Are GPS antennas interchangeable between brands?

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fredrussell

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I'm assuming not but worth asking I thought. Picked up a cheap Standard Horizon chartplotter at a boat jumble today but its lacking its antenna. Just wondering if it has to be a Standard Horizon one I look for.

cheers
 
fredrussell said:
I'm assuming not but worth asking I thought. Picked up a cheap Standard Horizon chartplotter at a boat jumble today but its lacking its antenna. Just wondering if it has to be a Standard Horizon one I look for.
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Just to amplify on Richard's reply, there are 2 types of GPS antenna - active or passive. Most Standard Horizon plotters require an active antenna (ie one which has a receiver built in and which outputs NMEA data). Some other devices use a passive antenna, which is just an aerial feeding a GPS receiver built in to the device.
 
In addition to the above, it's worth noting that a lot of Standard Horizon plotters had built in GPS, worth checking this isn't one of them ?
 
It's a CP155c so its definitely an external gps job. In the manual it lists the following pin functions:

1. Red +10-35Vdc
2. Green GPS RX+
3. Brown GPS TX+
6. Black/yellow/shield GND Common

I assume then its an active type. Here's a pic of plug/socket - GPS input is the upper one 6 pin one:



The proper SH antenna is £100-ish. I'm not averse to buying that but just wanted to know if another can be bought 2nd hand and adapted to fit. I'm not sure what type of plugs those are though, pins look slightly narrower than normal pin/din ones. Any ideas where I could look for that sort of thing?

Here's the 8 pin power and NMEA plug:

 
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pvb said:
The manual suggests you can also input NMEA GPS data via the power/data cable.
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Oh, ok. At present there's nothing on boat receiving GPS though so no GPS antenna anywhere on boat. I'm assuming NMEA GPS data would come from another device?

Edit: are there GPS antenna that output NMEA data then?
 
fredrussell said:
Oh, ok. At present there's nothing on boat receiving GPS though so no GPS antenna anywhere on boat. I'm assuming NMEA GPS data would come from another device?

Edit: are there GPS antenna that output NMEA data then?
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yep,

ALL active GPS antennas output something, I'd say 80% of them are NMEA0183, that's what you need.
A cheap third party new one is around 60-70euro (iirc)
Any s/h with bare ends should do, but they are not that cheap, often 40-50quid

good luck

cheers

V.
 
fredrussell said:
Edit: are there GPS antenna that output NMEA data then?
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Yes. You may be able to buy a used one. But you'll probably find it much easier just to buy the proper Standard Horizon antenna, which will give you "plug & play" functionality, although you'll find it difficult to locate one for such an old plotter.
 
Indeed. Plug and play functionality would be a distinct advantage for me - I'm new to all things NMEA. My research thus far would indicate that all the Standard Horizon CP's use the same antenna and 6 pin plug but I'm not 100% on that.
 
fredrussell said:
Indeed. Plug and play functionality would be a distinct advantage for me - I'm new to all things NMEA. My research thus far would indicate that all the Standard Horizon CP's use the same antenna and 6 pin plug but I'm not 100% on that.
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Did your boat jumble plotter come with a chart cartridge?
 
No. Thats why I'm being a cheapskate. The chartplotter was £1. No kidding!

C-map cartridge is £100 or so. Add to that £100 for a gps antenna and it starts to get less worthwhile. However, if I can get the antenna and chart card 2nd hand for £100 or a tad more then I reckon its worth a go. I've plugged power in to the CP and it works fine.
 
pvb said:
Just to amplify on Richard's reply, there are 2 types of GPS antenna - active or passive. Most Standard Horizon plotters require an active antenna (ie one which has a receiver built in and which outputs NMEA data). Some other devices use a passive antenna, which is just an aerial feeding a GPS receiver built in to the device.
Click to expand...

To amplify still further. "Passive" antennas can be truly passive, ie unamplified, in other words an array of metal bits or more commonly they have preamplifiers that are powered from the GPS receiver. This allows use of a connecting cable.
 
fredrussell said:
No. Thats why I'm being a cheapskate. The chartplotter was £1. No kidding!

C-map cartridge is £100 or so. Add to that £100 for a gps antenna and it starts to get less worthwhile. However, if I can get the antenna and chart card 2nd hand for £100 or a tad more then I reckon its worth a go. I've plugged power in to the CP and it works fine.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you may be prepared to spend £200 or so on making your "bargain" plotter work. But you'll still have an old, low spec, possibly unreliable plotter. For £229, JG Tech will sell you a brand new Raymarine Dragonfly 5m plotter, complete with Navionics Silver cartography. It has a slightly smaller screen (5" vs 5.7" diagonal), but the screen has 800x480 pixels - 5 times better definition than the CP155! And it uses half the power, can hold 5 times as many waypoints, has a latest spec GPS receiver, is more waterproof, and comes with a guarantee. The downside is that you can't output NMEA from it, if that's important to you.
 
savageseadog said:
To amplify still further. "Passive" antennas can be truly passive, ie unamplified, in other words an array of metal bits or more commonly they have preamplifiers that are powered from the GPS receiver. This allows use of a connecting cable.
Click to expand...

To confuse things, an antenna with a pre-amp in it is also commonly called an 'active antenna'.
These will have a co-ax output.
If buying one, make sure you get 'nmea out' if that's what you want.

Lots of people have used cheap GPS modules based on Ublox units to get their nmea. Available on ebay for under a tenner, just need a waterproof box.
 
pvb said:
It sounds like you may be prepared to spend £200 or so on making your "bargain" plotter work. But you'll still have an old, low spec, possibly unreliable plotter. For £229, JG Tech will sell you a brand new Raymarine Dragonfly 5m plotter, complete with Navionics Silver cartography. It has a slightly smaller screen (5" vs 5.7" diagonal), but the screen has 800x480 pixels - 5 times better definition than the CP155! And it uses half the power, can hold 5 times as many waypoints, has a latest spec GPS receiver, is more waterproof, and comes with a guarantee. The downside is that you can't output NMEA from it, if that's important to you.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, but isn't the Navionics Silver cartography a very basic package? I would have to put the gold Navionics on it wouldn't I? That brings the price up to £350. If I have to spend £200 to get my one working I definitely won't bother. However, If I can do it for nearer £100 I might have a go.
 
fredrussell said:
edit: one of these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/1820...=9045050&device=c&campaignid=661219804&crdt=0

...and these put out NMEA?
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I bought a GPS puck a few years ago when Angus McDoon was doing litlle gizmos for us. It runs on 5v, I bought a cheap 12v to 5v USB power supply. I have fitted it inside my electric control panel. It sits there ready for an emergency, it puts out nmea at 4800 baud on two wires ready to connect to anything that will accept it! Most of the plotters will accept nmea in separately, just your luck if yours wont!
 
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