Earthmate GPS reciever question

glebreck · 04-08-2005, 08:29 AM

I have Iguidance with an Earthmate USB reciever. It works, but only when the Eathmate reciever is outside the car.
So my question is... is the reciever weather proof? if I mount it outside the car, when it rains will it get fried?

thanks.

DK888 · 04-08-2005, 12:06 PM

Where....outside did you mount your reciever?

glebreck · 04-08-2005, 12:17 PM

I haven't yet. If it is weather proof i will mount it on the back windshield.

TaylorMade · 04-08-2005, 12:26 PM

It is most certainly NOT weatherproof.

for a thread called "Earthmate NOT WATERPROOF" and you'll see what a lot of us did to remedy the problem.

DK888 · 04-13-2005, 03:27 PM

ok..I'm using iGuidance with my DeLorme gps reciever. And i'm not seeing anything! It saw 4 satellites at first sitting on my rear deck. but now, nothing. Although it says it does see it in the com port.

lancel · 04-15-2005, 04:37 PM

I have the Earthmate and StreetAtlas 2005, I too like many had the same problem with weak signal and problem locking on to the sat signal. Initially I had it on my dash board and it was working sporadicaly, about 2 month ago I found the problem why the Earthmate was misbehaving so badly. It turns out that my range rover have windshield defogger built in to the glass (thin heater wires molded into glass. These wire were acting as a shield and signal were being deflected. I tried mounting it every which location and position and found the perfect spot was underneath the glass sun/moon roof. I can see at least 8-9 sats and lock is within the specified duration. If you dont have a moon roof, try looking for a spot where the receiver can see as much as the ski as possible with out and metal object. My 2 cents, hope this help.

Iatrogenic2 · 04-16-2005, 08:18 AM

I mounted mine on my roof behind my regular antenna after dipping it in goop and gluing it to a big magnet. I get pretty darn quick locks. Here is a pic.

DK888 · 04-16-2005, 03:26 PM

Thanks guys, I met up with tj!2k4 on friday. We came to the conclusion that the Earthmate gps reciever just sucks. I only have signal if it sitting outside on top of the car. It's not water proof nor magnetic. Weird enough tho. the week prior to this, I was using Destinator 3 witht he earthmate gps and it worked pretty good on the rear deck! *scratching head*.. Anyhow, I think I'm going to go with the Rikeline 6010. Supposedly highly recommended by many although I saw a thread about someone opening their Rikeline only to find that the board inside said Holox. Anyone wanna buy an Earthmate gps reciever? 2 weeks old!

d_sellers1 · 04-18-2005, 03:11 AM

I have/had my Earthmate receiver on my back deck on my Ford Taurus/ I didn't really have any problems with reception. However, take a look around the board a bit more. I noticed that all you guys are relatively new (within the past few months). There were a few discussion atleast six months ago that suggested adding a magnet to the bottom the the receiver and it improved reception (hence the reason why Iatrogenic2's is working so well). That and it has the most line-of-sight possible to the sky.

I have the same problems with my GPS receivers in Iraq. I use both a PSN-11 PLGR (military - about $1500 worth of junk) and a Garmin Rino 120. The Rino does a better job of tracking espically since it has a graphical display and the PLGR just has a line text LCD. Since I don't have the external antennas I have to ensure that my receivers are near the front windshield since it provides the most line of sight. Even there, I will still loose signal and loose tracking.

Derek

MatrixPC · 04-18-2005, 09:27 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DK888

Thanks guys, I met up with tj!2k4 on friday. We came to the conclusion that the Earthmate gps reciever just sucks. I only have signal if it sitting outside on top of the car. It's not water proof nor magnetic. Weird enough tho. the week prior to this, I was using Destinator 3 witht he earthmate gps and it worked pretty good on the rear deck! *scratching head*.. Anyhow, I think I'm going to go with the Rikeline 6010. Supposedly highly recommended by many although I saw a thread about someone opening their Rikeline only to find that the board inside said Holox. Anyone wanna buy an Earthmate gps reciever? 2 weeks old!

I stuck my receiver deep inside the Matrix dash and has No problem getting the signal. This is where the factory GPS receiver is. On the Supra I put on top of the dash. Both setup has very darn good signal, 11 sat out of 12.
If I am using that same Earthmate receiver with a laptop on my wife 2000 Accord and but on the dash, I only have 5 out of 12 sat. So the Accord windshield must of have something in there that interfere with GPS signal or because she use some cleaning solution on the windshield that interfere the signal.

DK888 · 04-18-2005, 11:13 AM

what kind of antenna are you using in your wife's car MatrixPC?

MatrixPC · 04-19-2005, 08:55 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DK888

what kind of antenna are you using in your wife's car MatrixPC?

That same Earthmate USB GPS that I use in the Supra.

DK888 · 04-19-2005, 10:06 AM

You know...my gps reciever is still on the rear deck. During the day I fluxuates in and out. 6 satellites...sometimes none. On the roof, 7 strong signals. I ordered the Rikaline 6010 from ebay for $55. I was driving around the other day and got really ****ed when I got lost due to the signal fading out and once it resumed. I had to be rerouted. I'll post back when my new reciever comes in. Thanks MatrixPC but, I really don't want a yellow reciever sitting on my dash. I've tried under the dash in the cluster. Dumb move!