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GPS Antenna

michael.williams1

michael.williams1

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My GPS Antenna failed about 3 months ago, just after I had a new windscreen put in, so I was assuming I'd find a connection problem. However, having gone to the trouble of removing the front windscreen plenum to get at it I didn't find any corrosion around the connector or a bad connection, so I suppose it's died! OEM replacements seem to be around £150 but I read about people installing very cheap antenna + cable alternatives which have to be connected into the back on the PCM. I'm wondering what to do given that the maps on my PCM (987.2S 2011) are out of date and no upgrade is available. This is just a "nice to have" original and operational I suppose ... Anyhow, I thought I'd include some pictures to show the location of the GPS Antenna as I couldn't find any on line before I tackled this job.IMG_1964.jpegIMG_1965.jpeg
 
There are map upgrades available - I think the latest is 2019 - but they are 1) expensive - even if sourced from an "alternative" supplier 2) still woefully out of date and 3) the sat nav software / hardware itself are still slow / outdated and lacking in features - that said I think from the pictures that a cheap replacement and cable adapters at the GPS receiver end are possible - you wouldn't need to chase back into the cabin to the PCM. It would bug me that that sat nav didnt work - even though I have bitten the bullet and swapped the head unit - which I am still on the fence about given the features from the pcm that I lost when I did it.... but it's sat safe on a shelf, and I can put it back in about 30 mins if I feel the urge.
 
malarcy said:
There are map upgrades available - I think the latest is 2019 - but they are 1) expensive - even if sourced from an "alternative" supplier 2) still woefully out of date and 3) the sat nav software / hardware itself are still slow / outdated and lacking in features - that said I think from the pictures that a cheap replacement and cable adapters at the GPS receiver end are possible - you wouldn't need to chase back into the cabin to the PCM. It would bug me that that sat nav didnt work - even though I have bitten the bullet and swapped the head unit - which I am still on the fence about given the features from the pcm that I lost when I did it.... but it's sat safe on a shelf, and I can put it back in about 30 mins if I feel the urge.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a good move and it’s one I’ve considered, but I like the originality and the quirkiness of the Porsche unit. When I do need sat nav I use my iPhone on a mount and that works very well. But, as you say, it really annoys me that the PCM nav is down so I’ve ordered some aftermarket parts (for under £30) so I can plug a new antenna into the wiring loom in the frunk. I think I’ve found a good place to mount the antenna too. I may report back with some further pictures and details of parts used, if it all works!
 
Update: I got the GPS working today with the following parts from Amazon:

1. Eightwood Active GPS Antenna, costing £8.99
2. Male to Male Fakra adapter cable, costing £7.99

The male to male adapter cable is required because you have 2 female connectors to interface with; one on the end of the Eightwood cable, and the other Porsche connector (under the frunk) that plugged directly into the original GPS Antenna. I had to remove the blue plastic covers from the ends of the adapter cable before I could get it to fully engage and get a good connection.

The Eightwood GPS Antenna has a magnetic base and I found a steel bracket to mount it on which is directly behind the battery on the firewall (see picture). This allows it to sit horizontally with a clear view of the sky just under the plastic plenum in front of the windscreen.

Once everything was connected up, I switched on the PCM and pressed the info button for about 10 secs to reset it. Initially Maps showed me to be positioned incorrectly but within about 2 mins of driving the car it had found some satellites and had me positioned perfectly!

I'm pleased to get this working again so cheaply, to preserve the original character of the car. It's such a shame that Porsche don't have an upgrade like they do for the 987.1 unit. I see there are a number of PCM 3 Apple CarPlay upgrades on the market, which cost around £3-400 but I don't really know if these would be worth it for me; I rarely listen to music when I'm driving the car as I prefer to listen to the car :cool:, and I'll continue using my iPhone as a sat nav because it produces much better quality images than the PCM screen.

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