Garmin External antenna

I wouldn't get it, but I have really good signal and never lost it. If you are having issues with reception, then it may do you good getting it.

I'm thinking of getting it this week. For the $30.00 I don't mind if its a hit or miss. I guess when you need instant directions out of town in a big city it might be worth it.

They're less expensive than the ones Garmin sells, and work just fine.

If you do a search for "external antenna" in the 'Search' window at the top of the page, you'll find several pages of links that may interest you.

RT

I bought an off-brand external antenna off of Amazon for my old StreetPilot. That unit often needed help in cities. On my nuvi 650 the external antenna will get you maximum signal strength on every visible satellite. However, there is little difference in performance when the antenna is attached.

In cities with tall buildings it may be helpful to get the best signal you can. I use my external antenna in downtown Philadelphia and New York. I get fewer "Lost Satellite Reception" alerts with it attached.

An external antenna can also help in situations where you may want the GPS far from views of the sky but could put the antenna near a window. My antenna came with a very long cord.

It probably depends on what model you have as to how useful it will be. Older, cheaper models would be more needy. I had a SP C330 that took a long time to acquire sattelites and may have benefited. My C550 is very speedy at acquiring sattelites and seldom loses its lock, so I doubt I would see any improvment using an external antenna.

I haven't lost signal with my Nuvi 660 yet, even had one trip from Florida to Colorado and back through some hellacious thunderstorms without so much as a hiccup, except when we were stuck in traffic in a tunnel/bridge in St. Louis.

It;s been great so far. (Crosses fingers)

I have found that if you are in a vehicle that has an antenna built into the windshield, that can cause reception problems. I had that problem with my Navman, and have noticed this on occasion with my 580. The external antenna helps out immensely in this application, but it doesn't add any additional response time in the other vehicles I use it in that have standard FM antennas.

thank you

I installed my 680 in the lower storage area of the center console on my 2007 Camry. CA does not allow the windshield mounts, so... There is power and an iPOD connector down there. Runs hardwired into the stereo.
The silver Nuvi in the silver dash looks great. It is recessed under the radio and electronics though and the signal strength was unsat. I placed the Garmin antenna near the front right windshield corner and routed the wire down to the Nuvi. Now it works great. I just wish the cradle had an antenna connector there so I did not have to disconnect the antenna wire every time I take the Nuvi out of the car.
Yeah, it is worth $30.

see now I'm confused

I do not use my external antenna with my SP C330 when I mount my unit on the dash (her car). When we do long distance in my van, and use the suction mount high on the windshield, I mount the externa antenna. I found it to be very useful going thru mountain passes and areas of tall foliage,like the redwoods in California. Mounting my suction mount high on the windshield tends to block signal !

I use an external Ant occasionally when I place my 2730 down on the console rather thasn on the Dash.

An ext. ant. definately makes a difference in how many satellites you pick up and I feel it makes a difference in how fast it finds those satellites too.

Tim

I got one (OEM) a while back, thinking that it would increase my reception or help pickup the signal better. If you put your receiver on your dash where there's no obstruction to your signal, then don't get it. It's not meant to help increase or pickup the signal any faster. That's my experience.

if your vehicle does not allow the gps to acquire a signal then purchase it. if your vehicle allows the signal, why waste the money?