I recently panel mounted my 760 and hard wired it my GPS 400W for flight plan sharing and to a GDL 39 for ADS-B in. I Bluetooth from the 760 to the 400W via a FS210 to send flight plans to the 400W. The hardwire to the GPS only allow GPS-->760 sharing; the Bluetooth connection allows me to share FPs from the 760 to the GPS.
Overall, I like the setup and I do treat the 760 as a MFD. There is a ton of functionality, the unit is robust and the display bright. Screen size is decent, but I do find myself having to zoom in for clearer details. Never had an issue with it picking up GPS signals. Flight log, however, is very basic - I would not treat it as an electronic logbook as there is no way to categorize the hours. I especially like being able to use a big touch screen to enter flight plan info and send it to the 400W. Sure beats the knob twisting. Being able to draw holding patterns at any waypoint is really nice.
There are a lot of idiosyncrasies when you do FP sharing and I am still figuring it all out. One big idiosyncrasy to keep in mind is that when the 760 is receiving FP via a serial port, it automatically gives you the option to use an internal FP (i.e, use what's in the 760) or external FP (use what it is getting from the GPS). So, if your 760 is following the GPS flight plan (i.e., in "external" mode) and you want to update the GPS FP via the 760 you must a) set the mode to "internal", which allows you to edit the FP, b) do the edits, c) send it to the GPS, and d) accept the new flight plan from the GPS (which means you go back to "external" mode). To draw a holding pattern, you have to go through the "mode" switching process too.
The thing with the FP mode is that the 760 doesn't allow you to edit a FP while in "external" mode. I haven't tried updating FPs from a 3rd unit (i.e., an iPad running FF or GP) but I suspect you won't have to do the mode thing as you're not interacting with the 760. iPad sends the GPS your flight plan, accept it in the GPS, the GPS automatically sends to the 760 where you accept again.
I'm really trying to figure out the 760/GPS FP sharing as I want to use my 760 as my primary MFD interface and use my iPad only as a back-up.
D-> also had its quirks, and I am still on that learning curve. Garmin says you can't share D-> from the 760-->GPS but the GPS does seem to accept a D-> from the 760. Still learning.
My learning curve has been slow as to do all the above I have to be up in the air. I don't know of a way to simulate on the ground. So, I deliberately plan a learning session when I want to check something out. It really helps when you lay out what all you want to do, then see how the system reacts. Of course, you do these learning sessions VFR and a safety pilot helps reduce the flying workload allowing you to focus on learning how the navigation systems reacts.
Would be interested in how others use their panel mounted 760 and any tips or tricks you may have learned.
Oh, and I do route the 760 audio through my audio panel via a dedicated aux channel (as I can control on/off and volume easily through the 760). Nice.
