outside antenna for laptop gps

[betsytom]

Have had our outside antenna for the laptop gps for a few months now and will say it is fantastic. Not that the dash unit did not work but the outside one, mounted on the top of the ac cover, works an awful lot better.

We got the globalsat MR350P, usb connector direct;
http://www.usglobalsat.com

It comes complete with the driver, even I could load it.
Best part is that it works with Co Pilot and Delorme!

[whodo]

I wasn't able to find the "MR350P" on that web site, maybe I overlooked it but I did find a "AT350" listed there.

[betsytom]

whodo, thank you for pointing my error out.

Go to the link, select antennas, select gps antennas, select AT350 and you will get back to the model you reference. At the end of the description there is a link to the MR model, which is both the receiver and antenna which is what I purchased, apparently the AT model is only an antenna.

I cannot imagine anyone with either co pilot or delorme not being happy with this new antenna/receiver-just remember to get the connector you need.

We received ours in about three days direct.

[whodo]

betsytom
Thank you for clarifying the link, I went back and looked again and didn't find the "MR350P", so I came back and read your posting again, and then went back and read the whole page for the "AT350" again and finally noticed that the very last words were, "please look at our MR-350P".


After reading there spec's and checking there price I ordered one. They have a much better price than Delorme has on there new "GPS40" antenna.

Thank you for providing the link & info on this antenna.

If anyone else goes looking for it; at the bottom of the info for the AT350 and just above the specifications list you will find ""please look at our MR-350P."", it is easy to miss, its not high lighted or anything else to make it stand out.

[betsytom]

whodo, something else you may be interested in:
http://www.smoothtalker.com

We have had one of these, Canadian made, cell phone boosters for over a year and are amazed, far more often than not we have a clear signal with the amp than without it. If you have a fiberglass or rubber roof you must put the antenna on top of a small, 18" or so, round piece of metal (ground plane) or it will not work anywhere near as well.

If you are often way out in the boonies a sat phone is still your best bet, but this is next.

[betsytom]

Thought I would post the first and only problem with the antenna, the nema to usb connection pretty much failed; would not stay inserted. Tried taping but this didn't work, so I decided to solder the connections. While it was not as fast as I had thought, it was not a huge job, once I realized that a yellow wire-which was traced to a pin on the connector- apparently is unused on one side of the setup-it appears that this wire is a network connection for nema applications-or so it would seem as the system is working perfectly.

I did use heat shrink tubing on the connections, including the grounding wire and over the entire cable and I did not worry about the shielding on the cable as it was only pulled back approximately two inches.

We now have a 100% reliable connection and even severe flexing, twisting and pulling will not cause the signal to be dropped.

Of course being the idiot that I can be at times, I DID NOT use the piece of heat shrink that came with the receiver/antenna and usb adapter and I will be interested in hearing from anyone who purchased this product and used the tubing if the connection remains tight.

This is one fantastic product and I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who uses their laptop for navigation, as I mentioned earlier it works for both our Street Pilot Live 10 and DeLorme mapping programs. We usually see two additional satellites being recieved with the outside antenna and have not once lost the signal. Not that the dash setup lost the signal alotbut it did happen on a regular basis.

I decided on mounting the receiver to the top of the a/c shroud and when not in use the cable stores very neatly under one of the filter covers on the inside of the coach-the cable lenth is perfect, enough to get to the front seat and to the dining/sitting area of our rv.

Just remember to use the heat shrink tubing immediately!!