Help! Just got my Gobi card in...pile of parts

I just ordered in a Gobi modem for my CF-30 and I ended up getting a bag of parts. Does anyone have a break down of this part so I can figure out how to put it together correctly?

 

My first thought is to say that they only go together one way. This is not something that can be explained over the Internet I'm afraid. You can perhas find other pictures that have been posted here in reference to the WWAN to give you some idea.

Also... Sometimes there are parts that are shipped to address every type of installation so you may not need all parts. You should use all the screws and larger plastic insulators I would think.

 

That part goes here, this one goes there... j/k. If your 30 never had a sled before, I would say your are going to be missing some parts. I don't see the cn18 cable there.

In short though, the small PCB gets mounted to the sled first, then the big one over that. You have a 12c cable that connects the two. The stickies are used under the small PCB, and then again on top of the larger one to protect them from touching the laptop and the battery that will slide on top of the sled. The antenna cables and rest should be fairly self-explanatory at that point.

And you are also missing the sides and end-piece of the sled brackets. Is that all you got? And did your 30 have a sled before?

 

My second CF-30 is coming in tomorrow and it already has a WWAN AT&T card in it. I was planning on seeing how the other one is put together. I figured out how the main pieces go together, but there are several bumper pads of various sizes, protective stickers (know how the bigger ones go) and what looks like a small piece of ducktape. There were two wires in the box. One of them is a long thin wire with identical fittings and a second one that is a little different.
I'll take a better picture with all the parts and post it up here in a few. Thank you again for any help you might have. Also a good post for anyone ordering in a Gobi card and will be in the same boat as me.
There's a spot for a Sim card...heard even Verizon will have a Sim card for these type of modem.

 

That setup looks to be the exact same as a REV.A sled the only difference being the actual gobi modem.

Take a look at your HSDPA card it should be pretty much the same setup there too. It looks as if all the parts will be needed. This is only the sled and nothing to do with the actual toughbook.

Also the new ATT card should be the same as well. I know where almost all the parts go. A couple bumpers i might not know but the rest is fairly simple. It would be hard for me to explain to you since i do not have it in front of me but if you cant do it i will try to make a step by step the best i can.

You should get enough of an idea using one of your other sleds.

Also here are a couple pics of a REV.A sled which will be pretty much the same setup you have:

http://www.robsnetworks.com/toughbook/CF-30 WWAN Pictures (Sprint revA)/

-James

 

Here are some more pictures of the sled and parts. Again, I know how most of it will go together even before I have compared it to the other one.
I'm also wondering if I could have just put the Gobi modem into the old HSPDA sled without any issues.

 

Forgot to post the pics. Here they are.

 

I bet the card will work in the older SLED but know one here i know of has gobi but you. So none of us have tried.

-James

 

Zippy-Man,
Does your Sprint EVDO Rev. A card have a spot for a Sim card? If it does not, than maybe they are using the same Sled as the HSDPA for all the Gobi cards for use with sim cards on all the networks. I'm going to call Verizon to see how I get a Verizon Sim.

 

No my sled does not have a sim card spot as the sprint does not use a sim card. So yes your right that is why they are probably using the HSDPA boards to make sure the sim is on there.

I know verizon has sim cards you just have to ask them for it.

I have to look at my cf-19 as i am not sure if it has a sim slot or not. I am using sprint on there but the CF-19's all come wireless ready so it may have a sim slot. I know that it is supposed to be in the back port where the sound is but i just have a metal cover plate there.


-James

 

I'll post pics comparing the two of them side by side tomorrow. Again, thanks for all the help so far.

 

The cover plate is there even when there is a functional SIM card reader built in. According to my HSDPA-manual it prevents the SIM card from popping out during a fall, so they recommend screwing it back on after inserting the card. You may want to check, maybe it's there on yours as well.

Björn

 

Just got off the phone with Verizon and found out that Verizon Sim cards do not exist and are not needed with this card. While it did not have an ESN sticker like other WWAN cards I've had, they were able to look it up by the MEID number. They told me that there will be no problem activating the card and the REV A drives on the Verizon website will work just fine. I also have most of the card put together except for a couple foam bumpers I'm going to copy off of the HSDPA card when I get it in tomorrow. I'll also take some very detailed pics of both cards side by side to see if they look about the same as far as the sleds go. Would be pretty cool if you could take an existing HSDPA sled and drop in a Gobi modem without having to pick up another sled.
Again, thank you for all the help and I hope this is useful to anyone thinking about getting the new Gobi card for their Toughbook.

 

Ok, I have never tried this before, so please tell me if my link works. See if you can open this

 

Doobi,
I tried to open in both Adobe Reader and PhotoShop but both said the file was broken. Can you repost?

 

Ya, I have been trying it different ways. Don't know what I am doing wrong. I can open it no problem from my PC, but not after I post it. Any ideas?

 

I may just have to email it to Rob and have him host it on his server and provide a link to it there.

 

No verizon sim card? Wow i swear i knew someone that got a verizon sim card before. Maybe i am mistaken. Sorry bout that. I thought for sure they would use a sim card.

-James

 

Zippy-Man,
I thought so too on the sim card...I'm not complaining since it's one less thing that can go wrong with my system.

Doobi,
Very interested in seeing what you've made up for instructions. Please let me know when it's posted.

Thank you everyone for the help on this!

 

Just emailed the PDF to Rob, provided he can open it fine, it should be posted soon.

