Review on Garmin 010 00694 10 GPS17X NMEA2000 by Darryel Tokarczyk

This is basically my second GPS17x. The first came with my Garmin 4208 chartplotter and died young. More on that later. As a GPS NMEA 2000 sensor, the device is accurate, reliable and relatively easy to install. It works well on the NMEA 2000 bus with other devices. The detachable NMEA 2000 cable made installation easier as the cable can be coiled up without hanging from one end of the sensor. There are several different mounting options, from flush mounting below decks to the traditional "mushroom on the mast". I chose the latter by mounting it on the mast where my passive GPS antenna used to be. Mounting the device to the mast is fairly easy, except for the part where you need to attach the sensor to the mast mount with a tiny metric socket head screw. Garmin thoughtfully provided two of these screws but no wrench. The weak point of the GPS17x is its longevity. It's made of decent plastic, but not the rugged stuff I'm used to from mast-mounted electronics. While winter parking, I hit the first block with my death when a small crack formed where the wire connector entered the sensor housing. Moisture has probably penetrated and damaged the sensor. It's possible that the yard personnel applied too much torque to the cable when attempting to unscrew the sensor mast for storage, but I've never had a problem with other mast mounted sensors. If you have one of the larger Garmin chartplotters, you probably have a GPS17x with you. Be gentle with him. If you are looking for a standalone GPS sensor, I would suggest looking at other products.