Garmin G5 external GPS antenna needed?

[Lenny Iszak]

I'm installing a Garmin G5 in my RV-10 and wondering is the unit's internal GPS antenna adequate or do I need to connect an external one?

Thanks,
Lenny

[airguy]

If you've got the latest software, it does pretty well without the external antenna. I have the antenna sitting on a shelf, ready to install - but just haven't gotten around to it due to the good performance of the internal antenna.

The previous software versions were not nearly as good in this regard.

[krw5927]

I found mine needed an external antenna. RV9A glareshield in the way of good reception.

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Mine is panel mounted on the RV-9A towards the middle of the panel, works fine without an external antenna.

[RV6_flyer]

Two G5s installed without antenna about 8-months ago in my RV-6.

The GPS in the unit works great.

IF doing aggressive maneuvering (60 bank turn or more) GPS will lose signal for a few seconds. Because I have a magnetometer, I get a RED X through the ground speed as that comes from the GPS portion of the G5. This is not a big deal to me or my installation.

[Lenny Iszak]

Thanks for all the replies! I will try it without a GPS antenna first and see how it works. I'll report back.

Lenny

[g3xpert]

Originally Posted by Lenny Iszak

I'm installing a Garmin G5 in my RV-10 and wondering is the unit's internal GPS antenna adequate or do I need to connect an external one?

Thanks,
Lenny

Hello Lenny,

It is rare to see the G5 internal GPS receiver/antenna work well enough in metal aircraft to not need an external antenna, but you can use the GPS Configuration page in config mode to tell you if your installation is adequate.

The G5 has a very sensitive WAAS GPS receiver, and will almost always have enough signal to receive a 3D or 3D Differential fix to be able to determine and display the basic track/speed/altitude information, but having the high quality signal necessary for the G5 to use GPS data to improve the attitude measurement is something quite different.

Here is an example where the GPS antenna is working well enough to provide the basic GPS data on the display, but not working well enough to provide a signal of sufficient quality to correct attitude sensor drift (no green check mark).




The G5 can operate without a GPS, but for the best performance, this is what you want to achieve with your installation, especially if used in IMC. The green check mark shown on the GPS configuration page is an indication that you have a good installation.



For certified installations of the G5, we require an external GPS antenna in all installations where the G5 is not receiving GPS data from an external IFR navigator.

Thanks,
Steve

[Lenny Iszak]

Steve,

Thanks for that! I'll install it and check how many green bars I get, especially in maneuvering flight like Gary mentioned above. Just didn't want to add one more GPS if I didn't have to, I already have 5 in the plane.

[Bavafa]

Too bad one can not share the signal from an existing antenna to multiple devices, like using a splitter type.

[Walt]

In a G3X installation does that required GPS data come from the MAPMX or the CAN bus? Or is it best to still have an antenna on the G5?