External antennafor Garmin 2610

Hi:

I've been reading the posts here for a while, but this is my first post. I've got a 2610 and am thinking about trying an external antenna in hopes I'll get better reception, and faster sat. acquisition, in the city. I've got two questions:

Is the antenna likely to help in this situation, or is it most likely a line-of-sight issue that nothing's going to help?

How hard is it to attach and detach an antenna cable at the back of the GPSR? I move the 2610 to the car occasionally, and to my wife's van whenever we take a family trip. And, of course, I lock the unit in a saddlebag when parking in less than great surroundings. Is it going to be a pain to attach / detach the cable everytime I need to move the GPSR? Does anyone make a short little dongle that I can attach in between the 2610 and antenna wire, to get the connection out where it's more accessable?

Thanks for your help,

Bob

Bob,

I've noticed a difference in reception since moving to the 2610 from the SPIII. I get a lot of 'Lost Satellite Reception' warnings now. I reckon this is due to the internel aerial being more shielded on the 2610.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to fit an external aerial at some stage. The socket is right by the power connection, and pulls out, so I don't think you'll need to extend the lead or whatever. It's the one by the small USB socket (that you program the unit through).

I've not used an external aerial, but recall someone on the board (Dave Hall??) saying that, when he connected one to his SPIII, it acquired satellites whilst in the garage!

Mike

It pulls out? I thought it was threaded connector. I'll have to take another look at it, I guess.

Thanks,

Bob

meyerweb said:

It pulls out? I thought it was threaded connector. I'll have to take another look at it, I guess.

Thanks,

Bob

Click to expand...

Bob,

it looks like a small calibre co-ax push socket - difficult to get a good shot of it. It's a completely different fitting from the SPIII remote aerial, which had a sort of bayonet fitting arrangement.

Mike

The SP 26xx series (which includes the BMW Navigator II) have a small connector on the back that is called a MCX connector. The larger connector that is on the SP III, GPS V, etc. is called a BNC connector. These letter codes are electronics industry worldwide standard nomenclature for connectors.

An external antenna will significantly improve the performance of just about any GPSR, however, you will really notice a big improvement when you install an external antenna on a SP 26xx GPSR. I think that the built-in antenna on the 26xx works just fine looking straight-up through the plastic cover, but I sort of suspect that the cover (and other internal materials) prevent the antenna from looking between 5° and 20° above the horizon.

The antenna I like the most is made by an unknown Asian company. I like it for two reasons: it is the tiniest GPSR antenna I have ever seen (compare the antenna size with the CF card in the photo below), and it has a really thin cable. It also works just great, it sucks the satellites right out of orbit.

One thing you do have to be cautious about, when using an external antenna on the SP 26xx, is how you handle the MCX antenna connector (on the cable that runs to the antenna) when you remove the cable from the GPSR. If you have fat fingers, or have difficulty gripping very tiny objects, I suggest you go to a Volkswagen dealer and buy a tiny plastic fuse puller, like what comes standard in the fusebox of any new VW, and use that tool to pull the antenna connector away from the GPSR whenever you want to remove it. The male MCX connector on the antenna cable is only about 2.5 mm square, and it fits flush against the back of the GPSR. Worse still, it is a right hand angle fit, so it really lies flush against the back of the GPSR. If you pull it in any direction other than straight out, you risk damaging the connection to the cable of the external antenna. If you cannot easily pick up one of those tiny little sugar substitute tablets when it is lying flat on a smooth tabletop, get a fuse puller, and just tie-wrap it to the end of your antenna cable.

Here is a link to a web page that shows this particular brand of antenna. BTW, this company is a very good one to deal with, but I am not sure if they have this exact brand of tiny antenna in stock, so make sure you specify exactly the one you want.

Prairie Geomatics - tiny external antenna

Don't forget: SP 26xx users - specify MCX connector, everybody else, specify BNC connector. MCX is a tiny pull-off connector, BNC is a twist-off (bayonet fit) connector.

PanEuropean's Favourite Antenna

Just to help everyone avoid confusion, below is a photo of a BNC connector, which is the larger size connector found on the back of the SP III, GPS V, 276, 296, etc.

This is NOT the MCX connector that is on the back of the SP 26xx. See Mike O's excellent photo of a MCX Connector, above.

Any GPSR that has an antenna that swivels up and says "Garmin" on the flat side of it is attached to the GPSR with a BNC connector.

Photo of BNC Connector

I have found that the simplest place to mount the external antenna on my moto is on top of the front brake fluid reservoir. I used industrial strength Velcro to hold it there. If you buy the exact same brand of antenna as I did (photo above), the antenna will be smaller than the cap on the fluid reservoir.

Remove the identification sticker (see photo above) from the bottom of the antenna before you put the Velcro on it. The identification sticker peels off very easily - too easily- which is why it's not a good idea to attach the Velcro to the sticker.

The most important consideration, when mounting your external antenna on your motorcycle, is that it is FLAT - in other words, parallel with the ground. If you have a choice between a location that has 90° of sky view (azimuth) blocked, but is perfectly flat, or a location that is on the top of a 20 foot pole but will be tilted 15° in any direction, choose the location that is flat and has the partially blocked view of the sky. Honest.

