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I
recently got a new car since moving to the states, and while being very nice it
didn't really have a place for the Pocket PC. Main problem was the windshield
was too far away, so the suction cup was not an option.
The
Brodit mounts wouldn't work either because they go in some weird places that I
need for other activities (obstructing the CD changer etc). So finally I
remembered a mount created by one of the folks in Europe and thought a quick and
dirty solution around it. So far it works well.
Basically
I took a spare iPAQ cradle (either USB or Serial will do) and chopped off the
hind part of it. The remainder fits nicely onto the vent next to the driver's
instruments (en route also adding some nice cooling to the device). I attached
it with double sided sticky tape - sounds odd at first because normally these
constructions fall off momentarily when exposed to heat, but this time there is
no other force but the downward push of the cradle/iPAQ towards the vent (the
iPAQ sits in the cradle up straight) so I hope that this will not be affected by
the heat problem.
Next I
re-soldered the cradle - I chose to hard wire the GPS receiver but you may want
to consider an intermediate connector (to keep your warranty and mobility). You
just need four pins connected, two to the cradle base PCB (power and ground) and
two to the iPAQ connector (RxD and TxD), so soldering is relatively easy.
(Anyone interested in the cabling schema please let me know)
As a
conclusion I can say that this is the most convenient mount I ever had - just
put the iPAQ into the cradle and off we go. When you park somewhere, just take
it out again and hide from view. I am still watching the reliability, especially
over bad roads but so far it hasn't jumped out or worn out the connector yet. I
love it when physics actually work
Click any of the photos below to have them pop
up and enlarge.
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