How to make a re-radiating antenna for the Garmin Etrex family, using the GA27 active antenna,

by Heinrich Pfeifer.

Motivation:

Before I upgraded to the Etrex Vista I used the GPS12XL for some years. And while the GPS reception in
my car is very bad with the receiver mounted in an easy-to-read position, I used the GA27 antenna put
on the dashboard. Now, the Etrex family does not come with a connection for external antenna. There
are some re-radiating antennas on the market but I found a way to save this money, using the old GA27.

Please note that this is not an instruction to make a receiving antenna. I made e repeater system and I
used a commercial receiving antenna with amplifier.

The basic idea:

The basic idea was not mine. I read a paper written by Dave Martindale. He made a re-radiating antenna
for his GPS38, long before the Etrex family came out. I found his instructions very clear and, in the end,
correct. You find it here and you should read it in order to understand what I did. There is only one point
that I did not find working: he recommended a GPS45 helix antenna to be used as the transmitting
antenna but this did not work well with my Vista.

The final arrangement is shown in the following diagram. I made the transmitting antenna, and the
adaptor box. Within this box, power supply for the Etrex and for the GA27 is generated out of the car
supply (12 to 14 Volts), and the antenna signal is coupled to the transmitting antenna.

The transmitting antenna:

It was very easy to make the transmitting antenna out of a silver plated copper wire. I found that it is
essential to keep the whole wire length at approximately 190 mm (one wavelength), but it is not
required to have the full length on top of the Etrex body. So I found a way to fix the loop on a small
printed board, and this board is fixed by a screw and some glue on the Pfranc connector for power
supply, see the photos below. I just connect the power supply and the antenna is in place. Works very
well. The reception is stronger than with the pure Etrex.
The wiring

Dave Martindale gave instructions on how to do the power supply of the GS27 and the wiring. I did all as
he said, but I use only one MCX connector on the supply box. The wire leading to the antenna loop is
soldered directly to the coupling capacitor inside the box. I don't need the additional BNC connector,
and this way it was easier to keep all connections in a good 50 Ohms shape.

The Adaptor Box

For the power supply of both the Etrex and the GA27 I use only one current loop, see the diagram
below.
The upper part of the diagram is the supply for the Etrex. I use a variable linear regulator LM117 to
create the 3 volts needed. The capacitors in the diagram are not given as values. They are bypass or
coupling capacitors and everyone will prefer other values.

In general a linear regulator is not a good solution here because most of the 12 volts from car supply is
wasted, so a switching regulator is generally said to be better. But note the 5.1 Volts Zener diode in the
supply line. Whenever the Etrex is on, its 50 to 200 mA current will keep the Zener diode alive, and it can
act as another 5 Volts supply for the lower branch in the diagram, supplying the antenna current of max.
15 mA. In fact the antenna supply is not referring to the same ground as the car and the Etrex, but this
does not matter at all because there is no galvanic connection between the antennas and the Etrex.

As a side effect, the antenna supply is cut automatically whenever the Etrex is off. No extra switch is
needed for the antenna.

Any more questions? You'll find me here.

This page describes modifying a reradiating GPS antenna for use on a GPS which does not have an external antenna
adapter. This project came about more as a curiosity to see just what kind of performance can be gained using such
an antenna. Two main pages I have used for reference are Heinrich Pfeifer's and Dave Martindale's reradiating
antenna pages. I'm also working with Lapaglia, who has already made a similar unit for use with his ipaq and is
impressed with his results. My test dummy - a basic yellow Etrex which has to be one of the most common units
used.

Things to consider concerning a reradiating antenna:

1. GPS signals are low power, high frequency (1.57542 GHz) digital signals. As long as the GPS is getting a clear
signal from a particular satellite, amplifying the signal will do little for your accuracy.
2. A reradiating antenna will only amplify signals from satellites that are in view; If the GPS is picking up 4
satellites and all the others are near the horizon, odds are you will only pick up 4 with the reradiating antenna.
3. Where the reradiating antenna will help is under heavy cover, where the signal strength is not enough for the GPS
to get a clear signal.

This is the SM-76 amplified antenna I purchased for this project. I found mine on ebay for less than $27 delivered to
the door. I was totally deceived by the picture. This is a very small waterproof unit with a magnetic base, measuring
about 1.875" X 2.25" X 0.625". This particular unit is available with 3, 9 or 16-feet cable lengths, with the actual
unit I bought having the 9 foot cable. The cable is very thin, less than 1/8 inch diameter and terminates in a standard
right angle 50 ohm BNC connector. The antenna uses the inner conductor for both the DC power to feed the
amplifier as well as for the RF output to drive the transmitting antenna. Stated input power rating is 2.5 - 5 volts
with a current draw of 7 mA with a signal gain of 27-33 db typical.

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Below is a basic circuit design I put together so I'd have something to play with as soon as the antenna unit got here.
Power is supplied by 2 AA batteries, as opposed to the designs from the pages mentioned at the top of this page
which get power from a 12 V power source. Using the batteries makes the circuit design much more simple and
portable.