Also, just a reminder here, if any of you have the WAAS (SBAS) function turned on, turn it off. Simply turning WAAS off will give you a 20% increase in satellite acquisition performance, because the GPSR won't dedicate two channels to search for SBAS signals that don't exist in Europe (and are useless for automotive navigation anywhere else in the world).

If you want a really neat and tidy installation, take your antenna to any aircraft avionics shop, and they will be able to shorten the cable to a length that is appropriate for your bike. I had mine cut down to about one foot in length. This requires fitment of a new MCX connector, which requires very specialized tools and a skilled technician. Expect to pay about USD 30 for this work.

I never remove my antenna from the motorcycle. It is totally waterproof, and small enough that no-one is going to notice it or take any interest in it (at least, not in Switzerland, anyway). Besides, the cable routes down the handlebar wiring bundle, so it's kind of attached to the motorcycle.

An external antenna mounting location that works well for me

I stuck mine on the beak with a double sided sticky pad, I've never lost reception unlike when I just used the stubby antenna that came with the SP111.

The guys at www.gps4less.co.uk do a small antenna (MK4/BS-2), with a variety of connectors including MCX, for £29.50. I used one as a spare on the Dakar and it survived!

I have only used the external antenna on the roof of my car so far. And then it does make quite a big difference in signal strength and number of satellites.

On the GS the 2610 built in patch works reasonably well, until you get under heave tree cover, next to a steep rock wall, things like that. So on some trips I wouldn't mind having extra signal strength by using the external antenna.

Stupid question maybe, but would it work as well if you put it UNDER the beak? Are the signals bothered at all by plastic? As the antenna patch on the 2610 is inside the housing, I suppose they are not... I can of course just try it out, but if somebody aready has it saves me the trouble

Cheers,
Michel

Gilsson also has a good antenna - it has a straight MCX plug which is much easier to remove from the SP2610.

http://store.yahoo.com/gilsson/antennas.html

Amplifed Remote GPS MCX / OSX Antenna - 180 degrees straight connector (comparable to GA27C Garmin part # 010-10052-05) for Garmin iQue 3600 PDA, StreetPilot 2610 GPS, StreetPilot 2620 GPS, StreetPilot 2650 GPS, StreetPilot 2660 GPS, eMap, GPS 12CX, GPS 12MAP, GPS 12XL, GPS 40, GPSMAP 60C, GPSMAP 60CS, GPS 76, GPSMAP 76, GPSMAP 76C, GPSMAP 76CS, GPSMAP 76S, GPSMAP 175, GPSMAP 195, Motorola Encore GPS, Navman iCN 630, GPS 3450 and GPS 4400, Holux GM-100, GM-101, GR-230, GM-250, GM-251, and GM-270 CF, Billionton CF GPS, Emtac Crux Bluetooth GPS, Whistler Galileo GPS or ANY other GPS models with MCX (or "OSX") antenna connector.



Description
For autmobile, aviation and marine GPS devices. (comparable to Garmin part # 010-10052-05). Gilsson's amplified remote GPS antenna is a high performance GPS patch antenna with state-of-the-art low noise amplifiers while only consuming 10 mA of power. This antenna features a molded 180 degree straight MCX connector.


MCX9B-180Regular price: $99.99Sale price: $22.95
Length: 9 Ft.
Color: Black

will it improve the signal for a Garmin V? I often loose it (and the signal) under trees.

I though I might put mine under the lid of my top box. I assume the plastic does affect the signal much?

Mike O said:

I've not used an external aerial, but recall someone on the board (Dave Hall??) saying that, when he connected one to his SPIII, it acquired satellites whilst in the garage!

Mike

Click to expand...

I was a bit dubious about this claim.

So with the bike parked here, well inside the garage....

I turned the unit on with my remote antenea connected and got this....

Using this, I don't know how it does it, but a few trees wouldn't cause a problem....

Hmm, impressive!

Think I'm gonna make an effort and mount that thing on my scoot too!

Should keep my "fix" next time I'm in the Black Forest then...

Cheers,
Michel

(By the way, if you don't want everybody to know where your garage is, you may want to mess up the coordinates in that pic).

Whatton said:

I turned the unit on with my remote antenea connected and got this....

Click to expand...

.. and now we know where you live....!

(You might want to edit the picture if you're paranoid like me)

Interesting regarding the satellite reception tho! Thanks for the pic!

Ahhh yes, cheers Joker.

Should keep my "fix" next time I'm in the Black Forest then...

Cheers,
Michel

Click to expand...

We are off to the black forest 27 Aug fer 2 weeks, is the GPS signal quite bad down there????

Same about displaying your coordinates, 'ol Asama will get it into one of his ICBM's

Capt Over-reaction said:

We are off to the black forest 27 Aug fer 2 weeks, is the GPS signal quite bad down there????

Click to expand...

The signal is as good as anywhere, but you often ride under tree cover or along a "wall" of rocks blocking the sky sight.

With my 2610, I get the "lost satellite reception" message quite often over there. Usually not for very long but still, it gets annoying sometimes.

As I have the external antenna for using the 2610 in the car, guess I could mount it on the GS just as well...

Cheers,
Michel