Garmin Quest/StreetPilot III

[frenchuk]

OK... I splashed out (or rather, my credit card company did...)!!!
News is, it's fantastic, very neat and compact, AND screen although small is highly readable and doesn't FEEL tiny, it's more than appropriate for the task and I'm well shuft! Bought it from THERE for ?350 incl. VAT - this CRADDLE will be made available by ram mount, another one by garmin will be available with all the proper bike connections in February, but as for the mo there is nothing bike specific, I used those mounts:
THIS ONE fixed to the brake lever handlebar clamp, and THAT ONE fixed one the ball of the first one instead of the U clamp unit on one side, and the diamond shape on the other side fixed with double sided heavy duty outside tape and screwed to the standard craddle. I then installed a marine-grade cigarette lighter socket under the plastic cover on the right of the fairing, plugged the cigarette lighter plug coming out of the craddle to it, cable-tied it to the frame with the said double sided tape to avoid rattling, and Bob is very much your mother's brother - I just need to figure out a way to get audio out of the useless (for bike) speaker attached to the said cigarette lighter plug and there you go, sorted! The only thing is, I was a bit conscious of the fact there was no top retainer - but having said that the Quest has a positive click when sliding it in (woooer) the craddle... Will try to find a nicer way than a rubber band to create a retainer. Well there you go, hope that entertained you! (will take pix to illustrate my inane ramblings)

 

[richard]

OK... I splashed out (or rather, my credit card company did...)!!!
News is, it's fantastic, very neat and compact, AND screen although small is highly readable and doesn't FEEL tiny, it's more than appropriate for the task and I'm well shuft! Bought it from THERE for ?350 incl. VAT - this CRADDLE will be made available by ram mount, another one by garmin will be available with all the proper bike connections in February, but as for the mo there is nothing bike specific, I used those mounts:
THIS ONE fixed to the brake lever handlebar clamp, and THAT ONE fixed one the ball of the first one instead of the U clamp unit on one side, and the diamond shape on the other side fixed with double sided heavy duty outside tape and screwed to the standard craddle. I then installed a marine-grade cigarette lighter socket under the plastic cover on the right of the fairing, plugged the cigarette lighter plug coming out of the craddle to it, cable-tied it to the frame with the said double sided tape to avoid rattling, and Bob is very much your mother's brother - I just need to figure out a way to get audio out of the useless (for bike) speaker attached to the said cigarette lighter plug and there you go, sorted! The only thing is, I was a bit conscious of the fact there was no top retainer - but having said that the Quest has a positive click when sliding it in (woooer) the craddle... Will try to find a nicer way than a rubber band to create a retainer. Well there you go, hope that entertained you! (will take pix to illustrate my inane ramblings)

Fuk if you have not don the deal yet Techstar are doing one Autocom and starcom 1 ready m8 as the standard model will NOT plumb in they have developed a special jack and lead to connect it into the Bike systems at around the same price I pick mine up on Monday www.starcom1.com.. Do not go buy the price on their web site they have just not had time to update it.

R

 

[Quiney]

Richard

How much for the Quest with Autocom link? (if the web page is out of date)

 

[frenchuk]

Richard I bought it already... it's true that you can't just cut the wire to hard-wire it since the 12V/5V(?) transformer is in the plug/speaker unit... So I'm not sure how starcom did it since their site is shite and there's no obvious link to the solution they provide, beside the naked Quest (or maybe it's me who is a bit too moronic to find it, quite possible too) - Fodder did same as me but also got audio out of the speaker wires, will ask him how he did it, but beside that it's just a question of wiring a cigarette lighter socket and put it somewhere, I hided it because the cigarette lighter plug/speaker is an ugly lump, but like I said it fits neatly underneath the plastics, so job's a gudden, all that for ?380 including the mounts, the socket (maplin), and the Quest itself, incl. VAT... plus, I've got a cigarette lighter socket to which I can hook up a lot of accessories, like an inflatable doll automatic pump for instance... or a lot of other stuff too! :beer: I hope you'll be happy with yours Richard, it really is top gear :yo:

 

[richard]

I don't know if u can wire it in to the speaker i think it Cary's voltage..even the wire they have supplied Cary's a suppressor ive e-mailed them and they are willing to do the conversion on the ones they don't sell as well... Personally i would ring them b4 you go phekking up ???? worth of new toys... %$fan


R

 

[richard]

Richard

How much for the Quest with Autocom link? (if the web page is out of date)

Oops give them a ring and have an haggle this is the cheapest i found it and they near as dammed matched it but remember every one has to make a profit or they will not be here tomorrow..


http://www.offroadstore.co.uk/


This is also where i bought my V from.



R
:yo: :bow: :yo:

 

[Jaws]

They have a 24 hour special on the Quest today !!! ( Sunday the 12th )

 

[Fodder]

To get audio out of rather chunky Garmin cigarette lighter adapter (see photo) I simply stripped the adapter and drilled it to take a small chassis type jack plug. This is wired between the speaker output on the circuit board and the speaker itself. You could simply disconnect the speaker all together and attach to the speaker wires if you wanted to. Unfortunately I can?t show you a photo of this because I?ve let someone borrow my camera for the week.

I?ve no doubt there will be more eloquent ?manufactured? solutions around over the coming months. I did this simple mod on mine just to give me the option of using an earpiece if I wanted to. Normally I never have anything wired into my helmet, I hate having cables hanging around and stuff/people talking to me when I?m riding.

One thing to remember is that there is no volume control on the Quest itself, this is handled by a control on the plug. I don?t know if the speaker is pre-amped on the unit or at the adapter end, this is likely to be a significant factor if you are thinking of ?jerry rigging? a connection prior to the adaptor to use for an Autocom or similar. I didn?t bother to find out because I didn?t need to for my set-up. I've no doubt this sort of technical info will be available soon on one of the GPS forums or from Garmin.