which bluetooth gps to permanently install in car?

dieselnutjob · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2006 Posts: 49

Hi
I should be getting my new Android phone soon, probably a Samsung Galaxy S.
I have a number of problems which I am hoping I can solve in one go:-
1. My car has an athermic windscreen.
2. My car has a built in GSM phone

What I would like is a GPS receiver that I can permanently install into the car and power from +12V all the time, or maybe from ignition switched +12V.
I would like a unit with an antenna socket. Then I could bury the unit in the boot somewhere with a discrete antenna on the rear parcel shelf.

I would like to write an Android app such that when I get in the car my phone will detect the bluetooth device and automatically forward calls to the built in GSM phone, and when it looses bluetooth it unforwards. This is actually not that hard at to set/unset call forward it is just a standard GSM phone number string and the Android api for making calls is well defined.

This means that the bluetooth device must not turn itself off when the handset isn't there, and I don't want to press a button to power it up.

As for navigation apps using bluetooth gps instead of internal antenna there are some programmes around to do that including an open source one (bluegps4droid) which opens up the possibility to modify the code to make the phone do other things.

Can anyone advise on a gps receiver that can wire into the car in this way easily with an antenna socket?

mikealder · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:42 pm Post subject:

Have a look for a Holux GPSlim236 (there are some currently on E-Bay) these can be connected to an ignition switched supply and will work from the rear of the car. Left switched on they will eventually power down when the battery gets low enough but they will power straight away with a 5V feed from an addaptor.

To be honest I wouldn't bother with an external aerial though as the rear screen won't be Athermic coated, the receiver I mentioned is equipped with a mMCX socket if you really wanted to connect something to it.

Go with an ignition switched supply to the GPS receiver otherwise it could flatten the cars battery if left connected for a couple a weeks without the engine on - Mike

AllyCat · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:32 am Post subject:

Hi,

Yes, as Mike implies there are relatively few BT GPSs that have a hardware (slide) switch that can be kept activated. Another is the very similar Navman B10 (but it does not have an external antenna connector) which seems to be available "new" from a couple of shops on ebay.

Beware that "early" versions of the SiRF3 firmware used in the Holux (and maybe the Navman) had a "deep search bug" which caused it to hang if it couldn't see any satellites for about 10 minutes (e.g. in an underground car park). The "fix" was to power cycle the GPS which is another reason to power the device via the ignition switch.

Like Mike, I can't see any point in using an external antenna, the GPS itself is almost the same size and the Navman has particularly bland styling (cover the name and LEDs with black tape if you wish).

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.

dieselnutjob · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2006 Posts: 49

thanks for the replies

one thought:-
If I leave a GPS receiver on the parcel shelf won't it get extremely hot in the summer? especially if I'm on holiday in southern Europe.
I notice that the external antennas are "active" so I suppose that they can also suffer from heat if the have electronics in them, but it seems to me that they might be designed more in mind with being left in the sun and maybe the electronics are far simpler as well.

also if I buy one of these things and it has a firmware bug presumably I can reflash it to a newer firmware?

AllyCat · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:59 am Post subject:

Hi,

The SiRF3 receivers are sufficiently sensitive that you can probably put it in the coolest part of the car, e.g. under the rear parcel shelf (if its' only made of "hardboard" or similar).

Actually, the Holux 236 was one of very few GPSs which you could upgrade the firmware. The formal details were probably lost with the closure of Holux UK, but we can probably help you out here (at your own risk, of course) if you decide to follow that route.

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.

Darren · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:35 pm Post subject:

dieselnutjob · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2006 Posts: 49

I got it all working! Very Happy

1. Bought Holux GPSlim 256
2. Install "Bluetooth GPS provider" https://market.android.com/details?id=de.mobilej.btgps
3. Install "Tasker" https://market.android.com/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm
4. Configure Bluetooth GPS provider to auto turn on/off bluetooth etc
5. Configure Tasker to to start Bluetooth GPS provider when car charger is plugged in and stop when charger removed.
6. Configure Tasker to forward calls when bluetooth connection to Holux is active and cancel forward when Holux isn't active. Did this using call "*21*07879123456#" to forward calls to the carphone and "#21#" to cancel.

So, I get in my car and plug into car charger. Bluetooth turns on and if Bluetooth GPS provider finds the Holux it connects with it.
This triggers Tasker to forward my calls to the car phone.
When I unplug the charger it all cancels.

If I plug in a charger at home/office the bluetooth comes up but an active connection to the Holux doesn't happen so the call forward never triggers.

Totally fantastic. Very Happy

thanks everyone

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