Laptop GPS World

Anyone know of a source for a GPS receiver for external mounting applications on big rig mirror brackets? (West Coast Mirrors, etc,) I have been searching and have had no luck unless ofcourse you count finding this site ... would prefer a rigid mount similar to the products available for XM radio... Hard for me to believe the industry is truely that ignorant of the potential demand such a product would fill!

I found mine by doing a google search for "weatherproof usb gps receiver". However, I haven't had the need to mount it outside. With the receiver sitting on top of my cb in my Volvo, I normally have 8-10 locked satelites.

I think it's a BU-353.

Edit:

This is the exact one I have:
http://www.thegpsstore.com/US-Global...-P869C270.aspx

GlabalSat BU-353 USB GPS receiver is a unit very many people use nowadays. It's a proven performer. Shop around, though. Semsons.com have it for $36.99 today (about $20 less than competition). And you may still get a little bit of a discount off of the already ridiculously low price. It's unreal how low the price has come down.

Welcome to Laptop GPS World, gwblt.

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

Unfortunately the BU-353 is still a magnet mount... Most 18 wheeled trucks are now fiberglass and there are additional reasons as well that I post this inquiry... Thanks for the response but I am really looking for a needle in a haystack here I guess...

I suppose it would help if I was more specific about the mounting issue? Most 18 wheel trucks now are fiberglass, thus magnet mounts will not work. In addition there is the issue of severe inclimate weather, snow, ice... it would be best in my mind if I could simply mount my GPS antenna like my Wilson XM antenna, CB antenna, TV antenna, cellular antenna... all of these come with a steel bracket which secures them to the external mirror supports on the side of the truck! Once you feed the cables inside no more worries... for a while anyway. still looking though! thanks!

Try to search for GlobalSat MR350-USB Bulkhead GPS. See if that could be somehow mounted to a sideview mirror.

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

Why not just pick up a spare steel antenna mounting bracket (L-shaped, I assume) and stick the magnet mount onto it. I have some spare CB antenna brackets in the junk box that look like they would work well for such a purpose so if you're a packrat like me you've probably got a couple kicking around, too. If not, you've probably got buddies who have some. If the magnet isn't strong enough, a little crazy glue or epoxy will fix that problem quickly.

Just FYI, I use an external antenna for my handheld that also has a golf program on it for yardages. I used a piece of galvanized metal - the side out of an electrical box - to cobble up a bracket for my golf pullcart that the magnet sits on. It never moves even when I bounce it over some pretty rough terrain.

...ken...

At Flying J's (and some T/A's), you can find a thing called "The Plate". It's a small piece of metal, shaped like a home base (baseball) that has a hole in it.

What you do is unscrew a cb antenna, then reattach the antenna through this plate. That's what I used for my XM antenna until I got a truck version with it's own mount.

This plate is about $5-8. It's about 4" across, 5-6" long and about 1/16" thick.

edit:
I found a link for ya:
http://www.walcottcb.com/the-plate-m...as-p-1198.html

That would be an excellent solution because it would give the antenna a good ground plane to work on. For best reception the GPS external antenna should have a ground plane of about 4" diameter.

...ken...

The GPS antenna needs a ground plane??? I have mine velcro'd to my plastic dash in my truck and always have 10-12 satellites locked.

Ground plane does help, but with your always 10-12 satellites locked, you definitely don't need any help . Hmm, unless you want to see 11-12 birds .

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

Every antenna, no matter what wavelength, works better with a ground plane of the correct size. Even GPS antennae. Our GPS antennae are so good that they work quite well without one but there is an improvement when there is one. If I'm hiking and put the external antenna in the pocket in the top of my Tilley hat, right on top of my head, the signal strength is measurably greater than if I stick the antenna on top of my pack.

...ken...

You have a steel Tilley hat?

Terry

Someone else guessed that I have a steel plate in my head.

I guess my brain just makes a good ground plane.

...ken...

I took a better look at my GPS receiver today. It's a magnetic mount. However, the entire case of it is plastic. The magnet is inside of the case. So, there's no metal that the antenna would ground to. Even for the average person who puts the receiver on top of their car, it wouldn't be grounded. That is, however, unless they scraped the paint away down to bare metal.