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Hello:
Great site, wish I had found it sooner.

I have searched and could not find information on what I need, which is a receiver, software so that we may use our laptop as a gps. The sticker is that I would like a permanently mounted external antenna as we frequently go into poor reception areas.

We have e-mailed both the major manufactuers of gps products inquiring as to whether or not purchasing their external antenna/receiver would work but neither has replied. As a last resort I will remove, alot of work, the receiver on our Lowrance 3300c which is mounted on our bike and see for myself but I would like to avoid this.

Any threads which we can look up, or info would be very much appreciated.

Have a look at MicroSoft Streets&Trips which comes packaged with a GPS "mouse" type receiver that has a USB connector. It's relatively cheap and has excellent map coverage of North Americe.

Yep, the Microsoft S&T w/GPS receiver, is probably one of the simple solution for you. You can find the package at Costco, or other electronics store, for as low as $70.

The cable is relatively long enough for you to put the antenna hockey puck on the dash, connected to your laptop on the car seat. I guess you could put double stick tape on the bottom of the antenna to mount the antenna to the car's dash. If you want a real permanent mount, like on the car's roof, well.....

I might try out the garmin 18... simply because it will reroute automatically
when you don't follow the original route for any reason whatever.

Streets and trips will not do that.

But that was not his original question. He wanted to use his PC. So you need to come up with a solution that is not a standalone GPS, and can run on his PC.

Of course there are a number of good standalone GPS units, but that is not the topic.

Take a look at DeLorme Topo USA 6.0. There are a couple of their GPS units that will work with it.

The Topo software is very powerful and gives you routing, waypoints, tracks and allows you to create layers that you can create your own routable trails, tracks, roads, etc. It costs less than most of the others.

The GPS18 series are indeed units lacking display and memory, for use with a PC. However, Garmin is not clear as to their waterproof rating for mounting on a vehicle's exterior.

Robert, there are several options, but more specifics of your application would help. What type of vehicle are you using? What is the distance from antenna location to PC location? Does the laptop have ports for serial, USB, or both? Do you need US coverage only, Canada, or...? What about your budget? Is there a possibility you could find use for a handheld GPS receiver later on?

The myriad choices can be daunting, but we'll try to help.

Me bad. I thought the 18 was one of the other units.

I'am sorry if i made you feel bad JCBI...I'll try to do better next time.

The garmin 18 is basically a gps antenna for a laptop that comes with city navigator. It's in direct competition with microsofts
street and trips.

I much prefer garmin for the navigation part, but i also find streets
and trips "search the web" fonction pretty cool.

Well, my own fault for thinking the 18 was some other unit.

Anyway, I do have the Microsoft's Street & Trips, and I didn't know Garmin had a product also. When time for me to update the Microsoft's software, I will probably switch to Garmin, since it is a heck of lot easier if all my GPS related software are of the same version.

Thanks.

The GPS18 Deluxe includes City Navigator, and will allow you to unlock it to a second compatible receiver, which can make it a bargain. Is sells for about the price of City Navigator alone.

I sometimes use city navigator on my laptop using Nroute.
I just plug my gps "60cx" to the laptop and navigate.
It's cool to see where you are on a big screen once in a while.
you could change the street map for the topo map and it still navigates.
A feature not present in streets and trips.
Note that it only works if you have unlock.

Thank you all for your replies.
The use will be in our motorhome, distance from the ant to the laptop less than six feet.
Laptop has both connections.

I have seen the bluetooth products but the battery life is a bit on the low side. As for complete unit this really is not an option as to get a large enough display the cost is very high.

The external antenna is desirable as we frequently go into areas with poor reception.

Bob

I have dealt with a similar application installing a marine chartplotter(!) in an RV. The chartplotter needed a signal from an external GPS receiver in order to display position information.

My solution was a Garmin GPS 15H, which is a small module lacking display, internal power source, and antenna. An antenna with an MCX connector was routed to the roof. The wiring will be custom for each application, so you would need to be capable of some wiring; power and serial interfacing. The installation I had included a differential beacon receiver, but WAAS has pretty much done away with a need for that.

Another option which would not require as much custom wiring is a basic handheld GPS receiver which accepts an external antenna, and can be wired directly to 12VDC. A serial interface, rather than USB, is all you would need, and would allow the broadest choices of compatible mapping software for the laptop.

A used Garmin GPSII or III, or GPS76 (with WAAS), would work fine. You could tuck it away in a cabinet somewhere, if you wanted to.

The optimum antenna location is a clear area atop the roof, perhaps with the cable routed through the fridge vent, to avoid drilling the roof membrane. A fiberglass or composite roof may enable mounting the antenna inside the top of an overhead cabinet.

Another option is a "smart" antenna like Garmin's GPS 17HVS. This puck-like antenna/GPS receiver would mount on the roof, with power and data through a 30' cable to the cockpit. Again, you would need to wire up DC power and a serial connector for the laptop.

Thank you.

Found what I have been looking for:
http://www.deluoelectronics.com/custome ... php?cat=17

hope it works, if not just go to Deluo and look for the marine chartplotter, you can purchase inland maps. Seems to be exactly what I want, weather proof antenna/receiver, pole mount, usb connector for pc and the maps.