Wired GPS receiver for iPAQ 214

Howarduk · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:20 am Post subject: Wired GPS receiver for iPAQ 214

I have just purchased an iPAQ 214. it is being used with TT Nav6 I am aware of the problems with the screen and I have upgraded to 6.03.

I am trying to find any wired GPS unit that I can use with the iPAQ. I do not want a BT receiver it must be a wired one. So far I cant seem to find any compatable wired units. I know there must be one, but when I look on the compatablity list of the receivers the iPAQ 214 is not listed.

Thanks

Howard

AllyCat · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:02 am Post subject:

Hi Howard,

Almost no PDAs support USB Host any more (and anyway USB drivers for PPC/GPS are not available) so the only possible wired interface seems to be "RS232" serial. You might be able to get a cable for the HP to connect its 24-pin connector to a standard '9-pin D' serial connector. Note that the RS232 interface does not normally carry a power connection so the GPS will still require its own (or an external) battery.

However, most wired GPS receivers are intended to be driven by a USB Host although a few (like the Holux 236) have a serial interface on their "Mini USB" power connector. But note that the interface on the Holux is not USB (client), nor standard RS232, but requires a level shifter/inverter to connect to a standard PC COM port. It is just possible that the HP also uses these inverted "CMOS/TTL" signal levels but a suitable cable would almost certainly be a DIY job.

Why don't you want to use Bluetooth? If you want the GPS to be powered from the PDA then a Compact Flash GPS receiver might be a possibility, but I think you will find that others on this forum recommend that these are no longer used in preference to Bluetooth devices.

Personally, I would use the Bluetooth communications interface and a 'Y' cable to power/charge the HP and GPS from the 'cigar' lighter socket in the car when appropriate.

Cheers, Alan.
_________________
Garmin GPS72H/76/60/45, Etrex H, Mapsource v6.5.
Acer N50,HP114,Loox N560,Dell x50,CF/SD cards to 4/32GB.
RoyalTek,Holux236,Navman B10 & Copilot(Globalsat) BT GPS,TomTom5/6.
Memory Map (v5.4.2 & v5.1.3 OS & Euro), GPS gate,OSGPSconverter.

Howarduk · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:48 am Post subject:

Hi Alan

Thanks for the reply. The reason I cant use bluetooth is that I am driving about 8 hours and the BT unit just hasnt got that charge time so I end up with a sat nav that I cant connect to.
I am at the moment invetigating a CF gps receiver with a separate charging cable which would seem to suit my needs.

Howard

mikealder · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:55 am Post subject:

If you can find it the Holux CF GR-271 is a cracking CF based receiver and very low power, I think I did a write up for that device on the site somewhere - Mike

AllyCat · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 1:34 pm Post subject:

Hi Howard,

If you need (or want an excuse) to buy a new GPS receiver then Mike's recommendation is sufficient, although personally I consider BT devices to be more flexible. However, if it's basically just a power supply issue (and indeed I find the car to be the most convenient place to charge my kit) there should be much cheaper solutions:

PC-mobile.net offer many types of cable/adapters and can be recommended, but they're not particularly cheap, the website not easy to navigate ("too much infomation") and you may have to wait a few weeks for it to come from Hong Kong.

For many systems a really cheap 'Y' cable is that intended for the Sony PSP, many on ebay for just a few Pounds. It has a USB A plug at one end (which can plug into a car cigar-USB adapter, also a pound or two) and feeds a USB mini-B plug (used for charging many devices now) and a 1.7/4.0mm coaxial plug (used by many PDAs, etc., often via an adapter).

However, I did find an issue operating my HP 114 from external power supplies (I don't know if the same applies to the 214). It charged fine from the supplied HP PSU and PCs, but refused to charge from other mini-B equipped chargers. Eventually, I discovered that the (or anyway my) 114 requires a bias voltage to be applied to at least one of the USB data pins before it will charge. The HP charger indeed delivers this but many generic chargers don't.

Cheers, Alan.
_________________
Garmin GPS72H/76/60/45, Etrex H, Mapsource v6.5.
Acer N50,HP114,Loox N560,Dell x50,CF/SD cards to 4/32GB.
RoyalTek,Holux236,Navman B10 & Copilot(Globalsat) BT GPS,TomTom5/6.
Memory Map (v5.4.2 & v5.1.3 OS & Euro), GPS gate,OSGPSconverter.

Howarduk · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:18 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the reply Alan.

I actually emailed HP for an answer to my problem. They replied they didnt support third party devices and they reccommended either an SD or a CF GPS receiver. So hopefully the power lead I intend to buy that will connect to the USB socket will power the 214 correctly.

Howard

ERICJB · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 13, 2006 Posts: 2

Hi you could use an inverter into your cig lighter socket & use your mains charger from that

wiz · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject:

Hello Howarduk

I have a Blue-tooth receiver power directly from the electrical center in my car, (in the Boot) its on all the time and I never have any problems.
Watch out with the power supply for your pda you will need to check the output as the the 500 M/amp ones will not keep it charge and powerd on at the same time.. So I got the original equipment one from hp...

powers it up and charges without problems...
_________________
Alan --- aka Wiz.
Iphone 4S 16gb, ios 5 windows 7, CamerAlert, CoPilot & TomTom

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