Permantly powered up Fortuna

etch · Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 9:49 am Post subject: Permantly powered up Fortuna

Hi

Newbie here. I am thinking of getting Ipaq H4150 with Fortuna: 'Clip-On' Bluetooth GPS receiver (SiRF Xtrac chip) and TTN3.

my question is is it OK to leave the Fortuna permantly powered up? I have a 12V socket in the boot of the car where I want to plug it in to keep the dash clear, but it is permantly on (even when ignition off).

Cheers

Roger

lbendlin · Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 6:30 pm Post subject:

Technically it is not a problem, but you may consider the following

- your car battery may drain if you leave your car unattended for a longer time (eg. unplug then fortuna in these cases)
- the battery in the Fortuna may get de-calibrated after a while. Make sure you completely discharge it from time to time (use it outside the car)
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Lutz

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BigH · Posted: Mon May 31, 2004 5:19 pm Post subject:

Hi,

I have already done this, I have removed the battery and left the device permanently powered for about two months now without problems. Current consumption (battery removed) is about 90 mA. Unless you have a poor car battery or leave your car for months then you should be fine.

The really nice thing is no TTFF waiting!!

Regards BigH

cpmdoc · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 04, 2004 Posts: 1

Here's a thought:

If you can leave the Fortuna on for long periods and without the battery installed...then if your car was stolen could the GPS unit be traced? Question

I know that there are websites that do a similar thing for GSM phones e.g.:

www.followus.co.uk

Having just had my car replaced after my old (11 months!) one was stolen then it would be nice to know that this oculd be done by the police - rather than installing an expensive tracking device!
_________________
Chris

Dell Axim X5, Fortuna Clip On, TTN3

lbendlin · Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject:

The GPS unit can't be traced, it is a purely passive receiver. What you need is an active connection somewhere (for example a GSM sender). Some of the higher priced GPS receivers actually do have that, and some of the children's mobile phones come with a built in GPS receiver - same effect. So for example you can send a SMS to the phone asking for the position and would get a SMS back with the data provided by the GPS receiver.

What you do need in any case is a dumb thief/suspect (like this Scott Peterson in the US who didn't notice that the FBI had bugged his car with a GPS logger). Smart bad guys have figured this out long time ago and will not allow tracking/logging to happen. All you need to make the GPS receiver useless is to take the sky view away (remove the antenna, put some metal cover over it etc)
_________________
Lutz

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