Newbie questions about GPS mouse & Rosetta power draw.

[Young_C]

Hi All,
I'm a Newbie who has received the Rosetta unit and awaiting the installation kit for permanent installation into my RV-7.

I have a couple of questions while I'm planning my installation:
1. Can the USB lead for the GPS mouse be removed in order to drill a small hole in the coaming to pass it through? I would prefer not to drill a large hole for the whole male USB plug. Also I would prefer not to cut and rejoin the lead.
2. In my RV-7 there is a 12V cigarette lighter socket wired to a 10A CB but this is energized with the Battery Master switch and I would prefer the Rosetta to power up with the Avionics Master switch. So I'm planning to wire a new cigarette lighter socket to a 5A CB shared with my Garmin GMA240 audio panel which has a max rating of 7.5W / 540mA @ 13.8V. The PAW info says that the socket needs to be able to supply 5.2V, 2.1A, so on the face of it I should be OK with this plan? Does anyone have any further details on power draw nominal / max for the Rosetta unit?

Apologies if these questions have been already covered.

BTW I have published an unboxing & initial setup video for the Rosetta, see link below.

https://youtu.be/KQMGf6PpbXE

Best Regards,
Chris.

[JCurtis]

To take the power question first, a 5A breaker for both the audio panel and Cig socket is fine power wise as long as you only power the Rosetta from it. Though I’d keep the cig socket on its own breaker. If anything you plug into that has a fault, it will kill your audio panel too. Which may impact your ability to talk to people.

Don’t cut the usb cable, they are an absolute nightmare to try and rejoin, the cable is not repair friendly. Inside the GPS mouse it may terminate on a connector you can unplug, or may be direct solder. You’d have to disassemble it to find out. I’d only attempt it if it were a connector.

[exfirepro]

Hi Chris,

I fully agree with Jeremy’s points on power supply (he makes the excellent Charge 2 and Charge 4 aviation power supplies so knows what he’s talking about).

WRT the GPS Mouse, others have opened the mouse and shortened the cable in the past. It uses solder connections inside the ‘mouse’ end but these can be carefully de-soldered and reconnected if you have a fine soldering bolt. Just remember to note the wiring colours before you disconnect them so you put them back in the correct positions. I did try a post search, but the only thing I can find is this thread which might help point you in the right direction....

http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,1429.msg16239.html#msg16239

Hot glue (carefully applied) is usually good for refitting the base seal.

Let us know how you get on - photos are always welcome.

Best Regards

Peter

[Young_C]

Thanks for the advice Jeremy & Peter. I will go for a dedicated CB since I certainly would not want risk damage to my audio panel in the event of a fault. Once I get the GPS mouse I will look into disconnecting the cable at the mouse end.

[PaulSS]

What is your coaming made from?

I ask this as I have two GPS antennas underneath my coaming and they both work brilliantly. This is on a Eurofox and I THINK the coaming is fibreglass (quite thin but not super thin). If I were you I'd do a quick experiment and plonk the GPS mouse antenna under the coaming and see if it can see all the satellites it needs. If not, THEN drill the hole 

If it's made from carbon then ignore all I've just written.

[Young_C]

Thanks Paul - I think my coaming is aluminium but I will check and if not try the GPS under it before drilling.
Cheers,
Chris.

[mariko]

Thanks Paul - I think my coaming is aluminium but I will check and if not try the GPS under it before drilling.
Cheers,
Chris.

Remember to not turn the GPS mouse upside down.

[Young_C]

Hi all,
To follow up on the question about the GPS mouse and shortening its tail. I received the mouse today and found that indeed it is possible to desolder the cable at the mouse end relatively easily. This will allow me to shorten the cable and have a small hole in the coaming. See attached photos.
Thanks for all the help with this,
Chris.

[exfirepro]

Looks like you’re right on top of this Chris. Thanks for posting the photos.

Regards

Peter