Adding Aftermarket GPS and other MODs for the CF-18

Ok so the 28 and 29 fans have a sticky I think the 18 deserves the same. At the very least if not a sticky then a thread that 18 owners can get some good ideas. I freely admit to plagiaristic activity in this thread and give full credit to people smarter than me for originally posting this information. I am merely putting it in one place for ease of use.

1. What cool Modifications have you put on your CF-18?
2. Part suppliers and prices for the items listed?
3. If at all possible, “How did you put the modification together” if it’s not a straight forward install?

Rules:
Try and be concise and deliver a complete review of your modification.
Answer the question; does your modification maintain the ruggedness of the CF-18?

Useful information

Dimensions
Depth 8.5 in.
Height 1.9 in.
Width 10.7 in.
Weight 4.5 lb. unmodified!

High Order1 has some great info in this thread: His notes on the CF-18 model…
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=364032 A must read thread for 18 owners!

---- I will edit this post as information comes in to keep it up to date. ----

Mod information and links from other threads…..​

Alternative Operating System Information

Dual-Booting Linux and Windows
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=198917

XP or Linux
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=363019

Loading Ubuntu Linux on a CF-18
http://www.robsnetworks.com/toughbooktalk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=51


BlueTooth Mod information:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=242638

Forum Posts for GPS:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=361872

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=241494

Ohlip's original thread - Adding Aftermarket Internal GPS to the CF-18

Links to GPS Software:
(I take no credit for this link information; it was posted in other threads by our Tough-Book Gurus...) ​

http://www.oziexplorer.com/

http://www8.garmin.com/support/downl...ils.jsp?id=209

http://nobeltec.com/products/prod_suite.asp

http://www.visualgps.net/VisualGPS/

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=139&pID=13484

Free GPS Software for Windows desktop and notebook operating systems:

http://www.maps-gps-info.com/fgpfw.html#Windows

ToughBook pointed me in a good direction with this handy app. XPort sits on the Com Port of the GPS and then provides (Up to 8) virtual, bi-directional ports for simultaneous application usage.

It can be found at: http://curioustech.home.insightbb.com/xport.html

Open your Mapping and Monitoring software at the same time. Set up is a breeze.

Marconi has this entry for emulation: DeLorme Serial Emulator http://delorme-serial-emulator.software.informer.com/

Assembly parts links:​

GPS Antennas:

The Geohelix GPS antenna has been mentioned several times in this forum in threads and received good reviews. More information can be found at http://www.jimdgrayassoc.com/index_files/geohelixantennas.htm

http://www.coaxicom.com/pdfs/coaxico...2/pg_36-37.pdf

GPS Modules:

20 Channel EM-408 SiRF III Receiver with Antenna/MMCX (avg. price $64.00)
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8234

Model: MG-753RWGT
http://www.mightygps.com/oem/MG-753RWGT.htm

RAM upgrades
Max Supported RAM for the Mrk2 is 1GB DDR1 ( NOT DDR2)
Tested compatibility -Crucial 1GB 200-Pin DDR SO-DIMM DDR 333 (PC 2700)

Laptop Memory - Retail $37.99 or go to the Dealer Crucial.com

Hard Drive Options:

Thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3036991

SSD Drives
Transcend 2.5 Inch Solid State Disk (SSD) Hard Drive - SATA, MLC
http://www.theupgradeplace.com/home.php?cat=710
Google "SSD Tweeks" to optimize your drive performance.
http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/product_memory.asp?Cid=100

Battery Questions

batteryrebuild.com will take your used/old batteries and rebuild and reprogram them.
Toughbook batteries have a chip in them that tell the computer it’s type and charge state. When you replace the cells you also need to reprogram the chip.

Hot Swap! Toughbook batteries are designed to be hot-swapped. Place the Toughbook in hibernation mode, swap the batteries and turn her back on. THIS AIN’T NO MacBook BABY!!

Trouble Shooting Tricks

No screen display? Try this Ohlip explanation on how to trouble shoot the problem.

