Anyone have issues with placing the GPS antenna on the windshield? I put mine at the bottom of the driver side windshield with the patch thats included with the product. I notice that the GPS will loose all sats every now and then and take a long time to reaquire.

Is there anything about having the GPS antenna on the windshield rather than the body of the car and does it make a difference that it is not level with the horizon rather than at an incline of the windshield?

Thanks!

The antenna really wants a big piece of metal to use as a ground plane, which is why the thing has a magnet in it. And they give you a piece of foil (which doesn't work as well as a piece of sheet metal). Outside or inside the car, the antenna will work much better stuck to a big piece of metal. Without it, you lose signal strength.

mine's mounted under the dash by windshield. cant see it at all, and gps works fine

That's where mine is too... under the dash, but I noticed a definite difference when it was just taped under there, and then got better when I used the included foil and then even better with a metal plate that the magnet in the antenna could stick to.

I still have a question... I have mine mounted on my roof. I'm paranoid and would like to move it inside. I've been brainstorming locations for it, and I want to put it under my molding against the metal (not picky on any particular spot).

I work on some GPS gear but it's ancient... my gear likes to be upright (vertical). If you turn it sideways (the antenna) it loses signal strength. Does the z1 Antenna like to be horizontal or has anyone noticed if it can be placed vertically on the inside of the molding against the metal doors or sidewalls as well?

I don't think these things are as directional as they used to be. You can put this one at a slight angle without too much signal degradation. The more of an angle, the less signal strength from the sats that happen to be on the antenna's "horizon" but it all depends on the angle you put it at. I had mine at about a 20 deg (ish) angle at the top of my windshield (facing the front of the car) for quite some time and it worked great.

I have mine mounted under the dash of my F150 on a metal bracket on about a 10deg angle. 95% of the time I have all 8 satellites. I have no problem at all with the signal.

Interesting. I had mine origianlly under the dash just stuck to the top of the head unit but didn't know how the magnet would affect the head unit. So I moved it outside. I also thought this would increase the sat coverage. I am noticing a lot that it is loosing sats and I don't have my VSS hooked up so it is off quite a bit when it does not have sat lock.

So does anyone know if having it sit on top of the head unit is a bad thing?

I thought I read somewhere that if your windshield is dark that it can affect the signal?

Update.. Well I removed it from the windshield and moved it to the hood where it had a lot of metal, however it still looses the signal every now and then. I think I'm going to try a new antenna.

Interesting. I had mine origianlly under the dash just stuck to the top of the head unit but didn't know how the magnet would affect the head unit. So I moved it outside. I also thought this would increase the sat coverage. I am noticing a lot that it is loosing sats and I don't have my VSS hooked up so it is off quite a bit when it does not have sat lock.

 

So does anyone know if having it sit on top of the head unit is a bad thing?

 

I thought I read somewhere that if your windshield is dark that it can affect the signal?

If you put it under the dash make sure there is no metal between the antenna and the sats. Dark window makes no difference as long as it isn't metalized or foil. Most cars have a metal frame under the dash - stick it on top of that with it's magnet. Works great.

Has anyone else seen this problem. My Z1 tracks where I am at but the direction is off, if my car is driving north for example the arrow points in a different direction. I noticed during my trip up I95 last week that the arrow spun 360 degree in about a fifty mile span. So during my entire trip (236 miles) it spun 360 degrees 4 1/2 times. Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

so you can mount it on the windshield? i thought that the top of the antenna had to be facing up, and the magnet part facing down?

Dante - I had this problem and couldn't find anyway to resolove it - everyone said the internal gyro was malfunctioning - so I sent it back to Pioneer under warranty. They seemed to agree as they replaced the gyro.

The unit worked well for about a week and then the direction arrow started drifting again - not as badly as before and it seemed to recover after a while. Eventually, I found that if I went into the 3-D Calibration screen and reset everything (Distance, Speed Pulse, Learning Mode), it will fix itself and work OK for several weeks.

So I am just resetting whenever the arrow starts to drift. Try it and see f it helps in your case.

wsurfer it sounds like your Z doesnt face dead center. Realign it to the left or right in the menus.