TIL that swapping a bad coax connector on a King KLN 89B saved my whole navigation setup

I was out at KAPA last month troubleshooting a GPS that kept losing satellites. Spent two hours checking power and ground before I noticed the coax connector was a little loose. I swapped it with a new BNC connector and a fresh piece of RG400 cable. The receiver locked onto 7 sats in under 2 minutes after that. Always thought it was a box issue but that cheap connector was the culprit. Anyone else ever had a bad cable chase that fixed a different problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.kai1mo agoMost Upvoted

I've got to push back here a little. A loose connector can definitely cause issues, but swapping coax and a connector on a KLN 89B is usually a band-aid fix for a failing GPS antenna or an aging receiver that's getting weak on the inside.

the_wendy1mo ago

Take a look at the power supply caps on the 89B's main board too. Those old electrolytics dry out and cause all sorts of weird intermittent loss of signal issues that people chase for months.

avery_flores171mo ago

Yeah @the_wendy probably saved my bacon on this one, I've been pulling my hair out for weeks.