Plamar

I wanted to mount my GPS V and the Mod in the Tech section seemed too much work. I decided to mount it in the digital clock opening. I took off the circular disc on the mount, and used it as a template...I drilled two 1/8" holes through the disc and two smaller pilot holes (very small drill bit, just to allow screws to go in without eating up material) into the opening ( see Pic 2). I was careful not to drill too deep so as to not hit wires or the rear-window switch. I also use the shortest possible screws (1/2" - 3/4"). I mounted it so that it was far enough away so I could still use the vents and the hazard switch.

You get a better signal using an external antenna for this mod but you should still get a decent signal with the stock antenna (externals are 15-19 bucks on E-Bay.) I got accuracy of 8' with external, 21' with stock antenna (also had better lock with external).

For the faint of heart, double sided tape could be used for mounting, but this is a more solid method (and the holes were very small). I like the fact it is off the dash, and near the factory spot for the navigation unit. Pic 1 shows the unit in place. It is easy to unmount, and the disc is not very obtrusive. The clock cannot be seen when it is in place, but the GPS V has a hyper accurate clock display, so there is no loss.

If anyone else tries this, let me know. It works for me, and it is also less obvious to would be thieves if you don't want to unmount it.

Plamar

Here is Pic 2 of the disc mount.

Bob_98SR5

Plamar,

Very creative what you did re GPS mount. I bought the original Garmin GPS Streetpilot from a guy on ODW. So far I like it but I can't really get closer than 200ft. I believe that is as close as I can get---I really have not had the time to read the manuals and play w/ the software. Ok, sorry to digress...

I finally found a use for my useless cupholder (I have a 98). I used double-sided velcro tape on both the back of my GPS and my cupholder and mounted it there. Like most of my mods, I like to design them to look OEM and easily attached/removed. Its not very stable as it bounces up and down, but not to the point where its unreadable. On rough roads, it'll bounce alot but all I have to do is to put a finger on it and its stable. Does your mount shake/bounce alot?

Also, I bought a powercord from an ebay seller named "gpsgeek". I hardwired that to my aux fuse box. I then drilled a hole into the side of the radio panel. The great thing about it is that there is enough cord to retract into the radio panel and to reach the GPS.

Here's some pics:













Bob

alanh

Plamar,

Thanks for posting your mod. It gave me an idea that had not occurred to me before of how I might solve a problem I have with an LCD screen I use on my GPS/PC setup. I'll have to see if it will work.

Alan

Plamar

Bob...sweet idea..of course I have no cup holders there. I bought my antenna from gpsgeek, and also a power/data cable for the PC. No, mine does not move at all (well, if the whole truck moves, it moves) since it is really screwed down. And your power cable rocks! I might have to think of that for mine.

Alan....my pleasure...this board has been so helpful to me in the brief time I have been here, I thought I would share a tip I tried. I am now going to try and think up something to perhaps raise the unit up just a tad to be more in my line of sight, but not too high that it might as well just be on the dash...but this is a fine place for now.

Plamar

Hey Bob, one more thing...try an external antenna and you may get much better accuracy...you should actually, since you will be picking up satellites behind you and to your sides, which you probably are not getting with the factory antenna.

alanh

I have a Garmin Etrex handheld I use with a PC. Since that unit doesn't have an external antenna, I had a re-radiating antenna on my dash. I get much better reception with the antenna on the outside than on the dash. Right now I've got the antenna tied to the wind-deflector I have on the back with the wire through the back hatch. Its only a temporary lashup for now, but it does improve reception.

Bob_98SR5

plamar,

thanks for the compliment---if i can figure out a way to make the cupholder more stable, it'll be a perfect mount.

i'm going to have to do some research on the gps, software and now the antenna option. thanks for the tip!

edit: i looked on the garmin site and saw this antenna:
http://shop.garmin.com/accessory.jsp...0%2D10052%2D04

is this the one you have? i think so but its hard to tell from your pic. is this thing weather-proof? i would even consider making it a permanent part of my vehicle (i.e. drill into roof) if it is weather-proof.

by the way, where 'bout are you in central MA? I lived in Wellesley and Brighton. My sis-in-law went to Tufts Vet in Worchester (pronounced it wrong the first time I got out there in '96).

also alanh: do you have a pic of your "re-radiating antenna"?

Bob

Plamar

I live in southern Worcester (pronounced Woostah) County...

The antenna I bought was from Ebay...it is this one....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=4668

But it was not from that seller, but it is the same...and I believe it is water proof..it has been on my car for a year in the worst weather (snow and rain).

I didn't drill through the roof, but ran it out the rear passenger side door tucked neatly under all the trim, etc. There is quite a bit of wire with it...make sure you get the 16' of cord, not the shorter one!!!

Firefyter-Emt

Not too bad of a spot.. What I have found (keep in mind I use mine daily to navigate to 10-20 locations daily) is that I like it to be very close to my line of vision.. I had made a really nice wooden mount that fit into the cup holder but it was too much distraction to look down to it and back to the road. The way I have it up top on the dash is works alot like a "Heads-up display" where you almost are looking thru it and the road at the same time.. My mount was a little bit of work like you mentioned though, but I do like it very much..

BTW.. How close are you to me?? I live in Charlton..

