CF-28 Wireless Options

Thanks for all the info. I want to mount my antenna(s) in the same location(s) that you did toughbook, in place of the RIM antenna and one on the side as well. I keep checking that thread on you install hoping and waiting for the pictures you have to appear so i can see exactly what you did. I have a line on the older (I suppose) Billionton bluetooth card. It is the one where the antenna slides in the end of the card. The guy wants 35 bucks shipped to me. What do you think is that a good deal or not. I thought that 24" was the size pigtail that toughbook stated he used for his install. If I am mistaken please let me know as you guys have the extensive experience with this unit. I am trying to get up to speed but there are so many different mods going on it's hard to keep track of them all. Sorry for the long post but am trying to cover as much as possible while fresh in my mind. Whats left of it anyway.

 

There are 2 different Billionton cards that will work. One is the one you describe. BUT... You must drill a small hole in the metal liner for it to work with the door closed. This doesn't hurt the sealing capabilities of the door in any way. I've used that a few times. The other one is the one that was described here in another thread I think. It is the Billionton BT Card that has the little antenna that folds out and has the "keeper" arms to hold the antenna when not in use. Someone said that they got it to fit in its stock form. I really don't see how. But... I've been wrong before! What I do is to knock off the antenna and carefully grind the brass stub almost flush with the case. Then I use an exacto knife and carefully trim the arms off. (They come right off very easily) With the antenna gone and the card mounted inside I still get very good reception. (70 feet or more) Since most people use bluetooth for their phone or GPS with the other BT product/item usually very close... This makes no difference in any event. It is going to work well!

I use the pigtail from Netgate and make a metal "keeper" that screws down into the stock RIM location. There are pics around here (I think from Gravitar or Modly but I'm not sure) of the pattern used. First you remove the top cover having removed the hinge cover first. Then I normally remove the connection cover and keyboard. You will need access to run the wire down through the laptop.

The you basically trace a small piece of thin sheet aluminum or thin steel plate and cut it to size. Drill the holes, file it down and mount it. To run the wire is a little more complex. You need to take the laptop apart. You flip it on its top and remove all the screws holding down the two parts. Check the manual for this. There is no need to remove the screws holding down the mobo! After removing all the screws there is also one in the back. Fold down the rear door and look for the screw in the dead center of the rear area. It will be close to the bottom center. Now... You need to make sure your connections under the hard drive are removed from the mobo. (Speaker and ON/OFF) Now... carefully pry the halves apart. If you have an illuminated keyboard there will be 3 wires that you need to remove. There is not much room to work with on one of them. Remove the 3 wires and separate the case halves. Now you can put the cover back on and run the wire to the wifi card (Not installed yet.)... I use tape to hold the wire down as you down't want it springing around and possibly getting caught under the heat sink. This would be disaster as your CPU would overheat. If you tape it down it keeps this from happening. With the wire in place just reverse the directions and reassemble. I'll take pictures next time I do it and have the time. Oh... we are also getting into the dry season around here where sparks are flying. Make sure you are grounded when you work on anything on the mobo. An errant spark in the wrong place and you are toast. Just be careful and take your time and you'll do fine.

 

Thank you so much for all of your very informative instructions. I appreciate your taking the time to go into such detail on this subject.

 

Your CF-28 would look great mounted with a Kodiak Mount in that huge rig of yours!

 

Funny you should say that I have been looking at them on ebay but am not sure what other type of device I would use for the rest of the mount. What kind of modifying would I have to do in order to use one of those kodiak mounts?

 

well you have to fab up some sort of pedestal for the dock to sit on. Theres a bunch of tapped holes in the bottom of the mount for that. And, believe it or not, there is no power supply built into the mount itself. there is a separate kodak power supply but those don't come up on ebay too often. your best bet is probably to use a stock panasonic AC adapter with an inverter. other than that there really isn't any modding you have to do

 

Wow. Thanks gravitar. That was one fast response. I think I'm going to get the kodiak and fab up the pedestal mount like you mentioned.

 

Are these the Kodiak mounts to which y'all refer?
http://search.ebay.com/Kodiak-Mount_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40

Thanks! doc

 

This is the one you want.... Or should I say... One type you could buy....

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-CF-28...oryZ3709QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is probably the beefiest. This is what most Police use. You can also use the mount for the CF-27 with some alteration.

Try to get the key with it. If not... Make sure the bezel of the lock is not welded like in the link above. Otherwise you'll spend a while grinding or filing to get it free to change the lock. Eventually I'll put one in my Hummer. I have the CF-27 mount given to me by one of my thankful customers who thought it was a CF-28 mount.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/USED-AS-IS-Kodi...oryZ3709QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

This isn't the one you were refering to as having the bezel welded is it?

