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Magellan SporTrak Backpack Mount

While writing my review of the Magellan SporTrak Topo for BackpackGearTest.org, I wanted some way to attach it to my pack and have it handy, and perhaps be able to see it without having to hold it.  I came up with a very good solution, and I have assembled this page to describe my 'invention'.  This page should not be considered a part of the Magellan SporTrak Topo report, which is complete in and of itself. 

In order to test the Magellan SporTrak Topo while hiking, I wanted some way to attach it to my pack to have it handy, and perhaps be able to see it without having to hold it.  I was sort of surprised that Magellan didn't offer such a thing.  I had the car mount for the SporTrak, and with a little elbow grease, some rivets, an Outdoor Products sunglasses case, and a piece of aluminum I had lying around, I reengineered the car mount and created the SporTrak Shoulder Strap Mounting Bracket. I expect that Magellan will pay me a handsome royalty for it, eh?  Even if they don't, I hope they will offer something like it in the future. It has already proven very handy while walking around with a pack on.  The Outdoor Products sunglasses case is the perfect size to store the SporTrak unit in while not in use.

MAKING ONE

In order to make one of these, you will need a couple of things:

  1. An Outdoor Products Strap Accessory Case, available at www.campmor.com for $8.99 at the time of this writing.  
  2. A Magellan SporTrak Vehicle Mounting Bracket.  (The kind with the suction cups, not the hard mount kit.  See picture below.)
  3. An aluminum (or other stiff metal or plastic) plate, about 2 inches wide, about three inches long, and no less than 1/8 inch thick.  (A piece of road sign would work just fine.)  
  4. Some tools: A drill, a Phillips screw driver (#2), a pop rivet gun, a couple of pop rivets, a drill that's the same size as the pop rivets, some heavy thread or thin nylon cord, a good needle or a hand awl.  
  5. About 1/2 hour of time.

This is the kind of mounting bracket you want:

This is what we're going to make.

STEP ONE

Remove the four screws that attach the SporTrak cradle to the swivel arm.  You can see these clearly in the picture above.  Remove them completely and turn the cradle around so that it looks like this.  Put the screws back in and tighten.

STEP 2

I should have taken better pictures of this, but I didn't.  You should remove the three screws holding the suction cup end to the holder arm, remove the suction cup end, and discard it.  The holder arm is just a piece of aluminum covered in plastic, and the end you are now looking at is a T with three holes in it.  Take your aluminum plate, match one narrow side up with the holder arm, and mark where the holes are.  Drill the three holes in the plate and then connect the plate and the holder arm with three pop rivets.  I then flattened mine out with a hammer just for laughs.  You can see the three rivets in the picture above.  I'm pulling back the plastic cover with my thumb so that you can see the holder arm.

Same thing here, but from the side.  You now want to drill four holes in the aluminum plate at the four corners.  You will then stitch these to the back of the Outdoor Products case with a heavy needle or awl and some heavy thread or cord.  I used something called Nyltex made by Blue Mountain Industries.  

Here's an open shot of the stitch work.  I also slit the left side so that the sternum strap would pass through.  You may or may not have to do this depending on your pack and where you put it on your shoulder strap.  There's a close-up of the stitch work below.

The Outdoor Products case is the PERFECT size to store the SporTrak when not in use.

Totally assembled, this holder weighs 7.8 ounces (222 grams), which is lighter than the cartography set I carry when mapping, and provides a couple of benefits.  You can see the unit at all times while hiking, and you don't have to hold it.  That means that you can use a set of hiking poles.  For mapping, the unit stays on and away from your body which keeps the antenna from detuning and a better satellite signal is maintained.  If you're just going to take the unit out and get a fix from time to time, then this probably won't be useful to you.  It might be useful to the SAR guys and military types.  

I hope Magellan will offer something like it in the future.  

In any case, I hope you have found this useful.  If you have any comments or suggestions, please use the web form at the bottom of this page.

Thanks!

Shane Steinkamp

 

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