bluetooth or CF card GPS for PPC

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 10 February 07 6:27 pm

I saw some mention of these GPS add-ons for PDA or Pocket PC devices, I'm interested how they perform compared to a dedicated GPS unit like etrex.
There looks to be a few decsions from what I have read.
1. GPS unit (bluetooth extern or plug in CF card type)
2. Software .. beeline or tomtom nav, sonar??

Any pros or cons over std setup of Cachemate on PDA and etrex GPS

thanks

Cached · Post by **Cached** » 10 February 07 6:40 pm

There are bonuses for both.

Bluetooth - doesn't suck the power from your PDA, leaves your slot free - most PDAs only have one and you probably want to put a card in it.

Slot - can't remember the advantages, but there are some...

Team Red Roo · Post by **Team Red Roo** » 10 February 07 7:15 pm

mtrax wrote:There looks to be a few decsions from what I have read.
1. GPS unit (bluetooth extern or plug in CF card type)
2. Software .. beeline or tomtom nav, sonar??

I use a Toshiba e800 with SD and CF slots. The SD slot holds a 2Gb flash card - good for all the maps I am likely to use when away. I use the CF slot with a Sirf 3 Gps. This works well, though cold start time tends to be longer than I think it should.

TomTom is not a good choice for geocaching - while it is useful in major cities, it can get you lost at times when you're using minor roads. Ozi CE is a good option for getting to an area, then something like Beeline or Vito Navigator.

I haven't looked closely at Beeline, though it appears to be an excellent companion for caching, having the ability to take you right up to the cache.

You'll also need a port splitter if you want to run more than one application using the gps at the same time - http://gpsmeter/mobileground.com is free and works well.

Wayne

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 10 February 07 8:27 pm

Team Red Roo wrote:
I use a Toshiba e800 with SD and CF slots. The SD slot holds a 2Gb flash card - good for all the maps I am likely to use when away. I use the CF slot with a Sirf 3 Gps. This works well, though cold start time tends to be longer than I think it should.

http://gpsmeter/mobileground.com is free and works well.

Wayne

http://gpsmeter/mobileground.com
is that URL correct?

Team Red Roo · Post by **Team Red Roo** » 10 February 07 9:40 pm

Sorry

Try http://gpsmeter/mobileground.com

Cached · Post by **Cached** » 10 February 07 10:02 pm

http://gpsmeter.mobileground.com

I use franson GPS gate.

http://franson.com/gpsgate/

alpha993 · Post by **alpha993** » 10 February 07 10:10 pm

try http://gpsmeter.mobileground.com/ the click on Port Splitter on the left hand side of the page

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 11 February 07 8:19 am

I suppose the bluetooth option allows me to keep my storage card, which , I would probably need to store data etc..
These bluetooth GPS units need to be positioned outside somewhere , eg packback or elsewhere?

Chwiliwr · Post by **Chwiliwr** » 11 February 07 12:04 pm

mtrax wrote:I suppose the bluetooth option allows me to keep my storage card, which , I would probably need to store data etc..
These bluetooth GPS units need to be positioned outside somewhere , eg packback or elsewhere?

Mine came with an armband but I sometimes just place it in my shirt pocket.

Something not said here is the battery cost of a bluetooth device or a CF card. Both put a lot of power drain on battery causing a much reduced life span. The CF style GPS has the greater drain by about a third over bluetooth. You should consider, if you haven't got one already, a bigger capacity battery for your device.

My combination of IPAQ, Navman & larger battery gives me more than 8 hours of continuous caching.

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 11 February 07 12:27 pm

Is this an external battery? ie I can't see any obvious battery cover on my IPAQ H3970

Chwiliwr · Post by **Chwiliwr** » 11 February 07 4:19 pm

mtrax wrote:Is this an external battery? ie I can't see any obvious battery cover on my IPAQ H3970

I found a PDF on the web here that indicates expansion is via the CF expansion card accessory.

This bit of text

Extended Battery CF and PC Difference
The CF Expansion Pack external battery always acts as a power source for the iPAQ
Pocket PC, regardless of whether there is a CF card being used. However, the PC
Expansion Pack battery only acts as a power source for the Pocket PC when there is no
PC card being used. Whenever a PC card is inserted in the Expansion Pack, then the
external battery supplies power to the PC card slot and not to the Pocket PC. Also, the
extended battery is optional on the CF Expansion Pack but is required on the PC
Expansion Pack.

seems to indicate that you end up with the external battery powering the device until it runs out and then it relies on the internal battery.

Chwiliwr · Post by **Chwiliwr** » 11 February 07 4:27 pm

Also you could use the HP emergency power pack (as long as your model has the same connector) to trickle charge and (sometimes) power the IPAQ on the go. I haven't used the one I have long enough to know how much it would extend battery life but for trickle charging my IPAQ it took the battery from 50% capacity to 75% over about 4 hours with the IPAQ turned off.

This cable is the one that joins the connector to an alkaline 9V battery for emergency power.

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 11 February 07 4:36 pm

cool thanks for that, just learnt something about this ... it was a hand-me-down without manuals etc.. I have an expansion pack , but I assumed it was just for CF card expansion.

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 12 February 07 4:46 pm

I've seen the BT-77 bluetooth GPS for around AU$65 on ebay.au anyone got one of these?

Cached · Post by **Cached** » 12 February 07 4:51 pm

As long as sirf star II or preferably III it's all good.

Geocaching Australia

bluetooth or CF card GPS for PPC

bluetooth or CF card GPS for PPC

Re: bluetooth or CF card GPS for PPC

Re: bluetooth or CF card GPS for PPC