Experiences With A Re-radiating Antenna

[boilerblues]

I bought a Garmin Legend C right before Christmas. I've found that it hasn't kept a real great lock on the satellites. I lose it when in tree cover, which I somewhat expected. however, I have a friend who has a Magellan unit that he puts in his backpack and hikes in tree cover with no problem losing signal. So I've been wishing I could get a better signal. They've since released the Legend Cx, which is supposed to have a better antena. However, I don't particuarly want to drop that much money on a new unit. So I was wondering, has anyone done anything with re-radiating antennas and would that be a good way for me to go?

[+Miragee]

If you hike in areas with dense tree cover, you should look at the Garmin GPS Map60 C(S)x.

 

It has the new SIRF chip and gets much better reception than your Legend C. The Legend Cx would get the same reception as your present unit. The only difference is the data card.

[+YuccaPatrol]

I agree with Miragee. . . I'd sell the Legend C and upgrade to an x unit.

 

I have been using GPS since it was first made available to the public and I feel that the SiRF based receivers are a quantum leap beyond anything that has come before.

 

Why bother with adding more bulky equipment when the best elegant solution is so close at hand. . .

[+PDOP's]

So I was wondering, has anyone done anything with re-radiating antennas and would that be a good way for me to go?

 

Here's a review of a battery powered reradiating antenna.

[boilerblues]

The biggest thing right now is cost. I can spend $50 for a re-radiating antenna vs spending $400-500 on a newer, better unit. I haven't used the one I have enough to justify spending that much on a new GPS unit (would rather get my playboat or a flatwater kayak).

[jmason4531]

Been there with the reradiating antenna. For what you are trying to accomplish, I'd say don't bother. The reradiating scheme only works if the built-in antenna can not receive any signal and the external antenna is mounted with a view of the sky. Otherwise, the two antennas each receive satellite signals, actually degrading performance due to multipath. Forced me into buying a receiver with an external antenna connector. Receivers that have connections for external antennas disable the built-in antenna when the external antenna is plugged in.