Ipaq Hardwired?

Johnyb · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:42 pm Post subject: Ipaq Hardwired?

I want to get rid of the cigarette lighter connection for charging, put in fixed cabling etc.

I believe contained in the Ipaq 3870 to TomTom (Leadtek 9532) GPS cable within the cig lighter end is a drop down 12v > 5v logic.

Does anyboy know how to make one of these (circuit diagram) ? I have seen other coments suggesting the use oif the maplins extn cable and gadet to stop the batery draining.... but wanted to see if I could build one easily. (Competent Solderer!)

Also whats contained within the 'Y' cable connector? Is this simply conecting the 5v to both correct terminals on the mouse and Ipaq, plus allowing the GPS info to reach the Ipaq? Does anybody have the wiring diagram for this?

I know I am asking for a lot but there are some clued up people out there.
Thanks.

DavidW · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:22 pm Post subject:

I'd urge you not to replace the power supplies you already have with home built designs; it's not entirely straightforward to produce a design that doesn't overheat and that protects the expensive equipment connected in all circumstances.

The way I and others have done this is far simpler. You can get (for example from Maplin) cigarette lighter sockets. Install as many of those as you need behind the dashboard, suitably fused (remember, on a negative earth vehicle, you must fuse the positive line), and plug in the existing power adapters. You can then hide all the unnecessary cable behind the dash.

David

Johnyb · Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:28 am Post subject:

Dave, Fair enough. This is the route I was going to take (having searched previous posts) although thought I would check out any alternatives.

Since I want to use this device (ie Leadtek 9532) in another car, can you recommend where I can but another 'Y' cable tha powers the PDA/GPS and allows it to be connected to the cig lighter? I looked on a number of sites but none of them are clear. you can buy PDA power leads, but I want one that powers both PDA & GPS.
Thanks again.

DavidW · Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:54 pm Post subject:

The TomTom cables seem to be getting harder to get. I've just tried three sites that used to list them separately. One no longer lists them separately, the other two aren't offering the iPAQ 38xx/39xx etc. cable that you need. It looks as if TomTom have discontinued the cables for those Pocket PCs that they sell a Car Kit for - the iPAQ 38xx/39xx etc. one is no longer available directly from TomTom.

One option would be to wire in a TomTom Car Kit; that way, you've got a nice mount as well. However, if you've already got a mount solution you're happy with, that may be less satisfactory.

I use Brodit active mounts for my two setups - but one uses a CompactFlash GPS, and the other a Bluetooth GPS, so neither need a way of plugging in a wired GPS.

David

Johnyb · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:12 pm Post subject:

David,
I have completed the install, do you think anybody would be interested in some photos?

I took a feed from the cig lighter, put an inline fuse straight away (as close to the source as possible). The positive is then broken to a manual switch installed in a inconspicious on the centre console, which then lead to some 6 amp cable behind the centre console housing and terminated with a cig female socket. Into this I plugged the standard Cig lighter tom tom lead. Works a treat. I also purchased a noise suppresser and the maplins electronic cut off voltage limiter which I will add in now the principle is ok. Of course all joints are soldered with heath shrink and electrical tape for protection.

Only one problem seems to be that when the IPAQ 3870 is fully charges (100%) the charing light still flashes - not sure it did this before

DavidW · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:53 pm Post subject:

I'd PM Dave if he doesn't get in touch with you based on this post - we do publish 'reader's mounts' articles, and it sounds as if you could write an interesting article based on your experiences.

David

	PocketGPS
	Web