Plamar

Ever hear of Southbridge?

Where on the dash did you mount yours, and by what method? If I can find a decent solution to get it more in the line of sight, I would love to try it

Plamar

Lee:

I see now, that was your GPS V mod...what I was thinking was building just the flat angled wood part, attaching the circular disc to it, then velcro the base to the dash...I hate to put holes in the dash. Any help is appreciated.

Any chance you made a spare angled base?

Firefyter-Emt

Well to be perfectly honest.. The Garmin comes with 2 glue disks, 1 "it aint ever coming off" disk and a removable one.. I have the removable one on my T-bird for about 6 months and it came off without damage to the dash (this was on a 16 year old car to boot) I could help you with making a base, that was easy to do, from there you could then Velcro the "epoxy mount" or use the removable glue disk.. The permemant disk then can be used the glue the garmin base to the epoxy base... Let me know if you want a hand making one, it is a lot easier that you may think...

Hmmmm Southbridge you say.. yea, I think I know where that is My oldest son goes the Southbridge Christian Academy, and that is just a few miles from my home..

Man, go to the "off topic" section, check out my new BBQ grill and think about coming over some weekend for some burgers and such...

Firefyter-Emt

BTW, making a full wooden base for the dash is a pain because it has many contours to it.. This is where the epoxy works so nice, it "forms" to the exact shape of the dash..

Bob_98SR5

Plamar,

I purchased the external antenna and had an opportunity to try it out this weekend. Here are my results:

Mounted as shown in previous pics:

Average 7 satelliltes acquired
Average 13-14 feet accuracy

With new Antenna mounted on the roof and right in front of the moonroof:

Average 11 satelliltes acquired
Average 11-12 feet accuracy

So the biggest gains is the # of satellites acquired. I'm sure that is a good thing but the net effect on accuracy was about 1-2 feet. I'm debating whether or not this will be enough justification to find a permanent roof mount (i.e. drilling a hole), but I'm gonna give it a few weeks before I make (or don't make) the decision.

What are you guys getting in terms of accuracy and # of acquired satellites?

Edit: my wife figured out how to stabilize the shaky cup holder. It's called "wedged piece of paper". It's ugly but it's effective.

Bob

alanh

Bob,

Kind of long-winded, but I never manage in 50 words or less...

I've never looked into it enough to know exactly how the receivers go about determining a position, but my understanding is that most don't use more satellites just because they can pick up more. They may use 4, for example, even though 12 are available. Obviously, they have to choose which ones, so having a wider selection may mean they can pick those that get a little better accuracy.

I think that the main advantage of more potential candidates (i.e. with external antenna) is that in difficult reception areas, you're more likely to be able to determine a position because you still might have the minimum number whereas with the internal antenna you might not be able to receive enough at all.

If you have a receiver capable of picking up the WAAS satellites and are in the right areas (currently I believe this is only on E and W coast and even then it will depend on terrain/buildings, etc.) you will get much better accuracy. Its nice to see 8 ft accuracy, but the biggest annoyance to me was simply no position at all due to poor reception. For driving I don't think I need that much accuracy, but you might want it for geocaching.

I have not been back to a couple of places I know I had severe signal dropout with my antenna on the dash to see if mounting it outside helps in those places.

I just ordered a Garmin GPS 16 which is a weatherproof antenna/GPS that looks like a fat hockey puck.GPS 16 This will replace my current handheld GPS for two reasons. I use a laptop computer for moving map display, so manually turning the GPS on is a pain in the posterior, and the external antenna thing I use with it doesn't have wires long enough to reach anyway.

I'm thinking I will try this: I can make a bracket to mount the antenna to the stock roof rack rail near the back. I will try to find some kind of tubing and see if I can make a rigid "conduit" for the wire from the antenna to go down behind the back hatch. This will only be long enough to go across a few inches of roof and into the area behind the hatch to give it some protection and keep it from moving and possibly wearing the paint. This depends on the size of the wire, (& thus the tube required) and if there is enough space between the body and the hatch as it is opened. I don't know if I can bend the tube sharp enough, either. I'll have to cut the RJ-45 connector off the end of the wires, but I don't think it is long enough to reach up to the front seat where I have my laptop anyway. The wire can then go along the gasketing on the body for the hatch with maybe some stick-on wire tie anchors to keep it in place. Not sure just how I'll route the wires from there, but I can find a way.

Plan B is to mount it just like what I have now, by attaching it to the wind deflector on the rear hatch, but I don't like having the cable flexing everytime I open it.

Plan C, might be to make a bracket for my TJM T-15 and mount it up high on the front bumper to see how well that works. I don't really want to do that since its a lot more visible and susceptible to vandalism or theft there and it still might be partially blocked by the top of the vehicle.

Plan D, might be to try pulling one of the end caps for the roof rack off and going through the roof under there. I've read where people have done that, but I don't know how well it works and how hard it is to do.

Alan

Firefyter-Emt

Alan... I have run wires under my roof rack many times.. I like doing it that way, in the worst case, you buy a new roof rail and hide it 100'%.. I have even run CB cables with out cutting the ends.. Just get a rubber grommet, and drill a larger hole in the roof rack it self, and silicoln it heavily..