Customer Reviews

Gilsson High Performance GPS Antenna (MCX 90 degree connector)for Garmin Nuvi 660, 350, 360, 300, iQue 3200 3600 M5 GPS 60 60C 60CS 76 76CS Quest, Quest 2, StreetPilot i3 i5 2610 2620 2720 2730 c320 c330 (compare to GA27C) 16ft Cable

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I do a lot of hiking in state parks where I create detailed trail maps for the hiking guidebooks I write. I use a Garmin GPSMap 60CS, but I don't like to always have to hold the receiver out in front of me as I hike. By using this antenna, I can keep the GPS in a hip holster and mount the antenna inside my hat. It's fairly unobtrusive, but a little dorky if you look at me closely. In the past, I have always used the Garmin external antenna. It works great but is expensive. I needed a new antenna, so I decided to buy this one from Gilsson because it had received many good reviews on the GPS newsgroup and was very inexpensive. It has met all my expectations. It seems to have a little better sensitivity than the built-in antenna, but the real benefit is that it allows you to put the GPS wherever you want (like inside an automobile or on your belt) without losing sensitivity. As long as the antenna has a clear view of the sky you're fine. It doesn't come with any extras (mine didn't even have an instruction manual!) but it's not hard to figure out. Just snap the MCX connector into the connector on the back of your GPS (you need a model with an external antenna input) and that's all. The housing is much smaller than the Garmin, nicely made. Good cable, adequately strain-relieved where it feeds into the housing. I always route the cable through the metal D-ring that attaches the battery housing on the back of the 60CS, better protecting the fragile MCX connector. There are two magnets in the housing under a piece of tape. These allow you to mount the antenna to a magnetic surface such as an automobile roof. You can peel back the tape and remove them to reduce weight and avoid damaging magnetic media such as disk drives. It also comes with two flat-head screws you can use for permanent mounting. You can't beat this antenna for the price.

I have a Garmin 2620 and the internal antenna just doesn't cut it when using the unit in a car. I lost the satellite signal constantly. I began shopping for an antenna and found that Garmin's is $99 bucks (gulp!). When I found this antenna for $22, I went straight to the order page as fast as I could. The antenna is perfect. It has a nice magnetic mount, it is very small and I have not lost reception yet. The signal is strong and constant and makes using my 2620 so much better. The only drawback (and it isn't really) is that the mid-sized cord (9 feet I think) is not quite long enough to mount the antenna on the trunk if you have a fairly large car. I had to mount my antenna to the dash - which was no problem because it is so small. No one would notice it up there tucked in the corner unless I told them it was there.

I had trouble with my 2610 getting good reception on the dash of my H2 Hummer due to the angle of the windshield. It seemed that every time I had to make a crucial turn, I got the "lost satellite" message, especially where there were overhanging trees. The Garmin antenna is $99 and I wasn't sure if it do that much but for $20, I figured "What the heck".
Well ... It's like having a different animal. Country roads with lots of trees and in the city with tall buildings my 2610 never misses a beat and the sensitivity is +- 8 feet.
I mounted it on the roof and the magnet base keeps it put even through the car wash. I ran the thin wire along the door frame and under the weather-stripping into the cabin. You can't even see it. I'm very happy with my purchase and highly recommend it to anyone that has the lost signal problem.

The only thing that held me back from getting an external antenna for my Garmin GPSmap 60 was the pricing. It was a must have if you want to get good satellite locks when in a automobile. When I found out about this unit and the price, there were no second thoughts.

It performs as expected and for that price, what else can I say. Now my GPRr acquires and maintain good locks onto the satellites and gives me a high accuracy when travelling in the car. Mounting it on the roof would be the best but getting the cable in can be tricky if all the windows have to be wound up. I managed to get it through the door rubber seals without compromising the cable integrity.

