Joining GPS cable?

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Mudplugger

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Silly question 'cos Furuno ses one should not break the co-ax from ariel to display! BUT it would make life a whole lot easier to cut ariel co-ax and put a joining plug in. Anybody done this? and if so any ill effects?
 
Depends on what GPS set and antenna you have as some have NMEA and power on them so you will have 5 wires to connect.If it is just a straight Co-ax there should be no problem using a connector.
 
If there is a plug on the end, I dont see how you can get it through the deck without breaking it.

My radar cable, (Raytheon), breaks just below the mast and is joined with a block.... IIRC, the wires are quite thin, and the radar works fine.

Also feed the DSC VHF from the Lowrance plotter with very fine shielded cable, which is also joined with a block - works fine.
 
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Looking at plug from ariel, seems to be a standard co-ax/VHF ariel plug .

[/ QUOTE ]I've always cut the coax on the ariel of my various Garmins to get it through the deck gland, and redone with a standard fitting. Never any problems except once when SWMBO gave it a yank.
 
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"God created beer to show how much he loves us"

There is no god but there is most definitely beer. Bacteria created beer to show how much they love us

[/ QUOTE ]

and it helps connecting cables!
 
whole lot easier to cut ariel co-ax and put a joining plug in. Anybody done this? and if so any ill effects?
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There are GPS cables and there are GPS cables......

Some carry rf and some just carry NMEA and power with all the RFing done in the dome.

The Furuno is one that is just RF and the length may be matched. This has a BNC connection. Furuno have anticipated your problem and have used a plug which can be dismantled leaving just the wire and soldered nipple to feed through. When the installation is complete the plug can be replaced.

The Furuno BNC plug is removed by undoing the gland not and carfuly pulling the wire out with various washers and the nipple soldered on the centre core. Do not unsolder the nipple as everything can now be slided off over it . Just rememebr the sequence of metal and fibre washers.

once the cable is installed then reassemble the plug..


Other GPS/Plotters like Standard Vertex have multicore cables which carry nmea and DC and these cables can be cut for installation then respliced within a small junction box using a choclate block connecter etc.
 
If there is a plug on the end, I dont see how you can get it through the deck without breaking it.
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Read my other post Richard.......If the plug is a posh BNC jobbie then it dismantles.....and then after threading through it re assembles.....NO SOLDERING OR LOSING BRASS NIPPLES /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Of course Furuno use these cos they supply the big boys /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Dear Mudsplosher, the last ariel I saw was poncing around in tights in a production of the Tempest years ago. Do you mean "aerial".
Does this mean I've got to buy your drink next Monday? Hope you're feeling better.
 
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I just cut and then soldered mine, into a Garmin, and it works fine



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Thanks for that, I was getting fed up with the intermittent loss of the satellite signal due to the cr*p BNC plug used to connect at the back of the instrument. I had been thinking of soldering in some coax and doing a cable/cable join with type N (or F?) connectors that can be screwed together.

Now what about the same sort of problem with a Garmin fishfinder?
 
As the waterproof antenna has never been (waterproof) in my experience, rather than replacing the entire coax run when the antenna fails, when installing the replacement antenna, I cut the antenna cable right at the antenna and join the cables there with a male/female Type 'N' connector pair.

These are fairly pricey, but they are waterproof and constant impedance connectors.

As the coax that (at least Garmin) uses isn't tin plated, I have also substituted a much higher grade 50 ohm coax for the run thru the boat.

Best,
 
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