Navman 630 and external battery - should be possible

[nkarnold]

There are a few occasions where I need to use a GPS externally to my car and as I have a 630 coming, ive come up with this idea.

its easy enough to make a small, light, disconnectable 12v DC battery pack with the correct power adapter to fit the 630. Lithium ION battery's are very light.

Has anyone any technical reasons why this can't be done and why it hasn't been done.

OK, its not an ideal solution, but its something i could put up with for the few occasions I need to use it outside of the car.

Cheers
Nige

[ffoeg]

Had similar thoughts myself. There is some sort of voltage regulator inside the cigar adapter which reduces the voltage to 5.3 volts. Initially I thought of hardwiring my Navman directly to the battery because I don't like to see the curly wire draped over the dash - which incidentally sometimes causes the Navman to switch off as there is quite a ''pull'' from the wire, breaking the contact in the small plug to the Navman. I don't know how to reduce the voltage to a level that won't fry the Navman innards. I bought a dc battery adaptor, with a normal, non-coiled wire which I could gently and discreetly drape across the bottom of the windscreen from Maplin (£4.99) that holds 3x 1.5 v AA batteries, the 4.5 volts generated allows the Navmam to work OK (so it is now portable) but the screen illumination is very poor and not satisfactory for in-car use. I did contact Navman and they said they would not support any power lead except their own - understandable I suppose. So how do you reliably produce 5.3 volts from a 12v supply that will avoid using Navmans super-curley, cigar adaptor?? Anyone out there know how it can be achieved for the non-technically minded???
Regards
Geoff

[fleng]

You could try 4 x 1.5 = 6v. You'll be down to 5.3 in no time at all.