Hello, I've my Gramin etrex GPS connected to the cigarette lighter of my Defender TD5 130 When stopping the motor, the power is gone. So I like to have 12 V continuously. I want to connect a (set of three) cigarette lighter plugs using 12V directly (a fuse of course inline) from the battery. What I ask myself: will I get problems ('spikes') when starting the engine whilst the GPS is connected? Thansk for your answers Fred Holland
No. I've wired mine into the clock circuit - same situation as your proposal.
Not spikes dirty great big dips depending on what condition you battery is in. If these dips a big enough it might cause the GPS to think the power has been lost, repeated rapid on/off switching might not be recommended.
I take it Defenders don't have an Aux position on the ignition switch? Most vehicles have, Off (remove key), Aux (radio, etc on), Run (ignition on, vehicle fully powered), Crank (start the engine, Aux etc things off). The aux position is designed for feeding these sort of devices and being on the key stop you leaving them on "accidentally" and flattening your battery...
You can buy a regulator that goes in the 12V line to stop any voltage changes being a problems. Or I presume you can buy them seperately - I have a little 12V monitor and that has one in thje power supply lead.
A colleague had the charging circuitry fail on his PDA, apparently from having it connected to the cigarette lighter, when starting the engine. I imagine that the etrex would be liable to the same problems.
I use a 3-way cigarette lighter (Halfords) that has a power switch and (when I remember) I switch this off when starting the engine. However, I plan to hard wire a PDA mount into the car. Is there a filter that I can put in the chain to protect the PDA?
I suspect that the OP wishes to maintain power to the GPS when he leaves the vehicle for a period. The Aux position is not the answer in that situation. The days of the permanently powered socket, regrettably, appear to be over.
Wouldn't you take the GPS with you? B-)
The only advantage I can see in keeping the GPS powered when you are not there is that you don't need to wait the few tens of seconds it takes to re-aquire the satellites when you power it back up.
Oddly the new RR has permanent power sockets....so maybe those days are not over ;-)
One of them is in th cubby box of all places :-) (I know it makes sense to
*us*, but not to the suit and tie brigade!)
I tend not to unless it is going to be used or I don't wish to leave it on public display.
True, it dosn't take long. One disadvantage is that turning the power off also closes a track segment if you are recording so that you end up with multiple segments instead of one continuous trace.
At the end of the day it's all about the convenience of being able to take the key out of the lock and keep the GPS available for uploading/downloading etc.. For many people that will not be a problem.
A case of good news and bad news, then!
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