I have a much older street guardian with a GPS unit still on my dash. It uses the same connector. Can I use this old GPS unit or should I replace it with the new one?
Use the old GPS antenna and keep the new one as spare, they do have a battery inside and they can go wonky, though mine have all been very strong aside for the GCX2 which was bad from the factory so i just out a GC antenna on it to not bother the guys with little matters.
It's important to understand how the GPS functions as to why it behaves the way it does, with car cameras the priority is always video and processing power is allocated more for video than anything else, you'll notice car cameras typically boot and start recording very quickly, GPS is a lower...
It’s a Very tiny button battery soldered to GPS PCB. Would be easier to replace the GPS in the future. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one go bad but possible I guess. We have plenty of spare GPS in stock too. (2 year warranty as well)
Yes all dashcams have a very tiny RTC (Real Time Clock) rechargeable button battery soldered to the PCB that holds the date and time between powering the camera. GPS automatically sets the date and time as well.
I can recall one guy having a faulty GPS, but unsure if that too was the battery in it.
And then one of the SG cameras i got to test also took a long time to get a fix, pointing at a bad battery it it, i just replaced it with a old GPS as it was not the first SG camera donated to me.
Both the GPS battery and the one inside the cameras, you are better off not messing with those, at least not without having the means to acquire a new camera anyway.
Same advise as with overclocking computers ASO, if you can not handle breaking it dont mess with it, which was very much true in the old days as it often required you to solder additional components to expensive PC hardware.
These small batteries are 1/3 - 1/4 of your average CR 3032 button cell you see in TV remotes ASO.