I purchased a global sat 353 gps puck to use on a laptop for navigation on my 60. It's a usb gps, with an 8' lead. The instructions for the gps say to mount it anywhere inside the vehicle. My question is where to mount it for optimum performance? The wire is long enough, I can easily run it through the firewall and put it on the hood or fender. Not sure if it will reach the roof. Will outside work better than inside? Putting it inside is tempting, since it's so easy, but I don't mind the extra effort for better performance.
Where to mount a wired GPS puck
- Thread starter lovetoski
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GPS is line of sight (mostly), so outside will work better.
Though, with modern GPS receivers, their performance is so good that even inside the vehicle and on the dash will work plenty good enough.
Why don't you just try it out? If you have a half decent program, it should show the satellites it is using and the ones that should be visible but aren't being used. Experiment...
I personally run an Android tablet (built in GPS receiver) that mounts on top of the dash and it never loses lock - even works in a metal roof garage (walls are not metal)...
cheers,
george.
Though, with modern GPS receivers, their performance is so good that even inside the vehicle and on the dash will work plenty good enough.
Why don't you just try it out? If you have a half decent program, it should show the satellites it is using and the ones that should be visible but aren't being used. Experiment...
I personally run an Android tablet (built in GPS receiver) that mounts on top of the dash and it never loses lock - even works in a metal roof garage (walls are not metal)...
cheers,
george.
+2. Center front on dash works just fine almost all the time.
In the CTD I run both the DeLorme and the Overland Navigator softwares. Both of their USB antennas simply sit on the dash under the dash cover (which is only there to kill the hard plastic dash's killer windshield glare).
- Joined
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Yep, figured it would work well.
Here's a story to make you laugh...
Years ago (2002 I think) I was in the oz bush and had an external mouse style antenna (magnetic mount) on my roof rack connected to my Garmin V and feeding the NMEA data to my laptop. Was driving along on some remote tracks and all of a sudden noticed that the fixes had stopped and it was dead reckoning in a straight line but I'd just done a 90 deg turn.
Hmm.... what's up... Hop out of the vehicle and the antenna is gone and the cable is severed from a branch strike that just hit the cable right. We walked back to where the fixes had stopped updating and found the mouse antenna on the ground.
Ran with just the Garmin V built in antenna for the rest of the trip with it on the dash and it worked pretty reasonably anyway. Repaired the coax cable back home and it worked fine again.
Of course now I just use an Android tablet and also have some bluetooth GPS receivers that I occasionally use with a laptop etc. Modern GPS receivers are incredibly sensitive and fast to acquire/relock and update.
My first GPS was a single channel Magellan NAV1000 (cost me close to $2900 back in 1989)... The GPS constellation wasn't even complete then and you only could get 2d or 3d (less 3d since you needed 4 sats) for a few hours here and there during a 24 hour period. SA was also present then and limited accuracy to a few hundred feet. It is amazing how the GPS technology has improved over the past decade or two. Combined with digital maps it is hard to get lost anymore - though some folk seem to manage it - even in the city
cheers,
george.
Here's a story to make you laugh...
Years ago (2002 I think) I was in the oz bush and had an external mouse style antenna (magnetic mount) on my roof rack connected to my Garmin V and feeding the NMEA data to my laptop. Was driving along on some remote tracks and all of a sudden noticed that the fixes had stopped and it was dead reckoning in a straight line but I'd just done a 90 deg turn.
Hmm.... what's up... Hop out of the vehicle and the antenna is gone and the cable is severed from a branch strike that just hit the cable right. We walked back to where the fixes had stopped updating and found the mouse antenna on the ground.
Ran with just the Garmin V built in antenna for the rest of the trip with it on the dash and it worked pretty reasonably anyway. Repaired the coax cable back home and it worked fine again.
Of course now I just use an Android tablet and also have some bluetooth GPS receivers that I occasionally use with a laptop etc. Modern GPS receivers are incredibly sensitive and fast to acquire/relock and update.
My first GPS was a single channel Magellan NAV1000 (cost me close to $2900 back in 1989)... The GPS constellation wasn't even complete then and you only could get 2d or 3d (less 3d since you needed 4 sats) for a few hours here and there during a 24 hour period. SA was also present then and limited accuracy to a few hundred feet. It is amazing how the GPS technology has improved over the past decade or two. Combined with digital maps it is hard to get lost anymore - though some folk seem to manage it - even in the city
cheers,
george.
- Thread starter
- #8
Hi George,
Thanks for the story - we have lots of overgrown trails/roads in the Pacific NW, so external wiring/etc can get damaged here also. I had this happen just a few months ago.
c'ya
Thanks for the story - we have lots of overgrown trails/roads in the Pacific NW, so external wiring/etc can get damaged here also. I had this happen just a few months ago.
c'ya