add towers (obstructions) to a basic GPS nav. And the batteries last up to 40 hours!

-Todd Giencke

Backcountry Boy-

I'm not sure why they recommend a ram clear for the frozen screen. Perhaps the root cause of a frozen screen on the Lowrance is more severe than on a Garmin, but a RAM clear seems a bit heavy handed.

Most of these things have integrated flash memory to store user data, and a separate faster access volatile memory module for the running operating system, as well as a firmware ROM to store the OS.

Maybe they're just skipping over the fact that there is a less severe way to power-cycle the unit that only wipes the volatile memory and not the flash memory for user data.

I really like my Lowrance 2000 and the way it displays terrain. It will show a terrain type map and then start to add the green, yellow and red overlay when you are within the specified proximity to the terrain. When I look at the garmin screens, it appears the the terrain is always in a small box off to the side or the screen shows only the airports and the terrain colors with everything else wiped. Is there another setting that I am missing?
I really like the big screen of the Lowrance 2000, and the only downside is the big screen - I would like to mount a GPS with the Air Gizmo, but not sure if I want to do this with the lowrance. If / when I get a garmin, it would be the 496 w/ private airstrips and weather capability.

I went ahead and got a second-hand EKP IV. I haven't explored every nook and cranny of its performance (haven't taken it in flight yet either), but I can say the screen is fantastic at first impression. It has been pretty cloudy, so I haven't had a chance to see it in full sun, but the overcast, daytime visibility of the screen is great. The large screen and large, clear fonts would make situational awareness instantaneous -- at least that's my impression on the ground.

It may be that the Garmin maps look the same, but my gut tells me that this big screen makes a big difference. I haven't played with a Garmin myself, but someone sitting right seat with me had one once.

I'm anxious to take the EKP IV in flight to get the feel of it under real conditions, but my guess I'll feel much more comfortable looking at it than a paper Sectional. I'll have the Sectional open, of course, to compare directly.

The obvious downside to the EKP IV is its weight. I don't think it will be a huge problem, but (they say) it weighs 1.76 lbs...and it's definitely not light. I'll put it on a postage scale and let you know my measurement...and how it feels on the kneeboard, if that's really the best place for it!

By the way, the EKP IV Pro is just a software difference, with a grid for search and rescue and a couple of other things.

I'll give you folks an update after I take it up. Thanks for all you input, by the way.

BCboy,
I didn't care for the knee mount when flying my Cessna. Unless you are long in the leg. I'm a little on the short side and hence need my seat up close to the yoke. The yoke would hit the GPS on my leg.
In the Champ ala stick...it worked fine on the knee. I will eventually mount it about dash level...out of the windscreen view.
AirGizmos does make a mount for it.
Keith