Garmin Streetpilot 2820 Remote mounting

[araspitfire]

For those interested, here's how I mounted my Garmin Streetpilot remote.

The white blocks are just a bit of old cutting board, cut into 30 degree wedges... and one edge sculpted a bit. I put some tiny machine screws through the battery door and dremmeled down the heads to clear the batteries...

The locking wire is so that the door doesn't pop open and I loose my remote ... A really thin tywrap would work...

I've used dualock to mount, but velcro would work too..

The electrical tape is because I don't want to risk wrecking the thing in the rain... as paneuropean says though, his has been through heavy rain (and the sink) and never quit.... It also gives me a bit more security from falling off, though I think the velcro is holding it well...

IN the bottom picture you can see the while system mounted... I've got duallock on the FM antenna, and mounted it at an angle because it was distracting sticking straight up in front of me... I use the GPS in the Camper too, so mounting to the back of the GPS is the easiest thing.

The remote works with the GPS at all steering angles... Only bright sun shining from over my Left shoulder stops it, and then I just wait till I go through a shadow and it's fine...

Hope this is helpful to someone... As you can see the remote is right in front of my fingers... I can work it while the clutch is pulled in... I rode a complicated 3 routes over a couple hundred kms today thorugh Amsterdam center... tons of turns and used the heck out of the system.. I'm really happy with it, and am thinking of how to mount the remote in the Camper, as I'm getting used to using it so much...

Al...

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi Al:

Very classy installation of the remote.

About that GTM 11 traffic receiver that you have: If you want, you can go to a better quality auto stereo shop and have them make up a flexible antenna for you that consists of a bit of wire (about 16 inches long) with a Fakra connector on one end of it, and nothing on the other end. You can then attach that bit of wire to (for example) a brake hose, to keep it out of harm's way, and then plug the GTM 11 into it when you use it on the moto. That's what I have done on my moto. It saves having the rigid antenna that comes with the GTM 11 present on the moto.

Michael

 

[Blackal]

Hi Al,

Brilliant idea!

Al

 

[araspitfire]

Hi Al:

Very classy installation of the remote.

About that GTM 11 traffic receiver that you have: If you want, you can go to a better quality auto stereo shop and have them make up a flexible antenna for you that consists of a bit of wire (about 16 inches long) with a Fakra connector on one end of it, and nothing on the other end.

Thanks, and good idea...

I actually broke the base of the bendy bit of this antenna... turns out it's just a short bit of wire (1/4 wave) inside a plastic tube, with a heatshrink product around it all for beauty... The problem is they use the wrong type of plastic for this application... not bendy enough, too brittle... and the heatshrink is too weak... I was thinking about removing the plastic and replacing it with a grey tube of polyethelene (drinking straw), or something more resilient, but in the end just reinforced the existing one for now...

My kit actually came with a fullwave antenna included as extra... nothing to stop me from cutting it down either..

But I intend to move this setup between 2 cages on the beanbag, and my bike... so I figured having it attached to the back of the GPS keeps things easy... But you have a point, maybe when I determine that I don't need the full-wave unit (for poor reception reasons), I'll cut it down, and attach it downwards throught the instrument cluster and mount the GTM11 inverted on the back of the GPS to mate with the fixed antenna... would look better for sure!

Al...

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi Al:

When I first started testing these GTM FM traffic receivers on the moto last summer, I used a GTM 10, which was just the little rectangular thing, with nothing attached to it. I purchased an el-cheapo automotive radio antenna, and mounted that on the moto, then had a local avionics shop make up an adapter that fit onto the bayonet-type fitting on the auto antenna, and connected it to the Fakra fitting ('in') on the GTM. Photo below.

That worked well enough, but it was a kind of clumsy PITA on the moto.

Later in the year, I found a FM antenna at a ship chandlers that was - basically - nothing more than a flexible bit of wire with the same bayonet type fitting on it, so, I bought that and replaced the mast-type antenna with the flexible wire one. I wrapped the wire around one of my brake hoses (leading to the front brake) just to keep it out of the way. Worked fine, no problems with FM reception.

This spring, I visited Garmin in Kansas and spent some time discussing the problems of using these GTMs on motorcycles with the electrical engineers who are responsible for the hardware. They agreed that the original format of the GTM (the small rectangular thing) was not really designed with the motorcycle crowd in mind - it wasn't waterproof, and the whole idea behind the Fakra fittings on it was that it would be installed 'inline' with an existing car radio setup. However - they did cook me up a smaller version of my marine antenna, which was a bit of wire about 16 inches long (just plain ordinary wire, nothing special) with a quick-release Fakra type fitting on the end. By 'quick release', I mean that the fitting was just friction fit, it didn't make use of the locking tabs on the body of the GTM.

I have used that since then, and been happy with it. I have stuffed the GTM 10 into a somewhat water-protected area of my motorcycle, and run the cable up to the GPSR.

BUT... for any moto riders who plan to get a FM traffic receiver in the future, the one you want to get is the GTM 12, which is the current 'latest evolution' of these traffic receivers. It's a shrunken version of the hardware device that the EE's cooked up for me in Olathe - very small, "waterproof" (in my opinion only, Garmin won't say that), and has a small flexible wire antenna coming out the end of it.

All three products - GTM 10, 11, and 12 - work equally well. The advantage of the 12 is that it is smaller and easier to work with on a moto. But, having said that, I'm still using my original GTM 10, even though I have a GTM 12 in my desk drawer - I can't be bothered to go to the trouble of refitting the 12 to the moto, considering that the 10 is working just fine. I use the 12 whenever I have a rental car - it's small, sticks to the inside of the windshield, and can be rolled up and stuffed in the carry-bag along with the GPSR.

Michael

Original Moto Installation - GTM 10, Summer 2005
it worked, but it was kind of clunky.


Example of a Fakra Connector that is 'friction fit'


More experimentation last summer
maybe the precursor to the GTM 11?


The GTM 12 - the latest evolution of the device, much more moto-friendly.