Bargain Handheld GPS "Heads Up"

Ive ordered one too Geoff G6MZX

In reply to 2E0YYY:

Hi,Mike, Tnx for finding and posting that link, a good chance to update my old Garmin E-Trex C which is definitely showing signs of wear and tear.
I have also gone for the Micro SD map of north and mid England.
That makes about five units left.

Best wishes, Derek

With the next day delivery I was expecting mine by 1500 today, but it has not arrived yet.

1610 Update: Spoke to SatNavEasy seems it is down for Delivery Tomorrow.

Stewart G0LGS

In reply to G0LGS:

Perhaps the driver needs a GPS to find your location!

rimshot

:wink:

Andy, MM0FMF
(available for weddings, birthdays and bar-mitzvahs)

In reply to MM0FMF:

Mine arrived this morning :slight_smile:

No Topo maps of course as previously mentioned but a very nice sensitive unit.It managed to lock onto several satellites & track my path from the office to the smoking shelter despite being inside a large metal industrial building.

The plain white box also contained:
Quick start guide in several languages.
Owners manual in English
USB cable
Trip & Waypoint manager software on CD-ROM
Owners manual (multi language) on CD-ROM
Carrying Lanyard (for around the neck)
Mounting adapter (for use with an optional vehicle mounting bracket)

I’m pleased :slight_smile:

73,

Mark G0VOF

In reply to G0VOF:

In reply to MM0FMF:

Mine arrived this morning :slight_smile:

I’m pleased.

Does this mean I’m off the hook, Mark :wink:

BTW, my new HTC Desire, mobile phone arrived this afternoon. Excellent…should be able to spot myself from now on.

73s

Mike
2E0YYY

In reply to M0YDH:

Will it connect to a Tiny Trak 3 APRS
interface? Then it would be perfect.

David M0YDH

Hi David,

I don’t know the the exact configuration of the Garmin GPS you’re referring to here, but I run my TT3+ with a Garmin Geko 201 for a while. I think the serial cable is the same for both models, so I’m thinking they will behave the same with the TT3+.

There are a couple of points worthy of consideration (assuming Geko is similar in function to Etrex).

  1. The data socket on the GPS goes to ‘sleep’ when not in use, to promote longer battery life. In order to ‘wake up’ the data socket the data socket (actually 4 round gold contacts) has to have some data input, eg from a computer. The TT3 does not put out any data into the GPS by default. It is possible to ‘trick’ the GPS into streaming data out by applying a voltage, say 5V, into the ‘data in’ contact. This can be done by jumpering the TT3’s regulated 5v GPS supply across to the correct pin on the serial cable. I made an adaptor with 2 off 9 way serial sockets back to back, crossing over the 5V via a 1K resistor.

Another solution is to ask Byon at Byonics for a ‘Beta’ TT3+ PIC, this can be programmed, using the special config program, to hold the GPS ‘data in’ pin high. (I now run the Beta chip, I don’t bother with the adaptor, look at
http://aprs.fi/?call=a%2FM0CGH-7
from when I was on NP-028 on Sunday)

  1. If you have the grid system set to ‘British National Grid’ on the GPS, the positioning data sent to the TinyTrak will be slightly inaccurate. I’m thinking the GPS has to convert the data from BNG to Lat/Lon before streaming the data and it introduces inaccuracies. To improve accuracy, set the GPS to Latitude and Longitude instead of British National Grid. Make sure the GPS is set to NMEA at 4800 baud output.

  2. Dont bother with all this nonsense and buy a SIRF3 puck for about £20 like I did, chop of the PS2 plug (make sure to get a Serial GPS and not a USB one!) and fit a 9 way female serial socket, works straight away with very quick fix times.

I’m just getting started with APRS, I had SOTA in mind originally, so my XYL can keep up to date with my progress. I’m now experimenting with a FoxTrak from VU2FD, The board cost $3, including a metal case, plus shipping from India. The final components arrived in the post today, so I be finishing the build very soon. The FoxTrak has largely the same functionality as the TinyTrak, but is a fair bit cheaper.

I think APRS has some great safety benefits for SOTA ops, providing of course the explosion of digipeaters and Igates continues.

All the best with your APRS and SOTA adventures!

73
Colin

  • Just had a look at specs of the GPS and it has USB interface, so WILL NOT work with any of the TinyTraks. I’ll leave this post becasue the info may be useful to other would be APRS using SOTA ops.

My Garmin Vista HCx arrived today.

I went for a walk earlier and have loaded the track into the Garmin MapSource program, but the track appears to be in the wrong place on MapSource view but is fine when viewed in Google Maps.

I tried loading the Maps from the SMC site, but the MapSource program does not seem to see them at all (I don’t even have any of the registry keys that the instructions refer too).

Stewart G0LGS

In reply to G0LGS:

Which datum etc. have you selected in the GPS and in Mapsource? They’re the most likely culprits.

Andy
MM0FMF