Recently bought a reradiating antenna for my (currently-in-the-shop-for-repairs) Portable Navigation Device (PND) and GPS-enabled phones. And yesterday, thought of hardwiring it's PSU-cum-Transmitter and routing the RG174 cable in a safer place.
Started by attaching a spacer to the half of the PSU-transmitter's case where the PCB is mounted on. Did this by screwing a small piece of scrap acrylic on one side of one half of the PSU-transmitter's case, then attaching the hook-half of a square, adhesive velcro patch to the acrylic.
Materials
Holes
Velcro
Just to be on the safe side - electrical tape to insulate the screws from the PCB
Safety first - always wear face/eye/ear/hand protection as a minimum.
Fixed/Hardwired Reradiating Antenna Part 2
Next would be to run your power cable. In my case I tapped into the lighter socket line, through the transmission tunnel, under and behind the glove box and through the a-pillar. Behind the glove box, I "inserted" the inline fuse holder, in the line. Makes it easy to access and this replaces the in-case fuse of the PSU-transmitter. Once power cable routing was done, I soldered the open end of the power cable to the terminals on the PSU-transmitter. Put some heat shrink into it and closed the casing and test-mounted it on the windshield where the loop-half of the velcro has been attached using a small piece of Stickershield sheet.
Solder
Safety first - always wear face/eye/ear/hand protection as a minimum.
Fixed/Hardwired Reradiating Antenna Part 3
For my car, I decided to put the aerial and route the cable from the mid-aft, throught the hatch door grommet, right side of the roof and then down the right sun-visor. Before sticking the external aerial on, be sure to clean the surface where you intend to put it on.
Aerial
Grommet
After routing the cable, connect the external aerial into the internal transmitter, and you're good to go for navigating, tracking, POI gathering, etc., knowing that you're reception is as good as having your PND/GPS-enabled phone outside of the car where there is no interference (possibly from your tint) because of the reradiating antenna
Windshield
Hatch
Safety first - always wear face/eye/ear/hand protection as a minimum.
