Quest power supply from bike

[Warthog]

I notice that Garmin make a bracket that bolts onto the handlebars to secure the Quest. I was thinking if I used a normal home charger for the quest, chopped off the plug and re-wired the cable to an auxillary power plug and member recently kindly sent me, would it work for charging the quest whilst on the road? Or do I need some sort of transformer or fuse in line to protect the Quest from the bike's current?

As you can guess I know nothing about electrics....

 

[Mouse]

You need a voltage regulator to convert the 14V supplied by the bike to the 5V (I think) that the Quest needs. A fuse would also be a sensible precaution.

You can buy voltage converters at places like Maplins, I got a couple that were switchable between a range of output voltages. One of these with a 5v setting should be fine for powering a Quest, but then again it's not specifically designed for it so in the unlikely event that something blew up, you'd probably have a hard time getting comeback from either manufacturer.

 

[Steve Chip]

Much simpler...

click the link above for Ramuk.

If neads be speak to steve (Ramman).
Little money, no problems.

My stuff arrived the day after I'd orderd it.

Steve

 

[gypsy]

Same here not worth messing about imho just contact Ram Man and get the full mount- power-audio lead fit and forget
Delivery excellant as well

 

[Stoney]

Can anyone tell me how long the battery tends to last for on the bike without additional power? With screen illuminated and with and without sound times would be handy.

Ta.

 

[ianboydsnr]

battery on mine lasts around 5 hours with backlight on, down from around 20 hours without backlight, it sends audio out anyway, so this makes no difference to the battery life, you need a audio lead and a earphone to hear it.

 

[Warthog]

click the link above for Ramuk.

If neads be speak to steve (Ramman).
Little money, no problems.

My stuff arrived the day after I'd orderd it.

Steve

This is a fair point and Steve at RamUK did make a nice offer amounting to £55 without P&P. What irks me is the Garmin handlebar braket is only $20 for about £15. Admittedly without power, but as I will be travelling with a wall charger anyway and the battery life is pretty good, it irks me to pay an extra £40 (albeit good value and quality) for something I could probaby survive without. Hence, my initial question to see if I could knock up a power supply for less. Of course if the total is aroun £30 then I'm better off going for the RamUK offer. I may wait tilll early nesxt year once Christmas is out of the way!!

 

[Stoney]

battery on mine lasts around 5 hours with backlight on, down from around 20 hours without backlight, it sends audio out anyway, so this makes no difference to the battery life, you need a audio lead and a earphone to hear it.

Thanks for that. 5 hours is touch and go really - I have to see how I get on. I've got the audio lead and a pair of ultimate-ear monitors to plug in to it.

 

[RAM-man]

I've got the audio lead and a pair of ultimate-ear monitors to plug in to it.

That's fine, but nothing (I Guess) to plug into. If you have a RAM cradle (GA15) then attach QPAC (power & audio) or if audio output only then look at ACQ.

I read these threads, OK maybe someone is clever and can cobble a £5 option, the downside if it and the gps goes T*TS up. I know what's inside QPAC and have seen the mult-layer pcb inside, then the connector pad which may forget about. I have yet to hear or read about a better Quest bike combo than QPAC and a GA15 cradle.

The *offer* is for GSer site sponsors ONLY, so make sure you register on that thread, so I can verify, then call me and not before!.

RAM-man

 

[nelsonkite]

I plugged the garmin supplied car cigarette lighter into a converter plug socket from HG (£6) which plugs ito the BM and attatched the power lead to the back of a handlebar mount by removing the small screw(torx?). The handle bar mount sits on the crossbar and the unit is permanently powered. Works fine....

 

[Warthog]

Courtesy of an early Crimbo prezzie, my quest power cradle and bracket arrived. Top kit adn Ram-man top bloke. Excellent advice, and speedy delivery with a generous UKGSER discount to boot. Highly recommneded to any considering! !