GPS Mounting

akflyer · Post by **akflyer** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 5:29 pm

I'm going to be buying either a Garmin 196 or a Lowrance 1000 to use in my ragwing. Has anyone found a good place and method to mount their GPS? I would like to avoid yoke mounting, and the space between the windshield and top of the panel is pretty tight. Also, Has anyone used the Ram suction mount? If so, where did you attach it? Thanks! Kevin

n3833v · Post by **n3833v** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 6:25 pm

I made a post mount off the rear 4 screws on the flap cover to come up between the seats and installed a ram mount on top for a GPS195

jcraver · Post by **jcraver** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:43 pm

I am using the suction mount and it works far better than you would expect. I have room on the lower left side of the panel for the suction cup and with the regular length arm it fits up next to the panel, just below the instruments. I also sometimes use it on the windscreen, left side- far aft, with the a short arm. That puts it in a perfect viewing position and out of the way, but the back of the suction cup looks kind of funky in the window. If you get one I would recommend getting both the regular length arm and a short one as it will give you more options.

I have a Garmin 196 and I am not all that crazy about it. I had a Lowrance Airmap 100 (not the 1000) and I liked the features much better, but the screen got too small for my old eyes. The Lowarance 1000 looks like it might be a little big for a 170. The 500 looks interesting, but I have not seen one in person. Garmin just came out with 2 new units a couple of weeks ago. Happy shopping!

jc

dacker · Post by **dacker** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:47 pm

I mounted my Garmin GPSIII on the metall bracket that normally holds the hand mike. I removed the plastic bracket that normally holds the mike and used one of the screw holes in conjunction with velcro and the hole in the back of the GPS unit.
To put it another way, the GPS unit came with a plastic bracket and two screws for mounting it into the supplied bracket. Throw away the supplied bracket. Remove the plastic piece from the airplane's mike bracket. Use one of the holes left in the metal bracket to mount the GPS. The GPS will tend to rotate since there is only one screw holding it on. Remove it and place a small piece of velcro on the bracket and the GPS to keep it from spinning. Route the wire from a remote antenna to the top of your instrument panel as close to the windshield an away from your compass. My antenna is all plastic and didn't seem to affect the compass, but if there is any metal involved it will.
I don't know whether the units you are talking about will work that way are not. Mine works great, I bent the bracket upwards just a bit, It is slightly low in my scan, but it really isn't something that you should be staring at anyway. Hope this helps!
David

Kyle Wolfe · Post by **Kyle Wolfe** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 11:05 pm

I've got a yoke mount for the 196 and do use it when it's IFR. Just easier on my scan.

But for 90% of the flying we do (my wife and I are both pilots) we simply use the Garmin bean bag mount. Seems like we both want to see where we're going!

Just put the unit on the bean bag and lay it on the top of your glareshield. The bag is heavy enough and the unit rides just fine up there. Gets good sat. coverage there too. And it's easy to remove when you want the "au-natural" look or to keep the unit away from those prying eyes/hands.

zero.one.victor · Post by **zero.one.victor** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 12:39 am

A friend has a 196 & it is a nice unit, but I think the best deal going these days is the GPS III. I think they're listing for about $500 now,versus a thou for the 196. The 196 has a few more features,and a larger easier to read screen. But that larger screen also makes it harder to find an out of the way mounting location for it.
I have my GPS III mounted in my ragwing just behind the ashtray on the pilot's side "window sill", just ahead of the door post. I've seen others mounted flat on the face of the panel. Both good locations.

Eric

dacker · Post by **dacker** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:26 am

Yeah, the III is a good deal. I bought mine at Sun N Fun for $389. I have been seeing them for about the same other places as well.
I am just amazed at how much navigational power you get for such a small amount. The problem with putting the unit on top of the panel is the surprising amount that it swings the compass. I believe my unit swung the compass about 20 degrees when it was within about a foot or so. Of course you can just use the HSI function, but I prefer my old fashion compass as well (not to mention that it is a required instrument). Eric, where you put your's was my first try, but I just installed Selkirk interior panels and it wouldn't work very well in that location. Down below, and tilted up like mine worked surprising well, and is easy to see.
David

zero.one.victor · Post by **zero.one.victor** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 3:33 am

Yeah, I meant to say 400 not 500. An amazing value in my opinion, really hard to beat.

