Does aftermarket sat nav work with heated windscreen?

[quenching]

Just wondering if an aftermarket sat nav system works with heated windscreens? Don't have either myself to try but a friend had a Cooper S with heated windscreen and is considering buying a Garmin or TomTom sat nav, neiher has an external aerial as standard but there is mention that they have problems with screens that have heat reflective coatings or heated screens. Anyone any experience of this, would it recieve a signal through the glass sunroof or sidewindows?

Don't know much about sat nav, obviously!

[rec]

well, i work for Garmin and I can tell you it USED to be a problem. With the SiRF chipset, it doesn't pose as much a problem any more. You will also find that there will be a section on the windscreen that does not have the heating element in it, which can be used for external antenna placement if you do experience connectivity issues.

basically, GPS uses a very low power radio signal, which is reflected by the heated element in the windscreen. anti-glare windscreens also have the same issue, as the thin layer between the panes of glass reflect a considerable amount of the signal.

[jkjn]

I have got a pda with tomtom using the standard bluetooth gps reciever and it will pick the signal up ok through the heated screen. I do have a convertible though so that might be helping

[sef]

I've got a heated screen and it doesn't cause me any problems... My Sat Nav works fine...

[Andy P]

I have a tom tom 710 and it works ok with our heated screen

[Hat]

heated screens are fine, its the anthermic reflective coatings that the likes of renault use that cause problems with reception. i have a tomtom go500 & a heated screen & never have any problems with reception

[Hummer2k1]

i have a mobile phone w/ tomtom installed, and an external BT (SIRF chipset) GPS receiver
my actual car (which isnt a mini! its a vw polo actually) has an athermic reflective coating screen and the GPS receiver works fine but it takes a certain time (around 5 minutes, sometimes more.....until 10min) to catch the GPS signal
i ll have my mini (w/ heated windscreen) tmrw, so i ll tell you then if its a problem or not

[ALD0]

Tom Tom 910 worked ok for me when I had heated windscreen, also worked ok with heat reflective windscreens, the newer generation nav's have got better GPS chipsets in I think so shouldn't be too much of a prob dropping signals.

[quenching]

Thanks very much guys, advice much appreciated, I'll pass on the good news!

[Hummer2k1]

Quote: Originally Posted by quenching (original)

Thanks very much guys, advice much appreciated, I'll pass on the good news!

as promised, i tried my bluetooth gps receiver (Globalsat BT-338) w/ tomtom on my mobile phone in my mini with heated windscreen.
I put the receiver just behind the windscreen and after a cold start, the GPS got the signal quite quickly, around 2min (even better than my old vm polo in the same condition, same way, same streets). i know that sounds pretty bad but there is lots of 4 to 6 stairs building, high trees and narrow streets where i started the test.
then, i performed another cold test: i put the gps receiver in the center armrest and closed it. he found the gps signal in less than a minute (i didnt measure it but it was about 1 minute), this time i wasnt in the same condition: large streets and 2-3 stairs houses and a few trees.
so dont worry an aftermarket satnav will work perfectly!

[quenching]

Thanks Hummer2k1, very detailed answer, my friend has since bought one and discovered also that they work prefectly.