Article by Dave Burrows, Pictures and instructions provided by Carl Scott.

Dashmounts are starting to become very popular amongst Pocket GPS readers here, and Carl Scott has sent us in some photos of how he's fixed his iPAQ into his RAV4 with a Dashmount.

Compaq iPAQ mounted in a RAV4 with a Dashmount and Haicom 203e receiver

Carl says "After much searching on the Internet for an in-car mount for my iPAQ, I found that most of the advertised mounts were a little too bulky for my liking, so I came up with the idea of using a dashmount bracket, and attaching an iPAQ style cover to it.  To attach the two together I initially used araldite glue, but this proved not to be strong enough, so I then came up with the idea of drilling a small hole in the style cover inserting a bolt."

"The head of the bolt protruded too much so I had to file the head down enough to allow the iPAQ to slide over it easily, then also had to file a slot to allow the tightening of the bolt.  I then secured on the rear with a locknut."

"This has proved to be very stable and solid, and in my view is a lot slimmer than dedicated mounts.", Carl says.

Details of Equipment fitted

• Compaq iPAQ 3850

  • Pocket PC with an additional 128mb Secure Digital Card for storing the GPS Maps.

• Extra iPAQ Protective Style Cover

  • To bolt onto the Dashmount to give you a cradle like solution.

• Tom Tom Navigator

  • Navigational software with UK Maps. Website Link

• Haicom 203-E GPS Receiver

  • GPS Receiver including the appropriate adapter for an iPAQ 3850.

• Dashmount Kit for RAV4

  • Website Link

DashMount and Protective cover

As you can see, Carl has created quite a neat setup!   The cables are hidden well, and the make-shift cradle looks pretty neat and would create a very light setup on the dashboard.

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