Eric

Post by **GAHorn** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 3:42 am

I've used both the III and the 196 and find the 196 far superior. It has approaches, and many other features lacking in the III.
But back to the question: The 196 dash mount that comes standard with the unit is perfect on top of the panel/cowl. I bought heavy duty Velcro tape (about 2" wide) from the fabric dept. at WalMart, and stuck it on top of the panel. I cut an oval for the bottom of the Garmin mount(throw their sticky tape away) and pasted it onto the Garmin mount base. Stuck it on the panel and ..............perfection!!!!
This also allows you to use it in land mode, or marine mode in the car or boat.

There's plenty of room to spare.
Enjoy.

(PS- I also cut the cigar plug off the cigar lighter adaptor and hard-wired it to to my avionics buss via a circuit breaker . Passed the wire thru the hand-hold on top of the dash protected with a grommet. Feds gave me my CFI renewal checkride and loved it just as much as I did.)

C170Driver · Post by **C170Driver** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 1:39 am

I mounted a Ram 1" ball base near the top of the pilot side kick panel, about in the middle (between the front at the instrument panel and the rear at the door post) and had to add a sheet of aluminum behind the panel to give it a little more "body." To that I attached a three inch double-ended ball clamp (Ram) so that one end clamps over the base and one end clamps on to the GPS mount.

In the end - the GPS is stationed right above the top of the side panel, right against the windshield just before it meets the door post. The dual ball ends and double ended clamp make for infinate adjustment, and you can get shorter or longer double-end Ram clamps if it is too high or low for you, depending on where you had to mount the base.

Had the power/antenna cable routed from behind the panel so it would reach. Worked great! The top of the glare shield didn't work for me due to the seaplane brace and compass mounting.

akflyer · Post by **akflyer** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 4:58 am

Thanks to all for the great information! I have a Lowrance 100 (similar in size to the GPS III) that would be much easier to mount, but I've gotten to the age where the 100"s screen is a bit too small on the eyes!

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 3:28 pm

The Lawrance 1000 comes with a Ram mount system. A friend in Payson bought one this spring and we mounted it in front of the pilots side ashtray. It worked out really well.

I bought the new 2000 color version at Oshkosh but like many others have to wait a few weeks because the factory has not released them yet. The large screen is really nice and just fits on the panel space I've reserved. I like the Lowrance display and features plus they're much less money than Garmin. The 1000 has a 16 point grey scale vs. the Garmin 12 point for example. I guess I'll keep the Lowrance 300 for the boat to help me find the shrimping hole.

BloomerJohn · Post by **BloomerJohn** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 2:30 pm

I mounted my 195 Garman on the pass side, just fwd of the door post. Easy to see for both front passengers. Made a mount out of .024 Alclad that recieves the base mount of the 196. the mount has a tab that fits between the trim panel and the lower windshield u-channel. Antenna is mounted above to the headliner retainer and power is run to the lighter socket where I use the std pwr plug from garman.

thammer · Post by **thammer** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:11 am

jcraver wrote:I am using the suction mount and it works far better than you would expect. I have room on the lower left side of the panel for the suction cup and with the regular length arm it fits up next to the panel, just below the instruments. I also sometimes use it on the windscreen, left side- far aft, with the a short arm. That puts it in a perfect viewing position and out of the way, but the back of the suction cup looks kind of funky in the window. If you get one I would recommend getting both the regular length arm and a short one as it will give you more options.

I have a Garmin 196 and I am not all that crazy about it. I had a Lowrance Airmap 100 (not the 1000) and I liked the features much better, but the screen got too small for my old eyes. The Lowarance 1000 looks like it might be a little big for a 170. The 500 looks interesting, but I have not seen one in person. Garmin just came out with 2 new units a couple of weeks ago. Happy shopping!

jc

Anybody else using a suction cup on the windshield? How's that working? Any worries about stress on the windshield?

tye

lowNslow · Post by **lowNslow** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:46 am

I have my GPS mounted with the Ram suction mount to my windshield just above and slightly forward of the pilots ashtray. Works great, have not had any problems so far.