 

If they can be modified for CF28s to fit, this looks like a great deal.. they've bene steadily lowering their prices over the past few months:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330184743691

 

Yes... they can... but you need the right "tools" to do it...lol
I picked one up for something like 26$ plus shipping...
I used a 4 1/2 angle grinder and an air cutoff disc to "lop" off the ears..
I then took one of the pieces I cutoff.. trimmed it down a bit.. and then wire welded it to the front to engage the locking slot on the 28.
After some grinding & sanding and a bit of paint...looks pretty good..
I sent some pics to Toughbook.. If I can't "figger" out how to post em... He can....

 

I went to the Kodiak site.. and downloaded the manual for the 27 & 28 mounts.. all it takes is 12v one of those pins...the others are for Ground and Ignition sense, no separate power supply needed.. and...the 4 pin Molex connector just happens to be the same connector for IDE hard drives..so you can salvage an old power supply and cut off the connector... and use it for power.

 

as far as I recall, the DC to DC converter (that steps the vehicle's 12-14VDC to the 15V that the toughbook needs) is NOT built into the mount. But then again I'm no expert on these..

 

Sorry... I wasn't being clear... Someone had welded the bezel in on that particular one... In stock form you can remove the lock by loosening the big lock nut on the back of the lock.

 

I will buy these mounts and modify them free of charge if anyone is interested. Just cover the purchase price and shipping. I own a full fab shop and doing a professional job on these would not be a problem.
Let me know if this would help you out.
Jim

 

I modified mine kinda cheaply a while back. Rather than welding on a tab to fit into the CF-28 spot, I just trimmed the tabs a few inches so it clears the right spots. Doesn't move anywhere, but I suppose it could be better.

New locks were $10 at the local locksmith. I am still curious if it'll charge through the dock port though, I still haven't mounted it into the car yet. If I could find a Crown vic base for cheap, I'd be in business, but I don't want to fork over a fortune on it because I'll sell the car in the spring when I move...

The hearse however, I've got all the tubing and plates to weld into it.

 

You only need the 15 volts to charge the battery...the 12 volts will be enough to run the computer.....

 

Hey Modly. I think I can get you a crown vic police console for free if you want me to check. My friend works at a large Ford dealer and they handle all the city police vehicle installations and removal of instruments. They usually throw out the used equipment and put new in the new cars they get. Thats a way to spend taxpayers money I guess. I will call him tomorrow about that and see what he can do.

 

That would be great! Thanks man!

 

Speeddemon... If you can find two that would be great! (If they are throwing them away...)

Modly... Was it the exact type lock? (Barrel key I think they call them.)

 

The lock was an ACE II style lock in mine (Which is a kodiak). I took the old lock out and down to the locksmith, handed it to him, and he looked in a drawer for about 20 seconds, and bam, I had a new lock. I was a bit angry at myself that I even threw 3 quarters into the parking meter for a 3 minute store run

To remove and install the lock, I took it to work and used some very thin wall sockets (15/16" I believe).

 

Yeah... I took out my lock with a very long nose set of needle nose pliers. The guy who gave me mine gave me the key code... He just couldn't find any key blanks to get them cut.

I've got some errands to run today... I'll find the local locksmith and pick up a lock. I've been keeping it in my console in the truck.

 

It's a 7/8.. if you bend the lower lip out a tad.. you can get the socket on it...

 

Ok. Modly and Toughbook, I called my friend today and asked him about the consoles for the crown vics. He said that they are due to receive in 20 cars in two weeks. When they do he will check with his boss to make sure he can take two of them and if all goes well I should have them shortly after that. I honestly don't know why they do that either, as far as getting rid of "used" equipment, but they do. I have been there and watched them throw away lots more than that. They even send the cars that are junk to the junk yard with cages and lights still on the cars. Strange way they do things. I will keep you posted on the progress.

 

I'm surprised they do that too.. Cab companies often pay top dollar for cop car equipment! I'll bet the junkyard owner is a pretty happy guy

 

Just let me know what you need.....

 

This is Really Good News to me! I don't have a battery, don't need one for the forseeable future. All my CF-28 use will be tethered to AC power, or tethered to DC in a vehicle. I have been using a brand X cigarette lighter adapter, that will up it to 15 volts. For my supposed trunk monkey/dedicated wardriver project (perhaps a CF-27), it would be great to just be able to wire it directly in (fused, of course).

I think the original specs also called for 3.85 amps. Does anyone have any idea on how low on amperage we could go, and safely use them on 12vdc if we will never be charging a battery?

 

I'd always have use a battery just in case the power dropped off on your "permanent" source.

 

If I have it wired into a vehicle, mounted in a trunk and I lose 12vdc, I'll have worse things to worry about than losing my wardriving!

On the 3.85 amps, I was thinking of the mountains of 12vdc wall warts I have lying around here.

 

Toughbooks are very forgiving on the input voltage, I never had any trouble with powering and charging a CF-28 with 12 volts but that was a 600mhz unit, your mileage may vary on the higher end CF-28's.

 

We're getting off topic here a little. There is another battery thread going on already. We should keep this one limited to wireless option as the thread title suggests. It makes searching a lot easier. If you want I can separate the posts... It's up to you guys...

Thanks guys.