Re: Garmin gps 12...can it go to the ball?

ferdia wrote:

<snip>
Ok. rs232 to usb ordered, compaq 3630 bought from ebay at 21.30. Garmin serial cable ordered. Will keep you posted. Thank you for such a detailed answer.

Damn! You're moving right along. I already did this for my 3630, that's why I knew that much about it.

I used this http://www.gomadic.com/comip9leadpr.html Gomadics pre-wired connector to get NMEA data from the gps (a Magellan 330, similar to your Garmin 12) to the 3630 and also used it to supply power (5VDC) to the 3630 from a cigarette lighter adapter. You can't put 12V on the iPAQ, you have to step it down to 5VDC.

The Gomadic support page with FAQ has the pinouts for the 3630 connector, go to http://www.gomadic.com/support.html and look for the question "Can you tell me the pinouts for the iPAQ 31/36/3700 Connector?".

I connected the NMEA data output from my Magellan 330 to the iPAQ TXD and RXD connectors and it works fine.

Feel free to email me direct if you have any questions on this, I may be able to help you on some of the hardware bits needed too.

I intend to use route 66 software, as I drive a coach in Ireland, and route 66 western europe has reasonable Irish coverage. You know, I know next to nothing about this whole area, and I'll probably end up selling all and buying an all in one, but we'll see how I get on.

Does Route 66 make a version that will run on the iPAQ? That would be for the Pocket PC 2002 operating system.

If not, you can run that on a laptop but you'll still need an application for the 3630. I use Ozi Explorer-CE for topographical maps and for marine navigation with BSB charts from Maptech.

There are a number of applications that will run on the 3630, you need to find on that has map data for Ireland if you want to do that.

The next consideration is if you want both automated routing (you tell it the start and finish, the software plans the route, prompts you as you proceed) and maps for Ireland, you may have further limited your choices. I'm sure someone here knows what your choices are for both laptop nav softwares and stand alone units that will work for you in Ireland.

I have not owned a stand alone unit. I have researched them in depth and still read up on the new ones from time to time but I have not bought one because I prefer using a laptop for the reasons outlined below.

The stand alone units are less flexible in use than the nav software programs you would run on a laptop. As a professional driver you have some additional considerations that may make the laptop your better choice. As far as I know there are no stand alone or laptop softwares that take into consideration the size of your vehicle, weight limits, clearances, preferred approaches because of turning limitations, etc. You probably have to work all that out for yourself.

A stand alone will generally give you the shortest or quickest route (based on a preferences setting) between two points. If that is not the route you want to take that is not a lot you can do about it.

When that happens on the programs that run on laptops you can usually place some "via" points on the routes you want it to use, recalculate the route, and the software will give you a route via the roads you wanted to take.

I have not heard of a stand alone that will let you add a number of via points to a route to change the routing. Many will let you set one "detour" to change the destination but that is not at all the same thing. If you do that, when you reach the detour point, to continue the journey you have to then start a new route to the original destination. I don't think the average coach driver has time for the needed interactions with a stand alone unit.

In my research on them, I did not find a stand alone that will save an entire route, start to finish and with as many via points as I wanted to add to force or control routing. So that means I cannot save routes for use again later. They will save start points, destinations, and maybe even via points as stand alone entities but not selectively and collectively as routes.

Another thing I like about laptop programs is that I can plan out my routes in advance (at home or anywhere) and save them as individual route files. The saved routes for the laptop would have via points added as necessary to make sure that the route went the way I wanted to go. I follow along the routes in planning (zooming in and out on the maps) to see exactly where it is going to take me. I do not know of a stand alone that will let me do that.

With the routes planned and saved, when I go on a trip with the laptop I load a route and follow it with no surprises and no hands on interaction required between myself and the laptop. I am glancing at it for info, to see my location and status, it makes noises that I may or may not be able to understand (bad hearing) but it gets my attention. It is pretty much just another instrument to glance at, and no more distracting than the others.

I am married to the world's worst navigator, she sits next to me as I drive, relays some info from the laptop, and handles the things that need to be done with the laptop. Or I stop and do them.

Finally, I am a little fixated on collecting details of information. The laptop will keep track logs of when, where, how fast, etc., more or less automatically for me everywhere I go. The stand alones are generally less capable in the area of collecting data and/or in letting you get at it later. I can play with the details on the laptop to my hearts content later.

Someone is going to tell me I am wrong about some or all of the above and say that their "whatever brand stand alone" will do it all but I won't believe them until I either see it in person or read it in a user's manual. I have nothing against stand alones, they just don't meet my needs.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Help with iway 500c
    ... > interface with the iway 500. ... For my motorhome I am using an older laptop ... - Start and stop GPS status/info display ... - Turn automatic panning and route calculations off and on. ...
    (sci.geo.satellite-nav)
  • Re: OT. Tech advice needed.
    ... Their prices usually can't be beat, ... If you want to take a conservative route, XP has a "repair" option on the ... We simply bought a new hard drive and started from scratch. ... laptop around five years ago, ...
    (rec.crafts.textiles.needlework)
  • Re: cant access wired lan at same time as wifi link
    ... Do ipconfig on command prompt and give me the data, also give me the route ... handles our internet connection via proxy software. ... for and the instructions caused the ling between laptop and desktop to ... connected to the desktop via wifi. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: SSH between computers on LAN
    ... But a traceroute from the laptop works to this computer. ... second router gets Internet from the first. ... to the Belkin router. ... computer on the second router if you don't set a explicit route. ...
    (Ubuntu)
  • Re: Can anyone decrypt this string, EAAAAIXuZFgEFc-LQT6mOAKgNdc?
    ... curiosity in back of hers and increasingly fades. ... The audit ... let alone the coming route is the collaboration that pronounces ...
    (sci.crypt)