 

hi! If you search a bet, it was already been done with almost the same tittle that you've posted. I think that was a year ago and nobody are interested so it probably this time around.
I used the em408 as the same we used on cf-28, cf-29 and cf-m34(1.0Ghz) unit. This is probably or maybe first time you heared the Cf-m34 with em408 gps also. It been done. I use also the Sarantel active antena mounted at the top of LCD. It need a very careful study before you start doin the installation coz on cf-18 LCD is to tight. Right now I have one unit with em408 but I installed the antena to its original location using patch antenna also(you can get a descent signal) but compare to sarantel. I say, sarantel still the best.

Bluetooth on cf-18, Onirak...has a write up to follow if you want, on how to install aftermarket bluettooth on the system with latest improvement courtesy of Mr. rjenkin..

edit : here is the link fo cf-18 gps, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=290174


ohlip

 

Ohlip great information! I did miss this thread, I thought I was doing a good job of finding all the CF-18 mod threads. I really like the "CF-18 with EM408 gps engine coupled with geohelix antenna Lcd mounted" mod. Do you have any more information on the PCBe board with the EM408 attached? This sounds like some thing that would work even from inside a HMMWV (hummvee). PM me if you do.

 

Everything is really relative to what you truly intend to use the Toughbook for and how badly it will be bashed/beaten/dropped, etc. I have replaced many Sarantel antennas on the CF-28 in the early days while trying to find the best mounting point. The whole thing is... If you drop the CF-18 it will work... If you drop it on the Sarantel... The antenna will break (most likely) but the same is true for the stock antenna mounting on the CF-18 as it is a bulbous protrusion out the side! I am trying to find a way to mount the smallest active patch antenna into the plastic latch lid. I bought an extra latch cover from Heartland last order just for this purpose but haven't had time to try it. As Teo said... It is a VERY tight fit up there and will require the removal of small amounts of plastic and magnesium to make it work...If I can at all. But still... Having the antenna lead come thought the swivel is a tight fit too! So... We'll see and I'll post more as I experiment.

 

Rick
I was going to try this as well
I wanted the antenna inside the top plastic cover hidden
Did you get the smallest non active sarantel small antenna to try ?

Alex

 

No... I bought the 12mm X 12mm X 7mm active patch to try it out... I can get it down to about 10.5mm on each side.

How bug is the non-active? Do you have specs?

 

SL1300 LBS Pro (GeoHelix-P3)
Is this bug lol
7.5mm diameter x 13mm

Alex

 

Alex...I have one of those. It doesn't work if it is away or with a pigtail from the engine it must be connected directly to the engine or it need a filter(LNA) in order to work.

I ordered a much smaller active patch antenna from gizmo( I dont know if it is for real or scam site, just try my luck, no guts no glory ) which has a dimension of only 10mmx10mmx6mm and it can be fit and install nicely at the top of lcd plastic.


ohlip

 

Teo... was it an active patch antenna?

 

Hmmmmmmmm THIS looks good!

 

Rick...Its an active antena, here is the link: http://www.gizmoforyou.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10_26_34&products_id=49

I hope it is not a scam coz I didn't reseach this site thouroughly.


Other info. If you are not totally interested on putting up a WWAN on the cf-18 you can use the existing coax cable. of WWAN for gps antenna. As I did that from a couple of unit.


ohlip

 

Both links feature a very small active antenna
Teo, when you get it check the reception is ok hidden under the top plastic
Thats where I want it placed on my cf-19

Alex

 

Was reading the thread "intern microfon in cf29" talking about using a cell phone mic to install on-board comm. Has any one tried to do this to a CF-18? Hmmmm..... Now if I could just get a webcam with a mic.... would it fit some place?

Link to original post;
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=240268

 

anyone tried this http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8418 ?

 

Onir.....I also have one of those and the reception. its a crap!



ohlip

 

I have seen those before and thought that the signal would be too weak for what we need. But for the cost it had to be worth a try... Thanks for trying Teo!

 

I have an old “hacked” Yaesu handheld UHF/VHF programmable radio. I used it for SAR with a rescue team I worked with. Does anyone have any experience linking UHF radios with Toughbooks for data transmission or Voice?

