Anyone have any experience or opinions on Lowrances Internal GPS?? I am looking into a Global Map 3600c for my boat. I had a 3500c on my last Triton and it worked great. The 3500c has the seperate GPS module. The new 3600c has the internal GPS and requires one less hole to be drilled in the boat because it does not have the external GPS Module. Any opinions or experience appreciated.
Flush mounting the internal antenna units is not advised. I also understand that they may be sensitive to any windshield obstructions.
Unless you have a clear, unobstructed view of the sky, get an external. Any thing flush mounted or mounted on your dash should have an external antenna. I do have a unit on my Bow that I have an internal antenna on and it works fine. But, that same unit on the dash is a pain as the signal comes and goes.
I have run a number of Garmin 188’s with internal antennaes. I have had them mounted on Dash and up front, and in back. I can honestly say I have never lost sat. coverage in any location with the internal. When I ran Lowrance with the puck, I lost coverage often. Although it has been a few years, and I am sure they probably have improved things since then.
Another question, can Lowrance now track speeds below 1 MPH? I know for a while, guys were complaining that they could not, and Garmin does.
The internal antennaes in the Garmin units work flawlessly. I think I could drive into the protected bunker at NORAD and still get a signal… lol
OK, so maybe they’re not that good but I never had signal issues and I loved being able to quickly move the unit from station to station around the boat and to other vehicles.
I would never consider buying a GPS unit without an internal antennae. I see lowrance now offers one. Does it work as well as the Garmin’s antennae? Don’t know. I’ve never used one. We’ll need more input here. Wade? Do you have any feedback from customers to share? If it works well, go internal.
I didn’t know we were talking about Garmin units here. Yes, those baby’s work great 
I have one in my truck and it NEVER loses signal.
One other thing to add. Two years ago I had a flush mounted Garmin with an internal antenna on the bow of my Ranger and that steel plate on top gave it fits. They removed that steel plate on the Rangers now. But, you have to take that into account, espcially if you have a full windshield on your boat.
Like these guys siad, you don’t want to flush mount a unit with internal antenna. You need to have it out in the open where it can easily receive GPS satellite signal. It also has to remain in an upright position for the antenna to function properly. Some guys like to lay the unit back when they are at the bow but you can’t do that with these internal antenna units. I think they’ll be fine on the console as long as you have a clear, unobstructed view of the sky. Most windshields should not create a problem. GPS satellite siganls will shoot through plastic and glass windshields on vehicles and boats. My GPS puck sits under my windshield on the lund and I get good reception. That said, if you have any doubt, there’s no risk in going with the 3500C again.
Perhaps you should visit my post on the Gen Disc. board
re “are the GPS receivers all the same in performance”. Keep in mind that till now it is just a car issue for me, but I think I will be getting the 332c with a puck, yes it does have more wires and all but I think it will be more flexible and the puck is small.
Mike
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I didn’t know we were talking about Garmin units here. Yes, those baby’s work great
Not trying to make a case for a garmin purchase, mostly just singing the praises of the internal antennaes in general. Love ’em. If Lowrance has their ducks in a row with their’s then the Lowrance product line just moved up a notch in my book. Mounting those pucks and being limited by the wires is for the birds.
We just had a bit of a discussion over on the BBC about this exact same issue. The LMS-334c seems to have issues with being mounted in the bow (in a predominantly horizontal plane). I am a Ham Radio operator and a lot of emphasis is placed on antenna theory in this hobby. One thing you want to avoid is changing the “polarization” of the receiving antenna from what the transmitting antenna polarization is… in other words, stay away from vertical antennas when the transmitting antennas are horizontal. It gets MUCH deeper than this but the moderator would probably ban me if I went into the whole thing here. Basically, you should try to stay with a vertical mounting scheme with your internal GPS unit to reduce “Polarization Attenuation”. Hope I don’t come across as too arrogent here but from my understanding of the whole deal, you’re (generally) better-off with an external antenna…period. Andy
This topic is driving me nuts! I was waiting for the 334’s to come out, and now it seems the “safe” route is to go with a 332? DOES ANYBODY WITH A FULL WINDSHIELD BOAT….THAT HAS THIS UNIT MOUNTED BENEATH THE WINDSHIELD, ON A RAM MOUNT (NOT FLUSH MOUNTED TO THE DASH), CARE TO SHARE THEIR FINDINGS? I appreciate all the people that have expressed their findings so far! Just looking for some more input. Lots of variables that may influence performance…….
Wade, will my GPS module from my old Global Map 1600 work with a 332C? Thanks for any info people! Steve Vick
Hello, i have a new 334c and i bought an extra power cord for it and put a cigarette adadpter on it and just set it on the dash of my truck. the unit works flawlessly sitting on the dash. mounted in my boat it will acquire the gps position sometimes when it is in my garage. hope this helps
Steve, you old GPS antenna will not work. There was another thread in the General Discussion forum that seemed to suggest the 334C is going to be alright.
Well, I have made my decision. I tried and liked the 334C. We ran it in a G3 demo we set up at Marine Specialties this last week. After weighing all the pros and cons with Lowrance and Garmin, I decided Garmin is the better fit for my kind of fishing. I went with the GPS Map 172 and the Garmin 250C . I reasoned that I do not really need color in a mapping unit as much as I would like to see it in a fishfinder. The 250 C is a 320×320 pixel 16 color unit with the ability to separate fish from back clutter, thermoclines, etc. The 172 has been a proven performer as it is the next revision of the formidable 188 platform minus the depth finder. With my Minnkota’s universal transducer, I can run the 172 or the 250C on the front of the boat as I need to. I have had zero issues with the internal GPS antennaes on Garmin products.
You can get pricing on these and other units from Wade at Jolly Ann Marine.
Thanks guys for the replies. I think I am going to go with the 334. Will let you know what I find.
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