CF-18 & Ledco Dock: Antenna Passthrough?

Wondering if anybody else here is using a CF-18 mk 4 with a dock and using the antenna passthroughs. I've got a CF-18 with GPS and Touchscreen (non-digitizer) and the antenna ports on my Ledco dock (model number unknown) don't seem to be working.

I read that with some other models of toughbook you need a program that tells the laptop whether to use the internal or external antenna port. My model does have both antenna ports on the bottom dock connector and the dock has the connectors and ports on the back. However my GPS onboard is still using the internal antennas regardless of connection to the dock.

I can't get you a model of the dock as I bought it used and the label is scratched. The CF-18 is not nearby right now but I will try and get the exact model later today.

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions. I've successfully got Windows 7 fully working using the guide on here, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out with this issue as well.

Cheers!

 

Is it a dual or single pass thru?

 

Dual passthrough.

My apologies for being late in getting back to everyone. The CF-18's full model number is CF-18NJHZEBM.

 

This is what your 18 had when new...
Model Number: CF-18NJHZEBM
Status: DISCONTINUED
MSRP: $4,774
Description: Intel Pentium M 753 1.2GHzULV (Centrino), 10.4" Touch Screen XGA, 60GB, 512MB,Intel 802.11a+b+g, Dual pass through, WIN XP SP2,TPM1.2 GPS, Bluetooth, Backlit Keyboard, No Drive

 

How do you know it is still using internal antennas?

As far as I know the pass thru on a CF18 is purely mechanical.
If it does not work, you will need to pull the base off and trace the wires.

 

The one other variable is the GPS antenna. I believe it's the type that requires power over the coax and I'm fairly certain that the dock is not supplying power to it. I may need to build a small circuit to supply it power.

I need to do a little more testing, but it doesn't seem like the satellite reception is any different on the dock vs off the dock. That was the reason I was questioning whether the ports were switching or not.

 

If your unit doesn't come with a label at the bottom that say upper WWAN, lower GPS. It means it is on default setup which is upper WWAN, lower WLAN. Now! you need to open up the bottom case and need to rewire but the problem is some unit has short gps antenna cable. Open it up first if it has enough lenght of cable. Then report back and I am going tell you how to rewire it.

 

I'll probably work on opening it up this weekend. Thanks for that insight, I would've never guessed that the ports wouldn't be correct.

 

Apologies for the large images. My antenna port connector has four u.fl connectors. Three of them are currently connected. The GPS module has two cables, one goes to the antenna on the side of the laptop and the blue one dissapears somewhere. The lower gray antenna comes out from around the same area the blue cable goes.




Let me know what you can gather from this or if you need more pictures!

 

Gray and blue are going to the lid. I think maybe the left side cover area. Pull that cover and more becomes clear. Blue is bluetooth in this case....not always.

You need a short jumper from GPS to pass-through.....wait for Teo to tell you what goes where.

 

GPS is currently not wired to the pass through. It is wired direct.
I am not sure if the stock antenna lead is long enough to reach the pass through.
The black lead that is currently on the GPS board will need to go to the pass through connector.
Then you will need a jumper to go from the pass through to the GPS module where the black lead is now connected.

Teo can tell you the exact connections. But for now you can at least check to see if the black lead is long enough.

 

It'll reach. It's not a nice clean route but it runs all the way with just a little slack left.

 

This is for a later model without gps, but it may help.

 

ok! just a free hand sketch but you can follow what's all about.

what the heck! It doesn't upload the image.

ohlip

 

Images seem to be broken. I use photobucket.

 

Awesome! Thanks for those drawings. I get how the passthrough works now, and I'll be ordering a u.fl jumper soon to get the new antennas hooked up.

 

Everything works! Got the jumper installed and everything buttoned back up, and I now get a GPS lock in 3 seconds, compared with a minute or two with the internal antennas.