External antennafor Garmin 2610

Andy:

Be very careful if you are shortening the cables yourself. The cable and the connector are very small, and the antenna is 'powered' from the GPSR. I know that on the SP III, if there is a short or wiring problem of any kind within the antenna, the GPSR will give you an error message - I don't know how the SP 26xx deals with antenna problems.

My own suggestion - perhaps I am just the cautious type - is to only have the antenna cable shortened by a shop (most likely an avionics shop) that has the full set of quite expensive tools to do the job, and the testing equipment to confirm that the connection, impedence, etc. of the assembly meets spec after the job is done.

PanEuropean

PS: Are you in Alberta? I will be flying out of there during the first 10 days of September.
 
PanEuropean said:
PS: Are you in Alberta? I will be flying out of there during the first 10 days of September.
Click to expand...

Pan

Thanks for the advice, I am used to making up lots of different types of cables, as this has been part of my job over the years. The only thing that puts me off is the cost of the crimps, the plugs are relativley cheap.

I am in the UK, in the Cambridgeshire Fens, like Alberta in the sense that it is very flat! I've not been to Alberta for nearly 20 years, but my over riding memory is the miles of flat prairyland, with grain elevators dotted arround, and turning the steering wheel once an hour to avoid a tractor.

Appreciate all the info you have put on the board, am slowly working through it and am learning a lot about GPS. I've never had one before, used it in the car yesterday and was very impressed with what it shows. I now need a course in how to get the most out of it. Just waiting for the final parts to come in so I can mount it on the bike.

Andrew.
 
Hi Andy:

Oh, OK. Reason I asked (about Alberta) was your tag line of 'Big Sky Country' - which I think is the message on the Alberta licence plates - and also the reverse side of the coin in the picture above, which is exactly the same as the reverse of a Canadian 1¢ coin.

PanEuropean
 
PanEuropean said:
Hi Andy:

Oh, OK. Reason I asked (about Alberta) was your tag line of 'Big Sky Country' - which I think is the message on the Alberta licence plates - and also the reverse side of the coin in the picture above, which is exactly the same as the reverse of a Canadian 1¢ coin.

PanEuropean
Click to expand...

Hi Pan

My favourite tag line is from New Hampshire - Live Free or Die and is the way I would like to live. I even have managed to get hold of a plate with it on. My wife calls the Fens big sky, simply because you can see the horizon on every side. Any land over 20ft is called a hill. The coin shown above is a 2p coin, didn't cross my mind to show the other side when photographing it, as I thought everyone would recognise it for what it was.

Andrew.
 
I ended up buying two of the MCX versions of http://www.gps4less.co.uk/bs2info.htm
for my Navigator - one for the bike and one for the car.
I used it in the wife's car (Ford Focus - with aircon and heated front screen) for the first time yesterday, blu-tacced to the centre of the dash.
Much better than previous trips without an antenna - only had one instance of "Lost Satellite Reception" for a mile or so under trees in a valley.

This antenna has a straight fit connector - there is not quite enough clearance with the standard Navigator II bike mount, hopefully some light filing will sort that out.

Once thing I was wondering - when using the external antenna, does this replace or supplement the internal antenna ? i.e. would I be better off trying to fit to the top of the topcase, say, rather than on the beak, so you get a "view" front and back of the rider (assuming it supplements the internal)
 
Clive

Looking at MiGSel's tests on the previous page, it appears that the Beak position gives a better reception than mounted on the topcase. I am planning on putting mine in front of the oil cooler grill and routing the cable through it.

As to replacing or supplementing the internal anntena, I don't know, I think this is a Pan European type question.

Andrew.
 
AndyB said:
Looking at MiGSel's tests on the previous page, it appears that the Beak position gives a better reception than mounted on the topcase.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'd spotted that, but in the final "ALL DONE" photo the satellite "compass" is showing a different position to the rest, and most of the good reception sats. appeared to be in a certain direction - so wondered if it was due to the direction the bike was pointing, position of house etc.

In my "testing" with the bike just out of the garage with the house to the left i.e. not a lot of visible "sky" in all directions I experimented with the antenna in various directions in a 3m radius (i.e. the length of the attached wire) - didn't seem to make any difference where I placed it on the bike, however, if I covered it in my hand all reception dropped off, so suspect it replaces rather than supplements the internal one - I probably ought to try a more "scientific" experiment in a wide open space on top of a hill - but can't think of a place like that locally :(
 
Clive:

You are correct, the external antenna totally replaces the signal from the internal one. When I was doing testing of the DR function of the 2650, I would just put the external antenna in my pocket in order to simulate no satellite reception.

Disregard any difference in compass heading in MigSel's photos. The GPSR (any GPSR) determines compass heading from movement, not from the satellites. So, if MigSel bumped the handlebars even 1 cm while taking the photos, this would have moved the antenna, and the compass would then indicate the direction of movement, presuming (quite reasonably) that it was the direction that the entire vehicle was moving in. Any difference in heading shown in the photos is a red herring.

PanEuropean
 
I've just bought 3 of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4668&item=5716456750&tc=photo

I used Buy it Now yesterday afternoon and they arrived this morning. I bought 2 with one metre of cable for the 2 bikes and one with 3 metres of cable for the car. They all come with the 90 degree connector, not the straight one in the picture (his ad specifies this as well.

I bought a load of cables previously from this guy for my old emap. One tip, check all his auctions because on newer listed ones he often reduces the price a bit!
 
Here is the way I attached my magnetic external antenna to my 2610 on a Tour*Tech craddle.
 
Boundless is a bit lazy with such things.

Seemed to remember that my Garmin 195 MAP from the dark ages of GPS had an external screen mounted antenna (certainly looks like the 10052-05 GA 27C).

Mounts with three suckers to the windscreen.

1500 miles and it hasn't fallen off yet.

Seemingly enhances the receptions and the delay to full localisation boot up is now much less of an annoyance.

And yes.... the wire is a bit too long, but the ensuing "knitted-on" effect should discourage the toerags from nicking it.
 

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PanEuropean said:
Boundless:

That is a very nice looking motorcycle, is it the new 1200 cc one?

PanEuropean
Click to expand...

1200? Shudder!

Somehow I can't picture it as one.

It's plain vanilla GS Adv 1150, but blends into the landscape more confidently than the 1200 ever will.

Here's mine trying to blend into the seascape as well!
 

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