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Lowrance iFinder users: 28dB or 55dB antenna?


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Hi again all!

 

Well my new Lowrance iWay 100M was delivered to my doorstep yesterday, so I toyed with it all night. I have not been able to get it to recognize maps that I created on my new Kingston 1GB SD card, but that may be just rookie operator error (or a question for the good folks at Lowrance).

 

I am thinking that buying an external antenna will be inevitable, so I may as well get one ordered. I see TWO different Gilsson antennas available, one is 28dB, and the other is listed at 55dB. Which one should I get? The price difference is only a few dollars - so simple "bang-for-my-buck" common sense tells me to go for the more powerful one. BUT........ will that be too much for (possibly "overdrive") my receiver???

Edited by Scoobmaster
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..... will that be too much for (possibly "overdrive") my receiver???

I have FOUR of the 28 dB antennas. And with the amplification I get, (the SNR on many birds will be 50 dB or more) I'd wonder about pushing things further, too.

 

I just cant imagine the need to go farther. Also, ANY amplifier can suffer intermod or first-order mixing, and the higher the gain in relation to selectivity, the more of a risk there is. These mixes could ( I GUESS ) introduce noise in the GPSr's front end. I don't know how selective these antennas or their preamps are - but it's smart of you to wonder about this.

 

Now, if you live out in the middle of nowhere, where there is little RF used, it may not matter - but if you are near any UHF TV stations or "Mesh" internet systems, then there will be RF around that could be amplified/mixed in that preamp.

 

Ya know, ya COULD buy one of each, use 'em for a week or so, and let us know. B)

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I have not been able to get it to recognize maps that I created on my new Kingston 1GB SD card, but that may be just rookie operator error (or a question for the good folks at Lowrance).

 

I believe I have heard others make the same complaint. Try a smaller card and see if that helps. When those units were first made, 512 was probably the biggest card on the market. I'd try a 64 to 256MB card in it first. Also it could just not like Kingston brand cards.

 

About the antenna, look for the RAA-3 Lowrance antenna, and see what it is rated. The i-Way should be able to handle anything similar to it.

Edited by Airmapper
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I don't know the specifics of how they can get this much gain. If its just in the preamp section or is an actual gain/pattern change of the antenna.

Generally, if an antenna has higher gain (all else being equal) then its pattern suffers, in that it becomes more directional in one way or another. Sometimes this is a non-issue (For terrestrial antennas like when you loose gain straight up to increase it to the side).

 

If this gain is achieved with a better preamp then you may have an issue with interference (as one poster said.."inter mod"). If you can, buy both and compare and then return one. I would be worried about the high gain model and especially if the low gain one suits your needs and works in all situations you expect it to.

 

Let us know what you do and how well it works out....

 

Hi again all!

 

Well my new Lowrance iWay 100M was delivered to my doorstep yesterday, so i toued with it all night. I have not been able to get it to recognize maps that I created on my new Kingston 1GB SD card, but that may be just rookie operator error (or a question for the good folks at Lowrance).

 

I am thinking that buying an external antenna will be inevitable, so I may as well get one ordered. I see TWO different Gilsson antennas available, one is 28dB, and the other is listed at 55dB. Which one should I get? The price difference is only a few dollars - so simple "bang-for-my-buck" common sense tells me to go for the more powerful one. BUT........ will that be too much for (possibly "overdrive") my receiver???

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Thanks for the input. Since these will most likely be eBay purchases, there will be no option for "try and return". I think I will go conservative and get the 28dB antenna. I live in a residential neighborhood with a LOT of RF beaming around (MANY of us have WiFi routers), so the interference factor is quite high! Also, the "stock" reception out of the box is pretty good, so 28dB should be MORE than adequate for my needs.

 

I believe I have heard others make the same complaint. Try a smaller card and see if that helps. When those units were first made, 512 was probably the biggest card on the market. I'd try a 64 to 256MB card in it first. Also it could just not like Kingston brand cards.

 

I will try that. The 100M came with a 128Mb MMC, so I will try a smaller map on that one. If what you say holds true it will be a personal bummer for me (I bought the 1Gb kingston especially for use in the GPSr!) One thing that did alarm me is that the Kingston SD is so thick that the "twist-lock" mechanism that holds the memory cards secure would not fit over it (I just let the batteries hold it in place). The iWay 100M can BROWSE the Kingston and see the files on it, but the maps are not loading (only the base map data is showing). The other thing that bothers me is that IF it is true that this SD card will not work in the 100M, I have already "registered" it with the Mapcreate software, so it is using up one of my precious 5 card licenses!

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:) [

 

I will try that. The 100M came with a 128Mb MMC, so I will try a smaller map on that one. If what you say holds true it will be a personal bummer for me (I bought the 1Gb kingston especially for use in the GPSr!) One thing that did alarm me is that the Kingston SD is so thick that the "twist-lock" mechanism that holds the memory cards secure would not fit over it (I just let the batteries hold it in place). The iWay 100M can BROWSE the Kingston and see the files on it, but the maps are not loading (only the base map data is showing). The other thing that bothers me is that IF it is true that this SD card will not work in the 100M, I have already "registered" it with the Mapcreate software, so it is using up one of my precious 5 card licenses!

 

I just got my Ifinder Expedition and I'm using a SanDisk 1GB SD card. Staples is selling them today for 19.98. I bought an extra for my camera. The card fits and functions fine. I did have a problem removing the card from the iFinder, though. It seems the contacts are catching the lip as I try to back it out.....I overcame this problem by cutting an old credit card to the width of the SD card and sliding it beneath the SD card to depress the contacts. This freed up the card and it came right out. Maybe this will save somebody from having to ship off a unit for repair.

