Standard Horizon GPS antenna Q7000619A - no more alarm! - 2015

July 2015 -At private slip in Nuevo Vallarta in Banderas Bay Mexico

This 12-volt antenna (model number is Q7000619A) was recommended  by Standard  Horizon (SH) tech support for use with the GX2150 radio. This will give the radio position data. StandardHorizon Q7000619A External GPS 50 Channel Smart Antenna.

At this time we have the SH VHF radio GX2150 radio  to get position  data  from the Garmin Garmin GPSMAP 740 chart plotter. The SH VHF sends the Garmin 740 Chart Plotter AIS data.  This all works fine. The problem arises when we do not have  the electronics on - that is a lot of the time! When the SH VHF has been on for 10 min with no position data (electronics off)  then the  radio sounds an alarm.  This alarm  keeps going off until it is cleared. Then after four hours the alarm goes off again, again it keeps going til it is cleared . This  does not sound like much but every four hours means you are out in the dinghy or out on deck or napping in the cockpit and a trip to the nav station is required yet again. There is not a way to disable this alarm so there you are. After a couple few years of this we splurged for a way to get the damn radio what it wants, position data. This, I guess, is also a safety advantage if you press the red button 😓

So now to install this antenna.  We will mount it on the davits by the stern light. It comes with 25' of cord and our best guestament, this is long enough. We will put the little plastic mount that came with the antenna on the bottom of the antenna. We cut the connector of the end and now will need to wait for the rail mount to get here with Alan and Elizabeth on s\ v Vivacia. Other cruisers , Mike and Michelle  on s\v Indian Summer brought down the antenna for us.

Inch by inch, but we are making  progress  😀

From Standard Horizon tech support:
"You will cut the connector off the antenna cable. You will wire the red and black to the battery positive and negative respectively. You will connect the brown output of the antenna to the blue input of the radio. These are the only wires linking the antenna and the radio. The radio green wire will go to ground. Using this antenna you will get True North data but not Magnetic North. Just an FYI."

  

And back to Standard  Horizon.

We have a Garmin 740 chart plotter connected to the Standard Horizon GX2150 radio.

The  Standard Horizon GX2150 sends the Garmin chart plotter AIS info that the chart plotter displays.

The Garmin chartplotter sends the Standard Horizon GX2150 radio the GPS position.

So how to make them either work together or separate. Or do we need the Garmin chart plotter to send position to the Standard Horizon GX2150 radio? Will AIS data still be sent to the Garmin chart plotter using the Standard Horizon antenna?

Would it be the correct data if the chart plotter is using GPS heading or would it need to me Magnetic?

Or if that is a problem we could install a switch to the Standard Horizon antenna power to shut it off when using the Garmin Chart plotter?

With it being the 4th of July weekend, it will be next week when we get a response...and start the work!

OK got the response:

"It’s up to you which gps source you choose. You can wire them both to the radio and control them via a switch. The radio will always send AIS data in the format it receives them in from the transponders. The true or magnetic only affects what the display of the radio will show. "

Now when we get the rail mount we are good to go on this project!