Putting a Helix on my ATV – Questions

I am getting ready to mount a Helix unit on my ATV (Honda Foreman) for GPS and have a few questions that I couldn’t find answers for on previous threads. Again, this unit will be for GPS only using either the basemap or a Lakemaster chip and marking tracks/waypoints.

– For the unit itself I’m trying to decide whether or not I should just take one of the two H7 G3N’s off of my boat network…or buy new and have a dedicated unit for the suspected wear and tear it will get bouncing around on the ATV, probably a Helix 5 GPS G2 model. For those of you going back and forth with your birds between summer/winter, are they pretty durable units? I’d like to save the money and use one of my H7’s but can almost buy two new H5’s at the cost to replace it if something were to happen.

– I will be using the ATV’s 12V accessory port for my power source (along with the HB fused DC power cord), have those of you connecting this way noticed any interference issues from the ATV engine when it’s running?

– When the ice gets thick enough I will be also driving my truck out and plan to simply plug and play, setting the Helix up in the tray on my dash and using it from there for navigation (this time powering it from the 12V accessory port in the truck). Will I get by without an external GPS antenna/puck as long as the unit sits up near the windshield on my dash? I expect the internal GPS to work just fine when mounted on my ATV.

Thanks for your input!

I have used a helix 5 on my sled and 4 wheeler for about 5 years. No problems with them bouncing around. If you have a helix 7 I would use those unless you think the units are to big. No problems with electrical interference.

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Rich Stuhr wrote:

I am getting ready to mount a Helix unit on my ATV (Honda Foreman) for GPS and have a few questions that I couldn’t find answers for on previous threads. Again, this unit will be for GPS only using either the basemap or a Lakemaster chip and marking tracks/waypoints.

– For the unit itself I’m trying to decide whether or not I should just take one of the two H7 G3N’s off of my boat network…or buy new and have a dedicated unit for the suspected wear and tear it will get bouncing around on the ATV, probably a Helix 5 GPS G2 model. For those of you going back and forth with your birds between summer/winter, are they pretty durable units? I’d like to save the money and use one of my H7’s but can almost buy two new H5’s at the cost to replace it if something were to happen.

– I will be using the ATV’s 12V accessory port for my power source (along with the HB fused DC power cord), have those of you connecting this way noticed any interference issues from the ATV engine when it’s running?

– When the ice gets thick enough I will be also driving my truck out and plan to simply plug and play, setting the Helix up in the tray on my dash and using it from there for navigation (this time powering it from the 12V accessory port in the truck). Will I get by without an external GPS antenna/puck as long as the unit sits up near the windshield on my dash? I expect the internal GPS to work just fine when mounted on my ATV.

Thanks for your input!

I ran power direct from the battery. I’m not a huge fan of the 12v power plug especially in salt and wet conditions.

I spliced a battery tender connection and fuse from the unit. This allows me to unplug it and put the wheeler on the battery tender. Ran wires from under the seat up by the fuel tank for a clean finish. Mounted a helix 7 to a 1.5” ram handlebar mount that fits perfectly above the console.

I’ve used my Gen1 helix 7 for 5 years now with no issues. I ran wires under the plastics up into my otter box where I have a separate battery mounted so I don’t have to worry about atv battery. Also, I might be wrong but I thought I had heard that using the accessory plug your bird may reset every time you restart your machine because of voltage loss. Just something to think About if your running and gunning.

If I may highjack this thread for a minute; Who here has added a helix 5/7 or any 12v accessory really to a sled or ATV without electric start or battery? Is it possible?