Re: GPS Power



Dennis Mayer wrote:


Sunny wrote:

Bought myself a Christmas present today - a Garmin Quest GPS.

I got it because I often use lakes as 'transport sections' to reach
trail systems that are otherwise too far away for day trips, but I
sometimes get lost on the ice.

I've been playing with the software, plotted my favorite lake routes on
the map and transferred them to the GPS unit - looks like it will do
what I want, i.e. show me the route I plotted vs where I am right now.

My question is ... do I have to run it on battery while riding, or can I
power it from the sled?

The GPS came with a cigarette lighter adapter, but the speaker for
announcing route directions is part of the adapter and doesn't look like
it was designed for outdoor use - and my sled doesn't have a battery,
let alone a cigarette lighter socket.

Can I power the GPS off the lighting coil on the sled? If so, what's the
best way to hook it up?

Thanks,

Sunny 



  Generally speaking about Garmin units....    the cigar plugs takes in
12V DC...

but the Garmin Cigar Power cord reduces the voltage to 3 V DC..... 

Thanks for pointing that out!

The manual says 13.8v, but that didn't seem right for the GPS unit itself.

It turns out both the AC adapter and car adapter output is 5v DC, and the GPS 'threshold' voltage (the voltage at which it detects external power and turns itself on) is 4.5v.

You should not hot wire 12V DC from the sled to the Garmin GPS....... 

Definitely not!

There was a dead TV on the curb today - so I hauled it in, pulled a suitable power transistor and zener diode, and built a DC-DC converter. My converter's output is 4.9v, and it runs the GPS just fine from a car battery.

Next step is to find out if my sled has a rectifier (sled is at the cottage, I'm stuck in the city this weekend), if not I'll need to add a bridge rectifier and filter capacitor ahead of the DC-DC converter - already pulled those from the TV in case I need them.

However, I guess I'll still have to buy a second car adapter ($$) since I don't see a way to get a reliable connection to the power buttons on the GPS unit without using Garmin's cradle - unless someone has a cheaper idea...

Sunny
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cigarette Lighter Adapter- Cessna 172
    ... What brand and model is the GPS? ... Is it a smaller size power ... adapter that came with the GPS or is the problem a change in ... the cigarette lighter in the airplane? ...
    (rec.aviation.piloting)
  • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PORTABLE AC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    ... ac to dc portable power supply ... portable ac generator users forum ... portable cd player ac adapter ... universal portable dvd ac adapter ...
    (rec.outdoors.fishing.fly)
  • Re: Does this sound right? - NEMA question
    ... The GPS "Data Out" line goes directly ... the same screw that GPS power - connects to. ... It sounds like I can expect to hear the GPS talking to the radio in ... When I took over her electronics suite, ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)
  • Re: GPS Power
    ... Note that the rectifier circuit has no regulation - you'd get very high DC voltages at full throttle if you connected it direct to the sled's lighting coil. ... I'm assuming my sled has a regulator to keep voltages to the bulbs down, even though it has no battery - but I'll be taking a run with my meter hooked up so I know what I'm dealing with before taking any risks with my new GPS! ... you can use the original GPS power cord to reduce the voltage to the correct level. ... The GPS unit has flat brass buttons on the back for power in and audio out, and there's no way to make reliable electrical contact without clipping it into a cradle with spring loaded contacts - and the only way to get the right cradle is to buy another car adapter for $$$. ...
    (rec.sport.snowmobiles)
  • Re: iPAQ 210/iPAQ 211 after 1 week of use
    ... Connection via DUN and you will not need to use the "Bluetooth Phone ... It only has one port that can be used for a BT GPS and you can't use the ... If you hold the power button down it will turn itself back on as soon as ...
    (microsoft.public.pocketpc)