note to self: learn to how put things back together correctly the first time

A few weeks ago I took apart my Garmin StreetPilot c340 in an attempt to see if the battery was replaceable. It is, but not without some re-soldering. Being that I am no good with a soldering iron I said "Nah".

When I took apart the unit there was this board that came loose but I didn't pay too much attention to it and slapped it back together in a way that seemed correct.

It turns out that intermediary board was the GPS antenna; if it's not set correctly the unit won't acquire a signal at all. I found this out today as I tested the unit to make sure it still worked.

Fortunately someone posted a message board thread that showed what the proper orientation of the antenna is supposed to be inside the unit (the photos are near the bottom of the post). So I cracked open the c340 again, set the board properly and ta-da - it now gets a signal like it's supposed to.

Whew.

. . .

In other GPS news, the mount for the c340 somehow got munched and the flap that sticks it to the mount (or glass) doesn't work anymore.

Solution: Get another mount.

I decided to try something different this time around and bought a car vent mount. If it works out and I like it I might pick one up for the c580 also (the c580 mounts differently compared to a c340).

A mount of this type brings the unit closer to me; that provides three major advantages, that being:

• Easier to touch the screen
• Easier to read the screen
• Doesn't block any part of the windshield whatsoever

All three of those advantages would be much appreciated because I use my GPS a lot.

Hopefully it'll work out. If not I wasted 32 bucks. (heh)