GPS Receiver

[Australis]

Can I extend the GPS USB cable that plugs into my laptop. This will allow the receiver to be placed in a more appropriate place. The confines of the chart table area does have overhead restrictions. How does the length of the cable affect the signal strength.
DJR

[rowingdude]

You can use a USB extension cable. Try to get a decent quality as although most of the processing is done at the GPS unit, you don't want to take chances with attenuation when your life maybe at stake.

[ActiveCaptain]

A USB cable can be 16' long. Up to that point, an inexpensive dump extension cable can be use. For longer distances, a powered extension is required which is just more expensive.

[HappySeagull]

...makes me wonder if a powered usb hub would extend cable length beyond the 16'?I have one-an old-school Dlink (from a yard sale)that takes 5vdc...

[Mark Johnson]

Done 11 years ago.

Our GPS is under the dodger, in the cockpit, and the nav computer is in the back cabin. I took the Garmin "NEMA out wires", and spliced in a 20' piece of wire... (multi conductor, in twisted and shielded pairs). This was connected on the other end to the Compaq USB port's, "data in" wires. None of the color coding is the same!

The solder splice & heatshrink part was easy, but there were three real challenges.

#1 Call Garmin and get their tech people to give me the function/definition of the wire colors, after the plug that connects them to the unit. The question baffled them!

#2 Call Compaq, and try to get the correct function/definition of their pin placement on it's USB port. They were also baffled by the question!

Four hours later... #3 The REAL bitch: Trying to find (multi conductor wire cable, in twisted and shielded pairs). This was what was specified. I finally was given a 20' run of it, that had been salvaged out of a fighter jet. This search took a two days search!

Hopefully you will have better luck... It has worked great ever since.

Mark

[HappySeagull]

oh,jeez,too late for you,MarkJohnston but...
USB pinout and wiring @ pinouts.ru

say,what model Garmin was it?An old one was it?without a usb output?I thought you couldn't do that with them!...do you think I could run the data in/out from an xl12 to usb data out/in? and did you just ground to usb shell?or?how?I'd be very interested in a little more