Len Krauss wrote:

Thanks for the full explanation Ian -- very helpful!
Len


Len, Sorry it took so long to get back to you, I was more than a little
busy with yacht club duties.

I made a NUMERICAL error (as you may have noticed Bruce in Alaska
pointing out to me). The great thing about USENet is that if one does
goof, someone will usually point out ones slip-up. This, in general, is
NOT true of the WWW as, for each site, the author usually controls the
medium. My reply to him was more than a little technical and I hope it
doesen't cause you any confusion.

The relevent part for you is the CORRECT frequency is approx 1575 Mhz
(1.575b GHz). This gives a wavelength of 18.9 cm in free space. This
is a *little* more forgiving than the higher frequency and I wouldnt
worry about terminating unused outputs on the splitter that DO NOT have
any cable or adaptor conected at all! (as the F socket is shorter than 2
cm) Also the splitter is being used WITHIN its specified bandwidth, so
it should perform to specification. The rest of my advice and
explanation stands as written.

Larry W4WSC has some very good points. There IS a risk of damage
connecting the wrong antenna to a GPS. The antenna may be 3.3V only and
the GPS outputs 5V or the antenna may require more current than the GPS
is able to supply without damage. I have the facilities to test an
antenna to see if it will be compatible BEFORE connecting it. I doubt
you are able to do so. His advice to install two antennae for two
recivers also has the advantage of redundancy which could be further
improved by running them off seperate batteries.

I am probably preaching to the choir, but as long as GPS has a millitary
application, it must not be your SOLE means of navigation.

To summerise, I belive your PRIMARY GPS should be wired direct to a
dedicated antenna especially if its your main meens of navigation, but
you may choose to use a single antenna for multiple backup or auxillary
GPSes as I originally described.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk [at]=@, [dash]=- &
[dot]=.
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'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Uffa Fox designed, All varnished hot
moulded wooden racing dinghy circa. 1961