Guest tedoca Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Makaio's post about radar detectors interfering with sattelite transmission/reception intrigued me but the thread was closed before I had a chance to comment, so... I have my GPS (Magellan MAP-330) mounted in a suction cup windshield mount in my truck. Directly above that, in another suction cup widshield mount, is my Cobra brand radar/laser detector. I went to a clear area where I had a lock on 7 sattelites, 5 full strength signals and 2 at about half strength. When I switched on the radar/laser detector the two weakest signals were completely lost almost immediately. I moved to another location and observed the same results. In a third location I had 6 full strength signals and one at half strength and again, switching on the radar/laser detector bumped the weaker signal off. In all instances the radar/laser detector seemed to have little if any effect on the stronger signals. Incidentally, I also have my hands-free cell phone mount located just below the GPS unit. Initiating a call on the cell phone had a much more dramatic effect on the sattelite signals than did the radar/laser detector knocking the two weaker signals out completely AND lowering the signal strength of the remaining signals by about half. The 2 meter ham radio seemed to have no effect, even at 25 watts output (probably due to the externally mounted antenna). Keying up my FRS radios also seemed to have no effect on sattelite signal reception. Just my totaly unscientific observations. Your results may vary. ------------------ Regards, Tedoca Quote Link to comment
Guest BassoonPilot Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 quote:Originally posted by tedoca:I have my GPS (Magellan MAP-330) mounted in a suction cup windshield mount in my truck. Directly above that, in another suction cup widshield mount, is my Cobra brand radar/laser detector. I went to a clear area where I had a lock on 7 sattelites, 5 full strength signals and 2 at about half strength. When I switched on the radar/laser detector the two weakest signals were completely lost almost immediately. I moved to another location and observed the same results. In a third location I had 6 full strength signals and one at half strength and again, switching on the radar/laser detector bumped the weaker signal off. In all instances the radar/laser detector seemed to have little if any effect on the stronger signals. Incidentally, I also have my hands-free cell phone mount located just below the GPS unit. Initiating a call on the cell phone had a much more dramatic effect on the sattelite signals than did the radar/laser detector knocking the two weaker signals out completely AND lowering the signal strength of the remaining signals by about half. The 2 meter ham radio seemed to have no effect, even at 25 watts output (probably due to the externally mounted antenna). Keying up my FRS radios also seemed to have no effect on sattelite signal reception. Just my totaly unscientific observations. Your results may vary. Interesting. It would also be interesting if you could repeat your experiment, Maggie in hand, at selected distances (perhaps 10, 50, and 100 feet?) from your truck to judge the field effect of the various devices. [This message has been edited by BassoonPilot (edited 28 February 2002).] Quote Link to comment
Guest CR Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I don't know what bands each peice of equipment operates in but if the ones that could transmit (the cell phone and the 2-way radio) were "stepping on" the GRP you would see a lot more loss in signal than that. More than likely the loss of signal quality is comming from the mixers (local oscillator). I would guess that the ham gear has very good sheilding. The cell phone and the radar detector most likely have little or no shielding and you'll find that they interfere with other electronics. When using my cell phone in Europe it will cause my car radio, when the phone is sitting nearby, to emit a clicking noise from the speaker just before the phone rings. Just imagine what it must be pumping in to your head as you talk. Quote Link to comment
Guest worldtraveler Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 quote:Originally posted by CR:...Just imagine what it must be pumping in to your head as you talk. Voices... I hear them! ) ------------------ Worldtraveler Quote Link to comment
Guest worldtraveler Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 quote:Originally posted by CR:...Just imagine what it must be pumping in to your head as you talk. Voices... I hear them! ) ------------------ Worldtraveler Quote Link to comment
Guest ErinsWeb Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Most radar detectors are also transmitters. It could be that it interferes with your GPSr. I have a coupe of older radar detectors. I'll try to get one out to try the same test. Quote Link to comment
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