My Garmin GSMap 60CS would not pickup signals through my wife's Chevy Venture vans windshield. This did the trick. Cable is thin and pliable, so it has no problem getting through a door seal. Cable is also long enough to use it through a rear door which keeps it from interfering with driving. I now use it is both my vehicles as it enhances reception considerably. Magnet holds the unit very securely to the vehicles.

Purchased this in May. It broke in September. The angled-head is a flimsy plastic piece that easily snaps off. Contacted the manufacturer who told me they only warranty their products for 90 days...BUT if I wanted to buy another one, they'd sell it to me at a discount! Thanks, but I'd rather shove a coat hanger in there - it's at least worth what I paid for it!

had to buy this external antenna after the internal one in my Garmin iQue refused to provide any signal to the unit. The cable is strong but flexible and it's long enough to put the GPS unit and antenna almost anywhere in your car. The signal is strong and the unit sees more satellites than it used to do in its best days with an internal antenna.

Our GPS quit working on our long road trip with about 2,000 miles left to navigate. My husband knows a lot about these systems and figured out pretty quickly that it just needed an external antenna. I guess it is not unusual for these GPS's to have antenna problems after a while. We went from store to store looking for an antenna but just did not have any luck and had to use the old fashioned paper map to get ourselves from K.C. to southern Alabama. Funny how you almost forget how to use those when you have had a GPS. As soon as we got the antenna from Amazon we were back to finding our way around town. We call our GPS "Smarty Pants". Had I not had my husband to diagnose the problem I would have assumed the GPS was totalled and had been forced to purchase another one. This was a quick/inexpensive fix for something that orignally was quite expensive. I have NO complaints about it whatsoever but it would be nice to have something that mounts flush with the GPS instead of having the long cord. We just tied the extra cord up so that it doesn't get tangled.

My Garmin Nuvi 350 has trouble maintaining a satellite signal in the Seattle Washington area, especially when driving in a North/South direction. Note: If you press the satellite strength bars on the Nuvi display screen (upper left corner) it will show you satellite details including the accuracy of your position within Feet/Meters.

My test results: before plugging in the external antenna the Garmin Nuvi displayed an accuracy of 34ft in my backyard which continued to fluctuate significantly. After attaching the external Gilsson GPS antenna the Garmin acquired several more satellites and displayed an accuracy of 9ft which held steady. Conclusion: This thing apparently works!

I love this antenna. I've been using it for my Garmin GPSMAP 60CS since I bought it several years ago. Well, recently after a long day of kayaking, watching the STS-119 shuttle launch, and then battling traffic to get home, I was exhausted and sore. I haphazardly yanked on the antenna cable to remove it from my kayak's deck bag, and the connector separated from the cable and stayed attached to the receiver's antenna port.

Oops. Truly not a fault of the antenna. I bought another one quickly.

I've had this thing on my kayak (in fresh water and salt water), on top of my car, clipped to the outside of my backpack, you name it. It has performed admirably every step of the way.

And the performance is excellent. On my last kayak outing, I was getting a consistent 5-foot accuracy on my 60CS, which I have never once achieved with the built-in antenna. Doing the Rock Springs Run here in Central FL with consistent heavy tree cover, I have always been able to get 8-foot accuracy or better.

At any rate, it's such a significant difference that I'm buying another one immediately, and when I upgraded receivers recently, I chose the Colorado 400T over the Oregon 400T specifically because the Oregon doesn't have a port for an external antenna!

One important note, though, is the connector type - choose carefully. If you have a model that has the antenna port on the back (like the 600-series), then choose the angle connector. If your antenna port is on top of the unit (like the Colorado), choose the straight connector. I made the mistake of getting the angle connector for the Colorado, and it's impossible for me to remove the connector without pliers, due to the tight connector and minimal finger space to get a good grip on it.

Also, in my experience (having had both a 9-ft cable and a 3-ft cable), if you're doing any hiking or geocaching with it, do yourself a favor and get the shorter cable. My longer cable spent all of its time coiled up and getting in the way. You could always get an extension cable for the rare occasions where you need the length, and leave it at home the rest of the time.