This would be a nice add-on for SAR work with local agencies.

 

As with everything... It could probably be done... At a price.... There may be a program out there similar to Police Software... You should check with MPs, Police, etc....

 

GunHog -

What you're talking about is what is called "Packet Radio"; it was a fledgling hobby about 20 years ago when I was still puttering around on 160m band; it eventually was adopted by major carriers and the technology became "Cellular Digital Packet Data" - CDPD - and is the basis for the now-defunct RIM and CDPD WLAN cards seen in the CF-28s. Here's the Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_radio

It's a nice, quick start - although if you Google "Packet Radio", you'll get enough hits to keep you busy for weeks.

Good hunting,

mnem
A picket, a packet, a shiny antenna bracket...

 

Oh great Dragon, thank you for looking down from thine lofty perch at the top of the world and bestowing such fruitful knowledge upon this worthless servant...... snicker

I still work with SAR units in the US. Might be a useful tool to have in the kit.

 

SAR?

Sons of the American Revolution? Specific absorption Rate? Search And Rescue? Synthetic Aperture Radar? Suspicious Activity Reports? Structure-Activity Relationship?

Heh. Glad I had something of use still rattling around in the ol' noggin... never know what you'll dislodge scratching under those scales...

mnem <~~~Silly Ambimoustrous Reptile~~~*

 

I fall under two of your magnanimous options; Sons of the American Revolution and Search And Rescue.

Don't choke on your own smoke....lol

 

I spent almost 4 years as a volunteer firefighter in my home town (Yeah, one of those nuts who runs into a burning building when all the sane people are running out, and NOT EVEN GETTING PAID FOR IT).

I got my SmokeDiving patch, took Winter Search/Rescue (my hometown in central NY is further north than some parts of Canada) and cut my fair share of cars apart on the highway before I blew my back out and became a liability on the FireGround. I was on the Hack Attack Squad (unofficial designation, of course); The Hurst Tool is flashy; but my crew proved repeatedly that you CAN have a person out of a car with the old HackMaster before you have the Hurst up & running...

I had several good friends in the Buffalo, NY FD who answered the call on 9/11 and never came back; (Remembers the spring & fall chicken BBQ fundraisers - almost as much beer got into us as got on the chicken) and the water bottle full of pulltabs saved for Children's Hospital...

*Salutes*

*Sigh*

mnem
Having one of those "Like a Rock" moments right now...

 

mnem,

OMG man...That last comment about having a "Like a Rock" moment sent chills down this old spine and I had to fight back the tears. While the song is great unto itself, for those that have REALLY listened to the words, it is all too prophetic. I think that song is the standard for middle aged men everywhere. Probably the best song ever recorded especially for us guys getting to that age.

Twenty years now
Whered they go?
Twenty years
I don't know
Sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they've gone....

The sad part now...make that 35 years.

 

We special few that run to hurt, anger and chaos when all others of sound mind would run away. At 44 years of age I to have felt the sting of lost friends and the ache of a bruised, broken and strained body. It does not stop us. We are wired to save, defend and help. We could not stand by and watch any more than we could go with out breathing.

The words of that song have always touched me. With the loss of one so close to this forum the lyrics are very poignant to me right now. Very sad right now...

 

Geez... You earn a little bit more about your fellow forum members all the time... Wow...

Jorge... I have a ton of those modems that I have pulled out of CF-28s over the years... I just kept tossing them in a box until the box overflowed... Then I started staking them until it overflowed again... I'll send a few to you to play with if you want... Thought I don't know what good they would be except as a paperweight... And a light one at that.

 

Yeah -

There's a reason we call him the Boss. He always sang about things that were universal; always cut right to the heart of What IS. He never stopped; his voice just got drowned in the noise and BS of the 90s "Greed Revolution". You don't need to be "edgy" to be good; good is good enough.

TB -

Those RIM cards ARE A good source for that funky little RF connector you need to hack into the blue factory cable to make my WiFi mod work... I forget now - what do they call that kind of connector?

mnem

...But I remember us riding in my brother's car,
her body tan and wet down at the reservoir...
At night on them banks I'd lie awake,
and pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take.
Now those memories come back to haunt me,
they haunt me like a curse.
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true?
Or is it something worse..?
that sends me down to the river,
though I know the river is dry...

