iPad w/Garmin 496?

[PittsDriver]

Does anyone know if there's a way to use my Garmin 496 as an external GPS and/or XM weather receiver for an iPad? I was out looking at the GNS 5870 or the Bad-Elf devices but the best solution would be for a GPS, terrain, XM weather feed from the 496.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Does anyone know if there's a way to use my Garmin 496 as an external GPS and/or XM weather receiver for an iPad? I was out looking at the GNS 5870 or the Bad-Elf devices but the best solution would be for a GPS, terrain, XM weather feed from the 496.

Simple answer: No.

You'd need an awful funky cable to hook the two up, you'd need software on the iPad that knows how to talk to the 496, and I don't think the 496 is capable of outputting weather data anyway.

Best solution if you have both of those units aboard is to keep using the 496 for navigation/weather and use the iPad as an EFB for your charts (with the handy addition that you can get navigation info on it, too, if you have a 3G iPad).

 

[gismo]

Simple answer: No.

You'd need an awful funky cable to hook the two up, you'd need software on the iPad that knows how to talk to the 496, and I don't think the 496 is capable of outputting weather data anyway.

AFaIK, Bluetooth and serial GPSs output the NMEA183 protocol, and the 496 can deliver the same. So the cable wouldn't need to be all that funky and the iPad software might not be much if any different than what's required for any non-Apple-approved GPS attachment.

I believe you are correct that the 496 doesn't output any weather data.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

AFaIK, Bluetooth and serial GPSs output the NMEA183 protocol, and the 496 can deliver the same. So the cable wouldn't need to be all that funky and the iPad software might not be much if any different than what's required for any non-Apple-approved GPS attachment.

I was thinking Garmin used a non-standard connector at their end of the USB cable, but it looks like maybe it's "normal" mini-USB. Still, I don't know of anyone who sells a cable that goes from that to the Apple dock connector.

 

[jason]

I was thinking Garmin used a non-standard connector at their end of the USB cable, but it looks like maybe it's "normal" mini-USB. Still, I don't know of anyone who sells a cable that goes from that to the Apple dock connector.

Something like this would work...

http://www.cyberguys.com/product-details/?productid=33062#page=page-1