Internal or External Antenna GPS

[Jimmy Easterling]

I "need" a fish finder/GPS and have been looking at the Lowrance 522c which is offered in internal and external antenna and thru hull and trolling motor mount. My boat came with the in dash Lowrance X96 but is useless when fishing. I think I have decided to strap it to the trolling motor but unsure about the antenna. One(of 26) of the reviews said that when he tilted it back so he could see the monitor he lost signal on the GPS. He was in Iowa and I am in South Carolina. Any suggestions?

 

[Jim B]

I would go external antenna for the reason you mentioned above as well as future upgrades. For instance if you wanted to add a second GPS device you could network the two to share one external antenna(you can but a unit with no antenna at all for upgrade), you cant do that with the internal. Also with the external you can put the antenna in a location that will be interference free.

 

[otto weber2]

I agree go w/ external.........If the internal antenna fails ur whole system needs servicing....but if the external fails then you just need to replace the antenna......much easier on the wallet. I went through this same debate on my boat and i went w/ the external.



Otto

 

[Texas Transplant]

External antenna has several antenna's, not the least is size and ability to receive the signals better. Go with the external one.



Tex

 

[Thomas Ritter]

 

[Thomas Ritter]

I had 2-520's on my previous boat and had no problem with them. Like they said you can network them together and use 1 puck. You can also mount the puck under the deck, and it will read through it as long as it's fiberglass or wood. Don't mount it under anything metal.

 

[Jon Jackoviak2]

I have a Lowrance 522c iGPS and I really like it. It performs very nicely with no problems picking up the satellites.

 

[Dan J.]

External is less problematic and preferred. If drilling the mounting holes is a holdback, try industrial velcro. Holds as good, doesn't leave holes and you can remove for security, depending on how/where you mount the pigtail to the unit. Good luck!

 

[Stan Tallant]

External is the way to go. I have an internal GPS on my Humminbird 787c2i and have such bad reception with it mounted next to the console that Humminbird sent me an external antenna on the house to clear up my issues. Humminbird customer service is top notch.

 

[davetnitro]

i have a lcx 20c and lcx 110, networked with 1 puck internal no problems.

 

[Jim B]

davetnitro, just for the sake of everyone to not be confused please expand on the term "internal".



What i mean by the term "external" is either a lcg2000 or lcg3000 module is being used. "Internal" would be the module is built into the head unit itself like a 522c( that can not be shared per Lowrance). The lcx 20c and 110x both use the "external" lcg module or "puck". The LCG modules can be shared, plenty of guys do it including myself.

 

[Aroldo Hernandez]

I have 2 522cigp's on my boat and both with south region navionic's. I have no problem loosing signal on eather one.

 

[Jimmy Easterling]

Thanks everyone. I ordered the 520 with the external because it sounds like you guy know what you are talking about. Next obsticle......learning how to use it. I did download the emulator to work with until I get the real thing working on the water. Thanks again.