Cheapest Garmin Parts?

[Rich_S2]

Can anyone recommend a cheap mail order company for Garmin bits? I'm after a swivel bracket and data/power lead for a GPS 12 hand held.

Cheers..............Rich.

 

[Guest]

I'd be interested in a cheap alternative source myself but I don't think such a thing exists (I do hope I'm wrong). Garmin accessories do seem to be expensive for what they are but perhaps this is partly justified in the lower sales volume of accessories that not everyone wants?
Not much help to you perhaps but if you are at all practical and want to make up a power/data lead to link your Garmin GPS to other things, eg PC, VHF/DSC set, another Garmin GPS etc then you can send away for an unathorised (Garmin that is) copy plug.
To make your own lead, contact:
Norma Pinkerton email purpleuk@ntlworld.com
She seems to be the UK agent for what are called Pfranc Garmin Plugs. I'n not sure what Garmin would say about this and if you blow your GPS up due to a mistake in wiring of your DIY plug then they won't be too helpful! However the cost saving is quite substantial. I've purchased a couple of plugs and made up two leads myself. Both work OK and cost me a little over £10. (Look up the Kosha price!)
The other trick I've done is to purchase a spare battery tray for my Garmin 725e H/H VHF radio from Garmin and instead of using it for standard disposable zinc-carbon or alkaline batteries I fill the tray with rechargeable Ni-Mh batteries. A whole lot cheaper than buying the Garmin Ni-Mh battery pack (£46.95 + vat). You have to recharge the cells using a seperate charger but it's still reasonably convenient and a lot cheaper. There is another trick that needs to be done to fool the radio into believing it has rechargeables rather than disposables but I'd rather not go into that here. Anyone interested then please send me a private email.

An Ron Beag