The River - You know who.

 

Mnem... I do my hack a different way... I wire via a passthrough then solder whatever type of lead is needed for whatever card is being used. (MMCX/U.fl/Etc.) You can also just solder in a new 24" lead straight to the antena base too I suppose.... If you need any of the modems... Let me know...

 

Update to this threads first post with information on batteries and screen information.

Battery Questions

batteryrebuild.com will take your used/old batteries and rebuild and reprogram them.
Toughbook batteries have a chip in them that tell the computer it’s type and charge state. When you replace the cells you also need to reprogram the chip.

Hot Swap! Toughbook batteries are designed to be hot-swapped. Place the Toughbook in hibernation mode, swap the batteries and turn her back on. THIS AIN’T NO MacBook BABY!!

Trouble Shooting Tricks

No screen display? Try this Ohlip explanation on how to trouble shoot the problem.

 

TB -

You mean you unsolder the blue semirigid coax from the passthrough and solder a pigtail in its place from the passthrough to the card?

I thought aboot that; but it was so much easier not splitting the case...

mnem
No Marcus, you can't eat daddy's toe...

 

mnem,
It is actually not that hard to remove and reinstall the pass through without splitting the case. You can get it in and out through the bottom cover.
CAP

 

K'aisy daisy...

I guess I really didn't bother; I'd had the thing apart so many times already, and the parts to make my little adapter were just looking at me from across the workbench. I still feel that the adapter was probably a better solution in terms of signal loss; it's so easy to create an imbalanced load when trying to solder coax.

mnem
A BEST friend helps you MAKE the body before you have to move it...

 

I received my GPS parts from HSI today and got them installed on my CF-18 with no problems. Fired it up and got four sats with high readings just sitting in my front room. Did not have a chance to check it outside but it appears to working great for an OEM unit. Come to find out, it works with com port 2 instead of 3 on this unit. Bluetooth is working also. Thanks Teo!

 

Just today I transplanted an OEM gps unit from a mk3 into my mk4 with success.

What I'm wondering is if I can upgrade the receiver with something more modern/sensitive while still using the OEM board and antenna.

Thoughts?

 

Wait for it...I can hear the rumbling giants as they stir to life...Yes! there they are in all their glory and they say to this person....(let's see who goes first).

 

mackmack,
I'll take trooper's bait! There are several threads about aftermarket GPS in the CF-18. The best bet is to do a google search of the forum and you will find them. The short answer is yes and it is a much better GPS. Welcome to the madhouse, it sounds like you are already in trouble
CAP

No snickering from you ST!

 

Oh Cap, some things in life are soooooo predictable. BTW, in the past two weeks, I got a CF-74 for $550 shipped and a CF-52 for $610 (free shipping and they shipped overnight!). My goodness, I have it bad and need help....

 

ST..how about your WWAN, did it works fine too? If you need a driver and watcher for SB555 I beleive, you can download it from pana...ca site.


ohlip

 

ohlip,

The GPS works fine with the parts I got from HSI (antenna and such). I have not tried the Bluetooth yet, but I do not forsee any problems. I used to have a data account with AT&T, but I cut it when I moved to my new job here in FL as there is no 3G coverage anywhere near me and I do not get home to my mother's very often in this job either. Since I no longer have an account, I do not have a SIM card to use. I could try the one from my AT&T cell phone, to see if I can at least make calls, but I would need to set up the TB in order to do so and it is not really worth it for that purpose.

 

Yup... That's how I do/did it...

 

Thanks for the reply CAP -

I've read through the forums quite a bit, and my question wasn't out of laziness. To be more exact with my question, I'm wondering if there is a newer receiver available that I can just slip on to the existing ribbon cable to improve the reception - or do I need to buy something like the EM-408 and solder it on? Would such a receiver work with the OEM antenna?

Ideally I would like to keep the OEM antenna, rather than fitting one on the top of the LCD.

