(ONETAK) GPS Antenna Receiver Repeater (Instant STRONG GPS Signal & FAST LOCK!)

[Street Guardian USA]

Hey everyone,

As you can imagine, I test many dashcam products in my office. I don't have a very strong GPS signal even with my desk being near a window. It’s been a bit frustrating but I've lived with it at my new office for several months now. Some days are better than others. I knew about pro GPS signal repeaters but they are normally quite large and also very expensive.

Searching around, I found one on Amazon for $30 and it works quite well. I drilled a hole in my office wall to run the coax cable & external antenna outside. I screwed in a washer and utilized the built-in magnet on the GPS antenna. I guess I could use an L bracket to aim it up towards the sky a bit more but it seems to be working well enough for now. I plugged the indoor antenna into the included USB wall charge power supply. I now have instant strong GPS signal anywhere in the office! (pleasantly surprised) This is perfect for indoor testers like me or people that have weak/no GPS signal in their vehicle.

*note I’m not affiliated with this product or seller in any way it’s just a project created from a need I had.

I made a little demo showing it in action with a Street Guardian SG9663DC dashcam and external GPS antenna.

ONETAK GPS Antenna Receiver Repeater
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00D3BGKLQ

 

[Dashmellow]

This feels far more like a product endorsement combined with an Amazon link than any sort of actual DIY project beyond drilling the hole in the wall.

Seems like an interesting product though for a small select group of potential buyers. I'm curious to understand how it works across the different GPS protocols that are out there in the sense that every camera seems to require a dedicated GPS antenna. I am guessing that it simply boosts any signal it can see.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Well what other dashcam would I be testing with. [emoji4]

This has been on my DIY to do list for a few months. I finally got around to testing / drilling holes etc

Here is a “UK” version but it’s most likely just a different power supply. Not sure about different GPS etc.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B06X6NPPC2
It only has one (bad) review but sounds like user error possibly.

I’m happy with mine so far.

 

[Dashmellow]

As a long time fan of and multi-project contributor to the DIY thread I like to think of it as a venue for members to indulge their creativity, ingenuity, resourcefulness and inventiveness as it applies to all things dash cam. I 'spose drilling a hole in a wall is "DIY" but to me that's not the heart and spirit of this thread. Certainly, reviewing and promoting products and providing sales links isn't. To my thinking we have a "Reviews" sub-forum for presenting dash cam related products and links.

In any event, like I said, it's an interesting item and I asked in my last post for more info about how it actually functions but instead we just get another sales link and further product promotion.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I remember reading some people having weak or no dashcam gps signal (of various make models) in their specific problematic vehicle, out of their control. (Windshield material etc) Hopefully this helps someone. I’m also glad I didn’t invest in the crazy expensive indoor repeaters out there. This seems to do the job and I expect it to work just as well in a vehicle. I’m sure someone will try this eventually. Definitely not a high demand item but good to know their is a decent bang for the buck option

 

[Dashmellow]

How does it work? I mean, how does it work with "any" GPS signal?

 

[lacibaci]

I never had a problem with GPS reception indoors or outdoors when using equipment from a reputable manufacturer. Had several different models from Garmin, LG or Samsung.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Well you must be lucky and have a RF transparent roof etc with clear line of site to GPS signal. I live on a hill and my higher up neighbor’s building is blocking the whole view on my office wall/window side. I’ve tested many different brand dashcam products with gps and had similar hit or miss signal lock performance. That’s hardly the issue in my particular case. If I test GPS enabled products on the complete opposite side of my structure, gps signal and lock performance is much better even without a repeater. I can’t work in that particular spot unfortunately.

 

[jokiin]

I never had a problem with GPS reception indoors or outdoors when using equipment from a reputable manufacturer. Had several different models from Garmin, LG or Samsung.

it has everything to do with the environment you're in, doesn't matter who your device is from, is something blocks the signal it blocks the signal, repeaters are handy for bringing a signal in past on obstruction

 

[country_hick]

My samsung tablet can not find gps in the house but can get gps signals in front of the house or in the car.
I am pretty sure samsung is a reputable manufacturer.

 

[xPosTech]

There's two Global Positioning Satellite systems. The US is obviously GPS and the Russian is Glonass or GNSS. Most good receivers today use both systems. They work by measuring the phase difference of three or more synchronous satellite signals. Each satellite signal received at one specific time will put the receiver on a great circle a specific distance from the satellite. Where the three great circles intersect is the receiver position in 3D space, hopefully on the Earth's surface.

Ted

 

[SawMaster]

How does it work? I mean, how does it work with "any" GPS signal?

There is only one format for the GPS signals, but there are several formats for processing them after reception and several variants of the data which a GPS receiver puts out to the user. So a repeater will work with any GPS receiver though I'm pretty sure it will give only the location of the repeater and not the GPS receiver itself. Time signals will be delayed but not to a significant degree (think milliseconds).

The concept and principles of GPS have long been known and understood- it just had to wait until accurate and precise enough hardware could be made to support it.

Phil