Wired GPS on mountain bike

Leodis · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 31, 2004 Posts: 27

Hi All

A week or so ago I posted a question about how to use my existing O2 XDA and Haicom receiver (Wired system) on my mountain bike. To be honest I was almost certain it could not be done and I would end up buying a bluetooth enabled PPC and new receiver. How wrong can one be !! with help and advice from Mike Alder who kindly replied to my posting and gave me invaluable advice on the more technical aspects I have successfully transferred the aforementioned items to my bike and it works flawlessly.
I thought I would post the materials required for this including prices and part numbers, also links so members may look at the items during and after construction, it is a simple job with only minor soldering skills required. All the items were purchased from Maplins with the exception of the handlebar mount which came from GPS Warehouse and batteries (link supplied below).

1 Ram handlebar mount RAM-HOL-PD3 £ 17.01
1 RAM PDA Holder RAM-B-149Z £ 11.91
1 Fuse holder DR79 £ .49
1 Female panel socket WD68 £ 7.99
1 10xAA Batt. Box RK45 £ .69
1 Push on receptacle HF10 £ .74
1 Rigid PP3 clip NE19 £ .29
1 Aluminum 1455N1602 N77AL £ 8.99
10 2500mAh 1.2v Batteries £ 14.40

The aluminum box is used to house the battery pack which is epoxy glued to the end cap and also the female panel socket along with the fuse holder, this is mounted on the bike frame utilizing the threaded holes they put in all modern bike frames for pumps ect. and literally screwed into position. The receiver is Velcro attached to a bracket mounted on the handlebar stem (this is the only item I did not buy but had already).
Very important is the Ram mount at the thick end of £ 30.00 it is the most expensive item but well worth the money, it is rock solid and once the PPC is in there it aint letting go of it regardless of where you are riding, rough track or smooth road.
Photos:-
http://photobucket.com/albums/v516/Pikey100/GPS/
For batteries this guy is just the bees knees:-
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/component-shop_W0QQssPageNameZmercQ5fvicQ5frsccQ5fpr4Q5fpcnQ5fQ5fstoresQQtZkm
Maplins
http://www.maplin.co.uk/?AID=10297371&PID=409138&SID=Gmaplin
GPS Warehouse
http://www.gpsw.co.uk/cats/cl3_416.html

I decided in the end to buy another receiver but that is totally up to the individual. I have also bought a new charger I can just plug into the female socket and charge all the batteries at once in 5 or 10 hours instead of the 45hrs with my old 4 battery plug in thing, I also had the cables shortened as there was much too much for the application they were being used for and has made a much neater job. Any hanging cables have been secured with cable ties. I have done my first field test and the system worked better that I could have ever wished for and battery life is OK an estimate of battery life should be 10 to 12 hours, on the field testing it managed 3½ hours with very little voltage drop when measured after the ride, only 1 volt, there was 13.77 v when fully charged & 12.7 v after.

Regards

Leo

mikealder · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:15 pm Post subject:

As I said yesterday - this is an installation to be proud of - it looks right, which generally means it is right (rough rule of thumb), Glad you got there in the end; and I am surprised at the price of the mount I expected more to be honest thanks for the interesting e-mails over the past week but a true quality job as I said before something to be proud of - Mike

Leodis · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 31, 2004 Posts: 27

Cheers Mike

Your help was very much appreciated indeed. The Ram mount is a first rate piece of kit and well worth the money, not only that but they are modular and expandable eg. bits can be added they will all fit each other.

Leo

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