Adding Aftermarket Internal GPS to the CF-28

Okay guys - Gimme a minute; I'm still battling the thunderclouds in me belly...

mnem

 

will this help

 

*Snerk*

But I need one a bit bigger than you have there for MY MOUTH... LOL

Okay guys, I have a bunch of pix of this antenna; I'm gonna post them to a new thread so I'm not slowing down page loads on this thread.

mnem

 

Just give us a hint where you are posting them.
Also did you ever get email I sent you?

 

Hint http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=209743

 

Stu -

yup - got your eMail & replied. Took me a bit to get the pix took & resized to meet forum requirements. They're up now, see cadillac's hint.

mnem

 

I got mine today and everything is there, so far so good...

But I'm sad you didn't ship me some nice Florida sunshine... I'm freezing

 

Modly... I thought you already had a RIM board?

 

I'm building a toughbook for a friend, and needed another one, and my progress is too slow on the other board to wait

If we can find those plastic GPS humps, and my testing this weekend proves successful, i'm gonna add a place on the aftermarket board to surface mount a Jim Gray antenna so the geohelix sticks out into the lump. If this works, The GPS system would be a 10 minute install at most. We'll only need 3" MMCX cables then. Right now my big hurdle to jump is the 50 pin connector, because it's expensive (and hard) to make the .5mm pitch happen, so we'll need an adapter of some kind.

 

Modly... If you are talking about what I think you are... It won't work well. If you are talking about laying the antenna on its side... You will only get half the sky. It needs to be pointing straight up to get a 180 degree shot of the sky.

As I recall... They make smaller, active GPS antennas that would fit in the hump.

 

I'm aware, but figured testing couldn't hurt.

The guy at Jim Gray (Tom I think) was telling me that while demoing the antenna for the LAPD, he had the antenna laying horizontally, inside his center console of his car, and pulled satellites, so I was figuring it would be good to test.

I should test out their 15x15 active antenna though.

 

Oh... I agree... It will work... You just won't get all the satellite that you possibly could. I'll be eager to hear the results. My guess??? 5-6 satellites. It will still be good enough to get a fix though and I guess that is all that counts.

 

Modly,If the one you mentioned (15x15) an active patch antena with filter on it? It should gonna be work It fix 6 satellite near my windows apartment and i can live with it. I am at the ground floor of the 3 story building. First fix 3 and then keep adding but it will take a while.

 

Yes, the active one with a saw filter. I'll see if I can score one up, and test.

 

I havent found anyone (googling) who sells the 13mm or the 15mm patch's. I've ordered a 25mm to test with. I measured the factory patch, its approx 23x18

 

Check out Jim D Gray. They've got goodies.

 

I see the 15mm one there now...no mention of lead?

 

Then, If you have connector at the back of thetoughbook, The one that pass through to the docking station and put into you car,truck whatever and have an external antena into it, you will all get the max. satellite fixed. Tested 100%


Glen...Yeah! jim d gray.

 

Hi,

I found this baby on ebay : bleutooth gps with geohelix antenna
If i can take the sd part of, i have to route only 1 wire to the top lid of the cf (3,3V, the ground is already there)

He shut down after 8 min. so i don't have much of power loose when not in use.

What do you guys think, is it worth to try?

 

More info http://www.spectec.com.tw/gps.htm

 

Spent the past 2 hours reading every page. If anyone decides to put together a step by step diy guide with pic's on a CD, I'd gladly buy one.
47 pages of awesome info. 25 years ago I never would have thought this exchange of information was possible.

 

I would have loved to do just that, but.

I'm an unskilled backwoods hack!! I don't think anyone would have wanted to see a 100 Watt soldering GUN edging up on eight tiny little solder pads. Well, it wasn't that bad, but definitely not production quality work. The good news is that it works, The BAD news is I had each lead reversed the first time. The better news is there was no " MAGIC SMOKE" , and the do-over came out better than the first go. Now at least I won't feel bad about buying an antenna.

 

Slightly Off Topic,

I couldn't find the thread with all the links (that didn't work anymore) to gps testing software, but I found a nice (and free!! as in BEER!!!) utility for connecting more than one software to the gps stream. It's called XPort and you can find it Here.

 

I've ordered the 15mm square antenna from Gray....and made a major contribution to his retirement for the custom lead.

I wont get it for a couple weeks...his engineer is on vacation...heh

 

Glen... What lead did you get? Was it an MMCX? Let me know. If it is I can make you one... Gratis!

 

Yup, 8" w/ MMCX to fit the 408.
I'll PM you my addy.
Thanks TB =)

 

Make sure you call Jim Gray to tell him to drop off the MMCX lead. 8" is all you need? Where are you mounting the antenna again?

I'm still waiting for my 50 MMCX connectors to get here but I have a few left. Also... I just got in my 100' of RG-174.

If all you need is 8" of cable... I have a few connectors from RIM & CDPD modules that would fit perfectly. Make sure of the exact length and I'll strip the leads and tin the ends for you.

