Which Circuit for a GPS Charplotter?

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John rolka

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Dec 6, 2010
50
Catalina 30 City Island
I'm going to be installing a chartplotter and connecting it to my DSC radio. In the areas where this is going to be I have a couple of wiring blocks, one is on the instrument circuit the other the radio circuit. Does it make a difference which I connect to, since the radio and GPS will be wired together for signal do they need to be on the same circuit?

Thanks for any help.

John Rolka
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
They do not need to be on the same circuit. Determining where to wire this device is not a simple answer. You need to determine the power draw and whether or not your existing breaker and wiring can handle the load. Your best best is to put it on it's own circuit. I like having my chartplotter on it's own circuit so I can do updates and route planning without wasting the power on any other devices. Always put a fuse near the device. The breaker is designed only to protect the wiring not the equipment.
 
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navigator97

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May 24, 2004
470
Hunter 33.5 Portsmouth, RI
John, It doesn't make any difference for the 12V DC power connections. They can be different circuits with separate circuit breakers. Just follow the color codes for BOTH the GPS and Radio for the signal leads. Info will be both manuals. When I did mine I made the junction of cables from both units on a European terminal strip inside a plastic "Project box" that I got from Radio Shack, and mounted that on the bulkhead in the aft cabin. You can also put an inline fuse in the +12V DC power lead and put that inside the project box. They have a cover with 4 small screws for easy access.
 
J

John rolka

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Dec 6, 2010
50
Catalina 30 City Island
Thanks, I'll see if I have an open circuit for the thing, Its just the last week I'm getting into the electrical stuff.
 
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Gary_H

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Nov 5, 2007
469
Cal 2-25 Carolina Beach NC
Ditto Navigator97...I just hooked mine up this last weekend. Both radio and GPS were wired in their own circuits on a buss bar. the only wires connected between the two was the gps TX from the chart plotter Garmin 441S to the Radios GPS RX and it worked perfectly. You may need to go into your Plotter setup and enable the accessory GPS output.
 
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