Alternate use for EM-408?

I have an EM-408 gps, and a sarantel antenna.
Both were for my CF-29 which I don't have anymore, plus I never received the cable I needed to install it.
So... Is there a way to hook this bad boy up via USB or what other kinds of laptops can I cram this into?

 

well, whichever laptop you decide to butcher, you will need to find 2 things: an open serial port, and room.
there may or may not be internal com ports on other laptops, but you could always wire the victim from the inside of an external com port, and as far as space..... use a cf card and adapter (instead of a 2.5" hdd) to make room in the hdd area for the em-408.

Or you could just ship it to me, and I'll make good use of it in my 29... just a thought.

 

Couldn't I, in theory take one of those USB gps pucks and swap out the el-cheapie GPS in that with the EM??
Hm.....

 

I"m not too familiar with the puck style usb gps's, so I don't know for sure, but you woud probably be better off using serial. I you are looking to use it on several different computers, then swapping it out with another gps pucks guts might work. I think that's one you'll just have to try.
One other consideration is the fact that the performance increase would more than likely be nominal, as the gps pucks are usually placed clear of obstructions. The primary advantage of the 409 and sarantel is to overcome the Mg case/shielding.... IMHO.

 

True...
I wonder since my CF-19 is going to have the stock GPS in it, if I can improve the GPS performance by adding the Sarantel to it somehow...

 

Again, I can't speak from experience, but it's also my understanding that there is a slight improvement in performance using the 409/sarantel over the oem setup. But I also deal with 29 info, not 18/19. Also, some of the performance increase in the 29's diy over eom can be attributed to the fact that many people mount their sarantels at the top of the lid, as opposed to the palm rest.

I have a diy kit from ebay with some little patch antenna mounted in the palm rest. It does well enough for what I need, but I'm not an emergency responder.

Just out of curiosity, which sarantel is it? You may be better off just posting in the marketplace, and recoup your money. I would be interested, if the price was right...

 

Only the lid mount would be acceptable..
I think its the Sarantel S-Type, I didn't order it, it came with a CF-29 but wasn't installed because I never received the cables for it.
Now the CF-29 is gone..

 

gmgfarrand
Why would you waste your time putting the em408 into a puck? Just sell the 408 here and buy the same GPS already built into a puck, ie, BU-353. The good pucks don't just get good reception because of their view of the sky, they are also very good GPS receivers. I'll put a BU-353 up against any GPS that costs less than $5000. I base this on side by side comparisons at known locations. The internal GPS can be very good but, at the end of the day, the high end unit with the best view of the sky will give the best accuracy.
CAP

 

I have the 353, and probably will end up ditching the parts on here.
I was just brainstorming, or braincrapping depending on how you look at it..

 

I would think you could use it to scrape chewing gum off the bottoms of tables...

mnem
*Agitating-ily*

 

This $37.95 USB GPS is THAT good? Up against a $5k GPS system??? I guess I need to try one for comparison's sake...

 

I'm guessing the EM408 is that good as well if its got a clear view of the sky, the BU353 only has a pretty small active patch antenna. I tried my CF-30 out against a $50k surveyor's machine last winter on an island. He set up on a USGS monument, waited 20 minutes or so until his machine beeped, and we wrote down the LAT/LONG to 4 decimal places. I dropped the puck on the monument, waited until VisualGPS stopped wandering around in the survey window, and compared my position. Variation from high end instrument, N-S 0.00, E-W -0.8', Acquisition time for BU353, 45 seconds +/- from a cold start. I have done this often enough that it no longer surprises me, but it sure freaks out the engineers! More importantly, you don't really need that much accuracy, is the unit's ability to get a fast, good fix in lousy conditions. I'm sure there are some other good units out there, it really is all about a good receiver running a SiRF III chipset, I just can't think of any reason to switch from the BU353 after all these years.
CAP