 

mackmack,
Keep reading, ohlip and Toughbook have been experimenting with active antennas in the stock bump out with some success. The stock GPS will not be as sensitive as the EM408, but do you need more? If your GPS has a good lock it doesn't matter how many satellites its locked onto. If you install a program like VisualGPS you can tell what you have for HDOP, a fancy term for horizontal accuracy. Any value <10m is probably better than the tagging on most commercial digital maps so its nice but doesn't really tell you anything useful about where you are. You really don't need your GPS to work in your cellar.
CAP

 

Yes... He needs to keep reading... The answers are all over the place.... He will trip over them eventually...

 

That is the whole point of volunteer emergency service people - to NOT get paid but do it from the heart and be rewarded by knowing you are selflessly giving your time and skills to help the community.

I've been a member of the NSW RFS since 2001 and while I'm back here in Sydney on annual leave I've been going to every training session with my local brigade as I'm an experienced member and I can pass on skills to newer people whilever I am here. Did some basic pumping and drafting training today with a new member to simulate a structure fire and a small bushfire (no actual fire, but we did it 'wet').

Just about every state in Australia has a volunteer fire service of some sort - in South Australia where I live now it's the CFS. Currently going through the joining process which unforunately is all bogged down these days in background and criminal/police history checks (not that I have a police record, but even if I switched bridages within the RFS I would need to do the whole 'new member' process!).

We don't have any sort of computer in the RFS tankers and the GPS units are all handheld ones - but if we did I think I'd like to get toughbooks even if my local brigade bought them itself rather that getting them purchased through official channels (since that is unlikely to be approved).

CF-18/19 type systems would be good, though for better ruggedness CF-28/29/30 systems could be used.

Craig.

 

Will the em408 will work on OEM antena? My answer is yes! But first you need to make an interface cable between the em408 which has round cable while the connector on the daugtherboard uses an FFC cable. My question to you is, can you do that? If yes! Go to Adding aftermaket gps on CF-29 thread and look for discussion on PIN out detail for those with SLED/Daughterboard. The OEM gps for CF-18 and CF-29 uses the same module and so their pin out too on the daughterboard. Good Luck

ohlip

 

Well, YEAH... I KNOW that's the POINT... but it doesn't mean we aren't ALL NUTS...

When I was on fire... err, on call... we'd just started using programmable radios on the new equipment; our older rigs were still quad-freq crystal controlled, and GPS stood for Get Pumping, SON...

We bought our own scanners for home & vehicle, and our own "Blue lights" (Standard for VF was Blue Beacon ONLY; official use were permitted Red&Blue) as well as our own Nomex. We had the spring & fall Chicken barbeques to buy bunker gear for the probies & big/tall guys.

I still remember using the old "Indian Packs" on brushfires; backpack mounted tanks you had to keep primed with air by pulling a few strokes every once in a while on a pump arm by your butt.

mnem
Hey... is that YOUR pickup truck in the middle of that ring of fire?

 

ohlip -

That's the info I was looking for. I had previously seen your pin-outs on the other thread, but was unaware that the 29 and 18 use the same sled.

As it stands now, I'm only getting a 3-4 sat gps fix w/my oem setup in wide open ground after 3-4 mins. This isn't good enough for my needs, so I'm going to go ahead and work towards soldering the em408 in place w/the oem antenna. If the reception is still not sufficient, I'll then look at alternative antennas and placement.

Thanks for the helpful reply.

 

mack......not the same sled, Just the same gps engine module. FYI.


ohlip

 

ToughBook pointed me in a good direction with this handy app. XPort sits on the Com Port of the GPS and then provides (Up to 8) virtual, bi-directional ports for simultaneous application usage.

It can be found at: http://curioustech.home.insightbb.com/xport.html

Open your Mapping and Monitoring software at the same time. Set up is a breeze.

 

XPorts works well.,
So does Delorme Serial Emulator
It'l provide 3 addition ports for other apps.. More than enough and
works well with USB GPS units too.
But you gotta know where all the ports are being used first or it'l be a mess.

Chuck