 

Hope you enjoy it! :)

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Make maps that do not exceed 500 meg and the gigger chip will work fine. Make bigger maps and you'll be old people before they finish writing on the chip.

 

The 28 db antenna will work fine. So will the 55. The prevalence of WiFi in your area means nothing to your gps. it won't interfere. The antennas are already very directional, they need to be. You need a ground plane for the antenna. A small piece of metal, ~ an inch bigger than the antenna on all sides will do fine. Putting the antenna inside a tuna can (top off) is perfect because it will cut multipathing down.

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Make maps that do not exceed 500 meg and the gigger chip will work fine. Make bigger maps and you'll be old people before they finish writing on the chip.

 

The 28 db antenna will work fine. So will the 55. The prevalence of WiFi in your area means nothing to your gps. it won't interfere. The antennas are already very directional, they need to be. You need a ground plane for the antenna. A small piece of metal, ~ an inch bigger than the antenna on all sides will do fine. Putting the antenna inside a tuna can (top off) is perfect because it will cut multipathing down.

 

Thanks, miles.

 

I have tried creating TINY (less than 70 meg) maps on the Kingston SD card and the iWay 100M STILL refuses to load them into memory when I turn it on. I can use the "browse MMC" function, and sure enough I can see the files (so the unit IS reading the card!). I have another 1GB SD card (labled "edge" brand), but I am hesitant to try it because of the 5 card limit. I already have TWO registered (the tiny 128MB Sandisk MMC that came with the unit and the [at the moment useless] Kingston 1GB SD). I don't want to risk taking up #3 registration with a 1GB card that might turn out useless as well!!!! I WAS able to get the 128 MB MMC to read a map.

 

BTW.....Do any of you iFinder owners have trouble with the thickness od SD cards and the "twist-lock" card locking mechanism? Mine will NOT twist over the SD cards (they are too thick) but fit over th thinner MMC just fine.

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i have a kingston 1gb on my iway. it took several loading attempts for this to finally work. did you initialize your sd card? reload the map once more after you initialize it. estimate map size should not exceed 400mb. i purchased a 2gb card as well, but the iway and the ifinder both just kept spinning. so i know the 2gb is too high. and if you squeeze the card into the slot and turn it with some force it should fit right in.

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Don't worry about the number of memory chips used. Uninstall and reinstall MC 6.3 and it starts counting again. Just reserialize your chips and stay within the 5 chip limit and you're OK.

 

Sounds more like you aren't getting the contacts end of the card seated than a thickness problem. Between two Iway 100s, one Hunt, one H20 and one Pro, I have used at least half a dozen different chip brands without trouble.

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The only reason you need an amplified antenna is if you get poor reception in your car, such as with a metalic coated windshield. In that case, you are placing the antenna outside, like on the roof. The amplification is to overcome the signal loss in the coax cable, which is substantial at the frequency we use, and in the small coax used on these antennas. The only reason to get the higher amplification amplifier is if you are running a very long coax cable, such as over 20 feet, and you hope it is a good quality amplifier.

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I don't want to risk taking up #3 registration with a 1GB card that might turn out useless as well!!!! I WAS able to get the 128 MB MMC to read a map.

 

 

Scoob...,

Here is a thread for you to browse while trying to sort out your memory card problems

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=115044

 

You can make unlocked maps to use on any card...just need your initial card to allow creation.

 

Make a medium sized map, and then try it on your various cards.

 

There have been people commenting on Kingston problems in the past. SanDisk is the one most highly recommended, but there are complaints with the Ultra II line. I purchased the plain-jane 1Gb SanDisk, and it works like a champ.

 

Lets us know what you find out.

 

Z

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I used a 1G Corsair card I got from newegg.com. It works fine in my H2O. I use maps about the size of 1 western state for the most part. I don't need to do anything to "load" the maps, they are just there. Try removing the SD card and getting a GPS lock. Now hit the page button till you see the map screen. There probably isn't much detail. That's the basemap. Now load a map that covers that area you are in now and put the card in the GPS. Do the same thing and you should see much more detail. Make sure you slide the SD card over toward the contacts, and twist the lock thing into place. That's how it seats the card. I can't imagine the card would be too thick to fit in there, the SD card sizes are standardized and if it doesn't fit in the GPS there's no way it would fit in my camera.

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There have been people commenting on Kingston problems in the past. SanDisk is the one most highly recommended, but there are complaints with the Ultra II line. I purchased the plain-jane 1Gb SanDisk, and it works like a champ.

 

Lets us know what you find out.

 

Z

 

Thanks for the information (and the link) CO-Zman!

 

After *MUCH* experimentation and gnashing of teeth, I have had success (and learned a LOT!) I tried in vain SEVERAL times to get my Kingston and generic "Edge" brand 1GB SD cards to work - NO DICE. I uninstalled and re-installed Mapcreate in its entirety and had the SAME result (I could REGISTER all 3 cards, but only the 128MB Sandisk MMC card would work - the Kingston and Edge would not). Oh, I could create nice maps and successfully save them to the 1GB SD cards without errors or problems of any sort. However, the iWay 100M would only load maps from the little Sandisk. I could BROWSE the larger 1GB SD cards in the iWay and see that the files were there, but it REFUSED to load them at power-up. Finally, in desperation, I traded a card with a colleague and obtained a Sandisk 1GB. The darn thing worked like a charm the first try!

 

When they say that the LEI card reader is picky and prefers Sandisk media, they MEAN it!

 

Oh well - I now have a WORKING registered 1GB SD card (Sandisk) and am very happy with the iWay 100M so far. I also know which SD cards to buy if I need more in the future!

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