 

Very gracious offer, but after thinking about it...if the new assembly is like the factory original, I'd just assume they assemble it for me after all.

The antenna has an enclosure (case of sorts) over it which is soldered to the PCB. The lead center conductor goes into the enclosure, but the shield is soldered to the case, which is soldered to the PCB...its quite a secure unit.

I shipped the mobo today, you should get it by monday.

Again, thanks for the offer of the lead

 

Here's a link I found for some free GPS software...including Winfast navigator :

http://www.semsons.com/support.html

 

Got that little Magellan antenna today...

Hmmm...anyone know where I could get an SMB female bulkhead connector?

Actually, what I need is an SMB female bulkhead to MMCX adapter lead...8" please

*blink blink*

 

Yup... I got mine in yesterday too. I ordered the connector needed off of ebay. I think it was around $10 shipped. It's bigger than I thought. I'll have to play around with mounting methods when the connector gets here. Offhand I'd say that the side cover opposite the LAN/Modem is the best bet.

On a different note... I thought I would put this picture up. It is the RIM Board that I make.



I'm sure it's the same as what others are doing but I add a shot of hot glue over the wires. I noticed that going in and playing around with the settings, plugging and unplugging the GPS engine, etc. was taking its toll on the wiring and every now and then a wire would work its way loose. The hot glue prevents this and keeps the wire from bending back and forth at the PC Board.

Anyway... Just thought I would share.

 

That's a nice looking finished product there Rick... dumb question tho - since you're using the port intended for the wireless card, does that mean that the keypad for the wireless now controls the power for the GPS? Or does the TB remove that functionality when you set the switches to tell it that there's a GPS connected instead of the RIM card?

mnem
*Still Jonesin'*

 

Naw, it's using the port intented for GPS. Works the same way the original did... (Well, except this way works).

 

Good question... The answer is no... The ON/OFF (I assume that is what you mean) switch doesn't work with the GPS. I'nm not sure if it has to do with the switch or because the GPS may not use the same pinouts as the RIM or CDPD. It would be nice though to have the outer switch controlling the power to the GPS. I'm sure there is some way to rig it... But I really don't have the time to trace that one out.

 

Where is that switch? I don't think I've ever seen it.

 

I thought he was talking about the switch that comes on the outside to turn the wireless RIM Module on/off.

 

yup.. there's a pushbutton and 3 LEDs in the base of the handle.. for use with the RIM/sierra board

 

Hey Grav (or anyone) do you know *positively* what the name of that connector is for the RIM atenna at the rear pass-through connector?

It looks like a large version of u.fl.

I've looked at drawings, but its hard to tell...could be e.fl, h.fl, w.fl

 

They used an h.fl for the stock GPS... so maybe it's that?

 

The one on the outside of the computer? i don't think anyone has yet identified it.

 

Naaa, the one that runs internally...with the display cabling...from the RIM, goes to a quick dissconnect on the rear board. Modly has a good point, if they used it on the GPS then it would be logical to use the same thing back there.

 

When you pull the display, if it has RIM, then you pull that routing plate off the bottom...reach in that little hole and pop that RIM wire off the back. Its a connector that looks like a big u.fl

 

You're talking about the connector on the inside of the computer, that attaches in the back panel board up to the LCD antenna, right?

I'll see if it's an h.fl in a minute if that's the case.

Edit; if the connector you are talking about is the same as what I mentioned above, it IS h.fl.

I measured the connector, and it both matches specs, and fits my GPS antenna connector.

 

Yup, thats the one.

Thanks Modly !!

Has anyone found the part number for the Hump piece yet? I'd like the part number of the non-hump too, and the right side piece.

 

Actually, I was talking about both. I understand that the DIP switches on the wireless daughterboard assign what functionality the com port you're using is assigned to; be it wireless, GPS, etc. right? Or are there multiple com ports available on the board, and the DIP switches just enable them

As for the outside switch panel, yes - I thought it would be cool if that were able to enable/disable the GPS mod you guys are doing.

mnem
Slartibartfast, that WILL BE ALL!

 

There are two COM port devices that can run simultaneously (sel. by the dipswitches) from the option board.. GPS and/or RIM/Sierra/whatever

 

I can't remember what switch one does, but 2 & 3 were for wireless options, 4 is for GPS.

I gotta tell you though, Irish car bombs make you forget stuff. Gotta finish off that Jameson before I leave

 

Mmmmm...wash it down with a little Guinness - the beer that eats like a meal...

mnem
*Looks over his Guinness-glackett collection & wrings his hands gleefully*

 

Whats the spacing of the solder pad holes where the GPS wires are attached to the accessory board?...Are they 5mm ? Does anyone know for sure?

I'd like to use these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...Sell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget

With as much as I've been messing with this (I've already broke 1 wire once), I'd prefer this kind of mechanism for easy removal and installation.

 

It's closer to 2.25mm. My light bulb is burned out though, so I'm having a hard time getting it exact, so I'm going off of what my monitor glow is showing me