Did you fall in love with the display of the new Garmin 696? It really is a thing of beauty. As soon as they saw it they immediately made plans to install one of these in their own airplanes. So they set out to design a Panel Dock that solves the unique challenges of such a large device.

First and foremost they were committed to keeping the "footprint" of the Panel Dock to an absolute minimum. The 696 is already 5.7" wide by 7.7" high. So their tradition of adding a latch to the top or side of the Panel Dock had to be changed. They absolutely had to stay within the 6.25" width of a standard radio stack, and they really wanted the overall height to be as short as possible. Their solution is a latching mechanism that is virtually invisible from the front of the dock and does not protrude beyond the overall footprint of 6.25" by 8".

Next, they needed to provide a way to manage the cables that connect to the 696. As with their other Panel Docks, they have provided keyholes that capture the cables and keep them from falling into the panel. The 696 is installed into the dock by resting the bottom of the GPS on the Panel Dock and attaching the cables. Then the GPS is snapped into the Panel Dock and finally it is latched in place using the latching wheel located on the right side of the dock.

As with their other Panel Dock products, the 695/696 Panel Dock allows you to securely mount your GPS in your panel while allowing you to remove the GPS from the plane quickly and easily.

The result is a streamlined and professional installation that adds to the functionality of the GPS.