Battery power is sent to the center conductor of the BNC jack via a small hand wound inductor. I made this coil by
winding 6 turns of #26 AWG magnet wire over a 3/16 drill bit. This inductor acts as an AC block, keeping the Rf
energy from the amplifier from getting into the power supply. I originally thought this inductor was not necessary
since I was running battery power, but without it the RF energy feeds though the batteries causing them to get warm,
which we can assume is not a good thing!

The transmitting portion of the circuit consists of 2 parts. A 47pf capacitor which acts as a DC block to the
transmitting loop, without it the batteries would effectively be shorted by the low resistance of the transmitting loop.
The transmitting antenna loop I am using as a test dummy is 190 mm (one wavelength) of # 22 AWG magnet wire.
This wire is too flexible for a permanent design, but works well for testing purposes.
 Click to enlarge

Initial test: In my house. I can typically get a lock inside the house half of the time. It just so happened 12 satellites
were "in view" during this test. The basic circuit was used and held about an inch above the GPS.

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off 32'

Amp On 22'

Same test, next morning. 7 satellites in view.

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off 49'

 Amp On 25'

Still inside house. I changed C1 from 47 pf to .33 µf to see if that helps. I am looking for formula for "ideal" value,
but can't seem to find it in my books. Results are impressive for this test though.

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off 31'

Amp On 18'

Similar test as last one with .001 µf capacitor. As you can see, there are times when the antenna may actually lose a
signal the GPS could pick up, yet add others. I have emailed Dave Martindale as to how he arrived at his values, and
the text of that email is here.

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off 45'

Amp On 24'

I've decided to build a shielded enclosure and came up with this for a first design. I used a short piece of 1/2 inch
copper tubing and 2 end caps, one of which has been shortened to facilitate soldering of the circuit board directly to
the BNC connector. The entire assembly is less than 3 inches long, and could be shorter. The second cable is for
external batteries, with a longer tubing there would be room for AA batteries, they fit perfectly in the tubing. As an
alternative, there is room for button cells inside as-is, and with the low current draw it could be an option. I am using
a surface mount capacitor (200pf, smallest I could find) now to keep the impedance down some.
 Click to enlarge

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First test, using the new setup. Again, indoors. Outdoor tests soon. If it does this in heavy tree cover, it's worth
something...

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off N/A

Amp On 26'

Finally the weather cleared so I made it outside for a test. All day today I have had a good signal, even without the
aid of the reradiating antenna, but had to try it out anyway. These results were taken in an open area with a decent
view of the sky. The antenna is supposed to work without a ground plane, but for this test I tried it both with and
without a ground plane (hood of truck).

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off 23'

Amp On 20'
 Amp On 17'
w/ground plane

My first use of the antenna at a cache site when the signal was poor. Most of the Satellites were near the horizon,
and could only get 3 satellites to lock without the reradiating antenna. I was about 50 feet from the cache without the
antenna, and with it got me within 15 feet.

Satellite Power Accuracy

Amp Off 57'

Amp On 36'

On to the actual transmitting antenna. The length should be 190 mm as stated before, but that leaves options for
different shapes. From what I have read, it's not so much the shape of the loop that makes a difference, it is the area
within it. A circle will yield the most area for a shape with a 190mm circumference, about 2874 sq mm; a square
loop would yield about 2256 sq mm. However, I have twisted my loop into several shapes and it still seems to work
quite well, except for shapes that leave very little area inside. As with all high frequency circuits, very sharp corners
and loops should be avoided as it causes higher losses and unwanted inductance.

At this point it also makes sense to find a suitable way to attach the transmitting loop. For the Etrex line, Heinrich
Pfeifer's way of using a pfranc connector as a support for a rigid wire loop is one good method. I'll play with that
idea another day.

I came up with this brainstorm, tried it out, and it seemed to work as well as the ones I have been using. It is a
standard Garmin stretch fit cover with a very fine (35 Gauge, approximately .005") nichrome wire sewn into the
center of the skin of the cover. The dotted line shows where the wire runs to make a 190 mm loop. For connectors, I
tried nickel plated brass snaps typically used on clothing. Since the nichrome wire is not able to be soldered by
conventional means, I wrapped it tightly several turns around one of the loops, then coated it with a conductive ink
pen. I then let it dry and coated it with a drop of superglue. For the other connector, I used a small piece of PCB
board, drilled two though-holes corresponding to the connectors on the GPS cover, stuck the wires though, placed
the other half of the snap and soldered together. I then reinforced the cable with some hot glue on the back side. It
seems quite durable and the electrical connection is stable.
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Additional notes sent by others:

I read of your experiments with a re-radiating antenna with interest.

I'll add my experience. For the antenna itself I used a piece of flexible printed circuit material. This is a very tough
film like material with copper on one side. I drew and etched a copper loop. A narrow and long upside down "U"
shape with the total length of 190 mm. The open end of the "U" I glued on to the back of a universal mobile
telephone holder which in turn is mounted on the car dashboard. I put the Etrex into the phone holder and bend the
"U" down over the Etrex internal antenna. I use a Lowe active antenna and a 5v power pack to power the active
antenna. Four NI-MH AA battery cells give very close to 5V and can power the active antenna for several weeks.
I let the active antenna lie in the rear car window which gives good results. Satellite lock-on using the patch antenna
is fast, usually within a 5 to 15 seconds.
Hope my experiences can help others. Douglas