Antenna for the V

[Les Wassall]

Is there a difference between a,

Amplified GPS Antenna for Garmin GPS with BNC connector

or

A Remote GPS Antenna (patch) with a BNC connector

or do they both perform the same.

 

[PanEuropean]

I suspect they are the same, but I can't say for sure, because I don't know the specifications of the two different items you mention. Could you perhaps post part numbers?

The reason I suspect they are the same is because the GPS V and SP III both share the same original (post-type) antenna.

PanEuropean

 

[richie]

Funny this the last few days everyone getting excited and interested about extra antenna. Do they all need them. Mine works fine right to the middle of bruxelles. However when I turn it on in the middle of bruxelles to come home it takes three or four minutes to get a good signal. I already know where I am so I don't worry about it.

Or if I did not would have to wait at a standstill to get a signal. Probably about the same taken to connect all the extra hardware.

By the way I am not taking the "mickey" I am sure that some people need them "black forest" or elsewhere but before you spend the dosh, make sure its necessay...

 

[jimbo]

Whilst I have no real problems with the signal strength on my Garmin V, I have still been thinking of adding a remote Antenna.
It's clearly the sort of tough, outdoor accessory that no true bloke should be without.

 

[richie]

Now we understand each other, go ahead and get one

Dirt chaep on ebay anyhow so why not (boys and their toys and all that)

 

[Les Wassall]

TYPE (2Q 2004), arial 1

Comparable to Garmin GA 26C low profile remote automobile antenna (Garmin # 010-10052-04), arial 2.

Does this help?, I am after the arial more for the car as I have a heated front screen and the V can be a little slow sometimes, no problem on the bike.

Arial 1 does come with a choice of cable length, 1, 3 and 5 mtrs, so if it went on the bike the 1 mtr would be easy to hide.

 

[PanEuropean]

Jimbo wrote:

"Whilst I have no real problems with the signal strength on my Garmin V, I have still been thinking of adding a remote Antenna. It's clearly the sort of tough, outdoor accessory that no true bloke should be without."

Well, I did get a good smile from that - nice to see a good sense of humour here on the board.

Seriously, though - the newer units (especially the SP 26xx series) benefit more from an external antenna than the older units. There are several reasons for this:

• The older units - the SP III and GPS V, for example - shipped from the factory with an external antenna attached to them. Think about it for a minute - that cigar-sized swivelling thing on your older model GPSR is, in fact, an external antenna. The SP 26xx series has an internal antenna. Most of the time, it works as well as the older generation external (post-type) antennas, but when it is tilted off vertical, as is often the case with motorcycle installations, its performance suffers. If you made sure the SP 26xx on your motorcycle was perfectly horizontal, laterally and longitudinally - just as it is when it is on a car dashboard - then the internal antenna would work great. But, due to the design of motorcycles, and where we put the GPSR on the handlebars, we usually have it tilted about 20° off vertical.
  
• The newer units - SP 26xx, 276, 296, etc. - have much faster processors, so you can see the benefit of adding the external antenna. Sort of like you can see the benefit of adding a faster printer to a fast computer, but it really doesn't make much difference if you hook up a 16 PPM laser printer to your old 286.
  
• The recent crop of third party mounting brackets for the SP 26xx series - the brackets from Touratech and RAM (not the RAM balls and hardware, but the RAM mounting bracket) do a great job of covering up the internal antenna on the SP 26xx series.

PanEuropean

 

[BurnieM]

From my personal experience;
the GPS V was fine with its standard antenna
the GPSmap 176 benefited from an external antenna
the GPSmap 276C is fine with its standard antenna

As all 3 use the same antenna we are obviously talking about differences in the
sensitivity of the receiver.

Above comments apply to onroad use on the bike and offroad use in the Grand Vitara.

 

[PanEuropean]

"As all 3 use the same antenna we are obviously talking about differences in the sensitivity of the receiver."

Actually, I think the answer is a lot simpler than that - if you look at the shape of the GPS V, you will see that when the screen is tilted up at the best angle for viewing when it is mounted on a motorcycle, the antenna is almost perfectly vertical. My guess is that you are not tilting your 276 as far back as you tilted your 176, because of the difference in the screen technology (if you look at the 276 straight-on, you sometimes see your own reflection).

GPS antennas are VERY SENSITIVE to being moved off vertical - as soon as you get the antenna more than 15° off vertical, either in the fore-aft or side to side axis, the performance of the antenna starts to suffer.

By the way, WTF is a "Grand Viagra"? I have never heard of that before, is it some kind of Aussie motorcycle?

PanEuropean