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John Navas John Navas is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Mar 2007
Posts: 66
Default GPS antenna location

On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:40:30 +1100, Moonshadow
wrote in :

larry wrote:


Wrong attitude. The GPS antenna has no need for ALTITUDE. Aboard
Lionheart, I got tired of them bumping into both the Raystar little dome
and the Garmin active antenna, so I mounted them INSIDE the overhead
cabinet in the galley


Belowdecks is the way to go in a fiberglass boat.

My friend held the antenna alternately in the clear abovedecks, and
belowdecks hard up against the coachroof in various spots. I watched the
signal strength indicator on the chartplotter as she moved the antenna
between the abovedecks and belowdecks positions. In many spots
belowdecks there was no difference in signal strength from the
satellites with the antenna abovedecks or belowdecks.

My GPS antenna is now mounted in a good spot belowdecks, out of the
weather, away from running rigging and flying feet.


My own tests have been quite different -- I've seen considerable
difference between belowdecks and abovedecks, and agree with
manufacturers recommendations to mount the antenna on something like the
stern pulpit. It makes no sense to take _any_ risk with something this
critical to safety.

--
Best regards,
John Navas http:/navasgroup.com