GPS Speedo
 

I have a Livorsi GPS speedo that the antenna stopped working. Has anyone bought the new style antenna and done the conversion yourself? I can send it back to Livorsi and they will convert it but I am trying not to have to take it out the boat.

It seems simple enough mine has 3 wires that plug in.

The newer style has 3 wires that go to ring terminals
Wire Connection
White Signal (NMEA 0183 output)
Red Switched 12V power
Black Good engine ground.

If I cut the ring terminals off and solider in my connector it should work. Anyone try this before and if so what stumbling blocks did you reach?

Tried it, did not work.

Some units need to be programmed to work with the new antenna.

It is really easier to just send it in.

I peeled(glued on) the antenna (mine looked like a mouse)off the deck, cut it apart with a razor at the seam, unplugged the harness, unsoldered the ground, put it on the bench, unsoldered the inner cover and battery, soldered in a new $3.00 battery and put it all back together with 3M5200. Works great.

I did this also; did not work, but I have the molex plug version also. Battery is now good, looks for satellites for a few seconds then the needle goes back to 9 o'clock and stays there. Guess the antenna, gauge and all wiring will have to be sent to Livorsi.

Unscrewed the top on mine. Desoldered the battery. Got a new 3 dollar battery had the terimnals welded on it and put it back together.. No worky, But Livorsi said for about a 180 bucks, I can buy the new antenna.( Just so you can tell how fast you are going.) WOOPIE! I used my hand held and recoreded speeds by the tach. So at 3000- 3500 hundred etc., I can tell about how fast I am going by the tach. It's about 500 RPMs per 10 MPH on my boat. That's good enough for me.. When I test I just use the hand held. :D

Thanks for the info
I will attemt to change the battery in the antenna. If that does not work I'll send the gauge in.

I just bought a garmin antena with the nema output and hooked it up.

Works great.

unplugged mine from behind the speedo and works (for now)

What a horrible design! I think everyone has been down this road. I expect more from a company like Livorsi. Did they think these stupid batteries would last forever? Every weekend at the lake someone is talking about their speedo doing this!

Why not just wire the gauge up to your gps? Throw the antenna in the garbage.

The repair is pretty straight forward, just make sure you pay attention to polarity when removing the original. The thread below includes a photo tutorial from when I did mine:
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...problem-2.html

Can this be done?

Yes, very easily. Look at the documentation from you GPS. Find out what wire is the NMEA output and connect that to the gauge. I did this with my previous boat in a matter of minutes.