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Garmin 796

jwall

Member
Looking at the Gramin 796 GPS. Will the 796 GPS power the TruTrak two axis auto pilot? Have read one article so far, saying the 796 will not power autopilots.
 
I have a 795 and Trio ProPilot.

Power an A/P? I doubt it. Send steering commands to an A/P? All day long.
 
Autopilots use ship's power for operation. The GPS just sends commands to the autopilot.

I've a 795 driving a Pro Pilot for 7 years. The PP also can listen to the 650 or G3X internal.

John Siebold
 
Is the Garmin 796 hard wired to the TruTrak autopilot, or by some type of usb cable? Does it have to be done by an avionics shop? Has Garmin upgraded the 796? I have seen them as a 796 or area 796, any difference?
 
Typically RS 232

Is the Garmin 796 hard wired to the TruTrak autopilot, or by some type of usb cable? Does it have to be done by an avionics shop? Has Garmin upgraded the 796? I have seen them as a 796 or area 796, any difference?

Typically the 796 is connected via a RS232 serial connection, this is picked off from the hard wired cable that you can get from Garmin for the unit (also lets you pick off the audio for aural alerts etc to your intercom).

Wiring the RS 232 is not hard if you have some wiring skills, essentially 2 wires and you can daisy chain it if you want to drive a SL30/40 frequency select etc. and the setup is pretty easy with help available on this forum.

796 and Aera 796 are the same thing. There is also a 795 and if I remember correctly the 795 is the same as the 796 but does not have XM which was an issue when I bought mine but now I do not use the XM capability. Units are updated by Garmin although I think the 660 (below) seems to get more love lately.

The Aera 660 does not do everything that the 796 does and has a smaller screen but does talk IOS Bluetooth which the 796 does not which is useful for uploading flight plans etc. and integration with Garmin pilot.

796 works well in landscape mode and is generally very readable in the RV cockpit.
Figs
 
Units are updated by Garmin although I think the 660 (below) seems to get more love lately.
Figs

The Aera 660 definitely "gets more love" from Garmin, especially since Garmin has discontinued the 796 recently without announcing its successor. That sure won't stop existing 796 units from working just fine!
 
Wow

The Aera 660 definitely "gets more love" from Garmin, especially since Garmin has discontinued the 796 recently without announcing its successor. That sure won't stop existing 796 units from working just fine!

Discontinued? That surprises me, my 796 is the best gps I?ve ever owned, hands down.
 
Discontinued

Garmin guy at Oshkosh told me the same thing. They are going to stop making the 796. I love mine because of the size but maybe it?s got the iPad mini as it?s competition. I have both and I love the 796 for it?s sunlight readability. It also guided my propilot autopilot for years before I installed the GTN-625.
 
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