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Positioning your GPS unit

All Sat Nav GPS units come with integral antennas, but remember that for any system to work effectively it must have a clear view of the GPS satellite constellation. When mounting your unit on the dash, do not position it too near the A-pillars as this may reduce the field of view.

Problems with reception

Some vehicles have special UV coated windscreens (known as athermic glass), which prevent a GPS signal being received on all GPS based units. Heated screens or “Quickclear” screens (such as as those on some Ford models) also have the same effect.

If you do have a problem with reception it is easily remedied by an optional external antenna or additional internal antenna. Check our website for the right sat nav antenna.

• Internal Mounting of GPS antenna
  GPS antennas tend to be small flat square receivers on the end of a long cable. It is always best to experiment with different locations in your car, but some manufacturers of athermic windscreens leave small clear sections of glass to allow use of GPS receivers, often at the bottom corners of the screen or just below the rear view mirror. Try there first, but you can also consider the driver side window or rear parcel shelf.
   
• External Mounting of GPS antenna
  The best position to externally mount an antenna is just under the air intake vent on the bonnet, or trim near windscreen wipers. Make sure that this area is made of plastic (most are) otherwise it will again prevent a signal being received. Mount as close to the bonnet as possible, if the antenna is mounted low down it will not get a clear view of the sky.

The following vehicles may, or are known, depending on age/registration to have windscreens that prevent a signal being received:

Heated screens (GPS reception may be intermittent and weak):

• Ford Mondeo (optional heated screen)
• Ford Focus (optional heated screen)
• New Fiesta (optional heated screen)
• And some other Ford models as optional extra
• Jaguar (various models)
• Range Rover and Land Rover (various models)

UV/Solar Reflective/metal oxide/Comfort screens (minimal to zero reception):

If you have had a windscreen replacement, this may also be athermic glass