Installing the Garmin GPSMAP176 in the Skoda!

Dec. 29, 2004

Needing to travel to Italy, next week, I had to install the Garmin GPSMAP 176 in our Skoda. Unfortunately, the supplied cable was quite short to reach from underneath the armrest up to the top of the facia.

I bought a triple socket from my local auto parts store (www.autoplus.gr). This thing is made in Japan by CarMate. Even though it has a 1-meter long cable, it proved quite short, so I had to solder another 30cm to it! Easy stuff, anyway! Then, I hid the cable under the center-console edge, so it does not interfere with anything when driving.
Why a triple socket? Because, we might need more power sources, like a radar detector, or a cell phone charger.

I routed the antenna to the left, above the gauge binnacle and hid the cable behind the door-frame rubber cover. Finally, I let it out the door, just at the top end of the driver's door. When I park the car, I pick up the antenna and temporarily tuck it up there in the driver's side roof handle. When driving, even with the GPS disconnected, I just stick it out the door, and stick it on the roof. The antenna is magnetic and it has been tested up to 220km/h! :-)

The finished job: I did a small 200m drive around the block to check that nothing interferes with normal driving procedures. After removing the GPS, its base remains glued with double-sided tape on the facia top, but that's not looking so bad!