GPS Antenna Placement

[bwolfe]

I have read that you can put the antenna under the dashboard if there is no metal between it and the sky. Right under my dash would be the AVIC... Can the antenna be placed on the unit itself or is that not recommended?

[HiFiSi]

Yes, people have done that with no problems. But remember, your dashboard is as wide as the car. I doesn't have to go directly over top of the unit. It can go up above the glove compartment, or sometimes you can pull out one of the vents and get to the inside of the dash that way as well.

 

On my car, I was able to pull out the driver's side defrost vent to the left of the steering wheel and get the antenna up inside the dash there.

[Guz]

All I recommend is that you get the best reception signal possible. Try different spots to see where it works best. Having really good signal is paramount for its Navigation capabilities to work well. In case you did not know, you can check the connection status on the radio as you try different placement areas in your vehicle.

[bwolfe]

Thanks for the suggestion. I was noticing the status screen in the manual the other day.

[coasterlvr]

I have read that you can put the antenna under the dashboard if there is no metal between it and the sky. Right under my dash would be the AVIC... Can the antenna be placed on the unit itself or is that not recommended?

 

I have mine under the dash in a Scion XB. I also almost always install them under the dash with success.

 

One thing I have noticed with the F90BT, is that it is more accurate in areas where my Z1 did not know which part of a fwy transition I was on.

[HiFiSi]

Basically, you can put the antenna ANYWHERE, provided there is no solid metal over top of it.

[dericn]

I've found that the GPS antenna doesn't seem to be very picky about placement. As a test, I stuck mine upside-down UNDER the passenger seat, and it still worked fine driving around. I ended up mounting it just beneath the center of my dash on a 4" x 6" piece of 3/16" sheet metal. There are plenty of GPS satellites, so there should be no problem seeing enough of them to maintain a 3D position. I have all green dots on the status screen. While driving around, one or two dots only occasionally drop to yellow...

 

XM, on the other hand, has only 2 satellites in orbit, so I would imagine that placement is more critical. Although, I had my XM antenna under the dash with my GPS antenna, and noticed dropouts when driving through valleys, or alongside steep hills. I temporarily tried sticking it to the center of my roof to see if that helped. I still got dropouts in the same places, so it must be that the satellite is just not in site at those places...

 

It's now back under my dash.

 

-Eric

[bwolfe]

I ended up installing it on top of AVIC-F900BT and I get really good reception, better than my D3 with the antenna on the roof of my truck.

[poppyq]

I put mine under my dash above the glovebox and almost all the GPS signals are green.

[bwolfe]

I found only one problem with installing under my dash, and that is now my radar detector senses an xa band radar signal. Its very week, but only happens when the GPS antenna is in such close proxiemity to the radar detector.

 

I like the clean install of having the antenna under the dash, so perhaps I am going to upgrade my radar detector since its 8 years old.

[FubarJeb]

I found only one problem with installing under my dash, and that is now my radar detector senses an xa band radar signal. Its very week, but only happens when the GPS antenna is in such close proxiemity to the radar detector.

 

I like the clean install of having the antenna under the dash, so perhaps I am going to upgrade my radar detector since its 8 years old.

 

Are you sure it's XA band, and not KA or just X? I'm only asking cause I never heard of an XA band.

 

Also the GPS is a receiver only and shouldn't be transmitting any signals.

[bwolfe]

Could be KA, the letters are small and they kind of look like an xa.