Sapphire weirdness...

SupraTT · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 05, 2004 Posts: 2

Hi everyone Smile

I recently purchased a Sapphire GPS mouse and tested it with my laptop
(running XP) from within a vehicle. It worked fine and got
a good fix when placed on the dashboard. I was very pleased with it's
performance.

I recently installed a computer in the my car (Epia MII 10000
running W2K) and everything is working fine with that. The problem comes when I connect the Sapphire...

I cannot get a fix when the mouse is on the dashboard, it has to be on
top of the car before any signs of life are shown. If I plug the Sapphire
back into the original test laptop it's fine and will again quickly get a
fix when the receiver is on the dashboard :x

I have noticed that when the receiver is plugged into the laptop (Toshiba Satellite Pro running XP) that there is a high-pitched beeping (not sure what generates it) that's in sync with the flashing of the LED on the reciever, but the sound is not there when connected to the MII 10000.

Could this be a sign that there is not enough power being supplied to the receiver via the USB port of the MII 10000 and the reason it refuses to get a fix when on the dash?

Thanks for any help.

Julian

lbendlin · Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 2:50 pm Post subject:

Your car's windshield may be coated with a special metallic filter against sunlight. This prevents GPS reception. Sometimes there are free spots in the corners or behind the mirror.
_________________
Lutz

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SupraTT · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 05, 2004 Posts: 2

Lutz

Well, the receiver has no problem getting a strong fix through the windshield when it's connected to a laptop running XP but refuses to do so when it's connected to the Epia MII 10000 which is running Win 2K.

I've done another test with another laptop running XP and this again gets a good fix when the receiver is anywhere on the dash.

It leads me to think that this seems to be a Win2K issue for some strange reason. It's very baffling...

Julian

lbendlin · Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 5:10 pm Post subject:

Either that or it is really a limitation of that particular USB port. As you know the original specification for USB was 500 mA per port, but that W2K laptop may not deliver it (although for a serial/USB receiver 100 mA should be enough.

You could install XP on that laptop ;-) Just to confirm your theory
_________________
Lutz

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