Dash Cam v Sat Nav

landyman

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A few weeks ago I got a cheap dash camera.
This one..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221038001690? ... 1439.l2649

I fitted it in the car at the top of the windscreen. The wire to it runs up one side of the screen and along the top to the camera.
The camera works fine but as soon as it is turned on my sat nav stops working.
I have tried 2 different Tom Toms and the effect is the same. The sat navs cant get a signal when the camera is on.
Anyone got any ideas anyone on how to fix this???
 
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GPS is basically a radio receiver, and now something is disturbing/blocking gps signal.
I think you should test is this unwanted signal coming from the camera or from power source.
If camera is guilty then there is not much you can do, unless you wrap camera into tin foil.
If it's the power source then you can try to reroute cable or replace unit.
Easy way to test camera is to take it to home, plug it in to computer power and try tomtom near the camera.
GPS jammers works the same way actually, sending signal at gps frequency very loudly.
 
What happens to the SatNav ? Does it shut down or does the GPS just loose signal ?

If it is shutting down you need to look at how are you powering the two devices. Are you powering them from a multi outlet car USB supply? You may be drawing too much current and the voltage may be dropping too much for the SatNav.

If the SatNav is loosing signal, try running both devices on battery. Also one at a time on battery. This will tell you if there is noise on the power supply caused by the camera, or if it's the camera causing general interference to the signal to the SatNav.

David
 
If the camera is on first, then when I turn sat nav on the sat nav cant get a signal.
If the sat nav is on first, it will work fine untill I turn on the Camera, the sat nav will then loose any signals it had.
I am going to pull plug out of the camera but leave the wire plugged in to cigar lighter.
That should tell if its the camera or power supply causing the problem.
 
landyman said:
I am going to pull plug out of the camera but leave the wire plugged in to cigar lighter.
That should tell if its the camera or power supply causing the problem.

Just to be sure i think you should put some load on power supply, mp3 player or whatever you can find so the power circuit is really on.
 
I have just had another look at it. I had the sat nav set on the gps status window so I could monitor the signal strength as I tried various things and came to the conclusion that it is the camera and not the lead.
So I put silver foil around the camera and, Hey presto! The sat nav works!
The signals are not as high as they would be with the camera off, but high enough for the sat nav to work.
When I get more time I will experiment to see if I can get away with a small piece of foil in one spot, rather than encase the whole thing.
Thanks for the help and advice.
 
Funny enough my boss as good as accused me of having a GPS blocker stopping them track my lorry, after searching the cab it transpired it was my el cheapo Dvr blocking the signal lol, he had to wind his neck back in as he know I won't drive the truck without it fitted :)

Thanks for the tip on tin foil, maybe try that if I have problems again in the future.
 
This is what that orange or red coating is on the inside of some plastic cases. It's a conductive material to hold in stray EMF. But it's fairly expensive.
 
No, I tried and tested the silver paints and they just do not work. It's not too hard to find the conductive paint. I don't remember how I did it anymore, as it's been 5 years.
 
Today I took the camera apart and lined the casing with foil tape but it only made a slight difference to the sat nav signal so I then covered the outside with foil. The sat nav now works, but the signal it is receiving is still not as strong as when the camera is turned off.
All the testing has been done while parked. I havnt tried it whilst driving yet................
 
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