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Bruce Lancaster · 05-04-2011, 01:51 PM

Does the GPS hook up directly to vehicle voltage, or does it plug into the cigar lighter with a little transformer?? Reason I ask is that many electronic widgets are actually 5 volts and use a stepdown, so maybe a very small stepdown regulator (see plans and info in recent R&C!) is the ticket. The reg would have to be built for the polarity, but a GPS could I believe then be hooked right in...it is a little plastic box isolated from vehicle, and it will never know that it is grounding differently than the rest of the car.

05-04-2011, 01:51 PM	#4
Bruce Lancaster Member Emeritus Join Date: May 2010 Location: Madison, NJ Posts: 5,230	Re: Want to hook up GPS in my 50 Ford Does the GPS hook up directly to vehicle voltage, or does it plug into the cigar lighter with a little transformer?? Reason I ask is that many electronic widgets are actually 5 volts and use a stepdown, so maybe a very small stepdown regulator (see plans and info in recent R&C!) is the ticket. The reg would have to be built for the polarity, but a GPS could I believe then be hooked right in...it is a little plastic box isolated from vehicle, and it will never know that it is grounding differently than the rest of the car.