 

Here ya go Paul...: http://www.robsnetworks.com/toughbook/NR Contributing Members/Doobi/

If you were trying to connect to my FTP, you won't be able to as I don't have ANYTHING (other than port 80 of coarse) open... So I woulda deleted your account that's all...

BTW somehow I got your email twice :-/

Thanks

 

Verizon = No SIM...

Joe... When you get the other one tomorrow it will explain A LOT! Even though it may be different... It will be alike enough for you to build it as 98% of the parts will be the same... Just different modem. So you'll see where it all goes.

What software will you run to make it all work. I think I have all Panasonic Software for wireless... But just for Cingular, Verizon and Sprint as memory serves....

 

BAM: http://vzw.smithmicro.com/download/download.aspx = Verizon software... just select integrated modem

It even gives an option for Panasonic Toughbook

 

Hmmmm... After reading up on Gobi... You MAY need a SIM card depending on which carrier you are using at the time... Or which one you plan to call your main carrier....

 

Thanks again Rob, and no wasn't trying to FTP to you; I was simply trying to upload the file in a post using the attachment option. It would upload and post, but when trying to open it, it would come back as broken. Thanks for the hosting! You are awesome!

 

Also I downloaded the VZAccess software and put it on my server :

http://www.robsnetworks.com/toughbook/VZAccess Manager/

 

I just tried to open the instructions and it keep crashing my Adobe Reader 7...anyone have any ideas?

 

Try right click "save target as"


Alex

 

What this guy said ... or upgrade to the newest version of Adobe Reader (that's what I would do )

Paul I should also mention that you did AN EXCELLENT job on the document!! GOOD WORK MAN!

 

Thanks Rob. As I said, it was my first attempt at a write-up, so hopefully it is helpful!

 

Doobi,
The link is defective, it won't open in Acrobat 9, that's acrobat, not reader!
CAP

 

What do you mean?? I am able to open it through my browser fine (Firefox 3.0.6)... from my web server...

 

I can open it from Rob's server just fine on two different laptops, and a PC. I'm afraid I am clueless then as to why you are having trouble.

Did you try it from my post, or from Robs post linking a file from his server?

 

Fixed my link to match the link on Rob's post to his server. Let me know if it works now...

And so you don't have to scroll for it again, here it is

 

Opens like a charm now! Nice job on the pix Paul. Files just seem to get damaged every now and again, when you ship them around. Gnarly electrons I guess.
CAP

 

I think our friendly dragon was hungry....

*KNOCK IT OFF MNEM**

 

Or the routers like to eat the packets ... since their are no electrons involved

 

Just got done putting the new card together. Very easy since the Gobi sled and the AT&T sleds are identical in every way. I'll post pictures in a few but all the board markings are the same that I could see as well.

 

Herding electrons is a dangerous business... they're gregarious little critters, and when enough of them get together... ZZZZZZAAAAAAAAP!

They CAN be managed though, since they are generally pretty lazy and will always follow the path of least resistance. Just make sure YOU aren't part of that path.

mnem
No electrons were harmed in the creation of this post - A great many WERE terribly inconvenienced, however.

 

Rob,
If no electrons are involved, inconvenienced, herded, gregarious, or harmed in the transmission of messages on the internet then we are all wasting a lot of money on batteries and power supplies.
CAP

 

Well if you look at it that way, sure! lol... You need electricity to run the devices

*Rob sulks away*

 

Dewed... the signal itself is electrical flow too, ya know. Just because it's modulated 5V doesn't mean electrons don't flow from one end of the nation to the other to make this post happen; then from that end of the nation to you so you can see the digitally generated photonic representation of those electrons on your computer screen. When you look at it that way, I'm personally astounded it works at all. And yes, I know that part of the trip is made as modulated radio waves and/or light... that just makes it all the MORE neato-keeno as far as I'm concerned.

mnem
C'mon... show your electrons some LO-O-OVE!

 

*faints from watching all the electrons flow*

 

I gotta ask have you figured out the GPS yet? I want to know how this thing is doing GPS if it has no extra antenna for it.

I wonder if the reception on it is any good?

-James

 

I'll be getting the laptop to put it into tomorrow. First CF30 MK2 I got in had to go back due to some issues the seller did not tell me about. I'll let you know.

 

Don't know much about the GOBI card, so unless it somehow has an integrated GPS engine, his sled setup does not include GPS.

 

Ya Gobi has GPS internal. If you notice on the toughbook configuration webpage they now list gobi and then under the other options you can no longer select GPS as an add on.

-James

 

Talked to Panasonic and the Gobi unit they use does not have built in GPS. Doing a little more research, there is a Gobi unit that is a combo card, but Panasonic does not use it. I could see the compatibility issues if you were to put a combo Gobi card into a unit that already had the factory GPS...could cause conflict problems. Also, using a sled that looks just like the HSPDA sled makes sense on a number of different levels for Panasonic.

 

Gobi card works great and very easy to install once the proper driver pack was downloaded from Panasonic website.
Card cost me $255 plus shipping from Heartland and supports Rev A and newer network types that have not been released yet. If you're looking for a WWAN card for your wireless ready CF-30 (maybe the CF-29), this is the way to go.

 

Joe... That price... Was it for the whole card setup or just for the modem. The reason I ask is that a lot of us have AT&T or Verizon already in our CF-30s.... I would think that if we could swap just the modem then it may be less expensive.... But Geez.. Last time I bought even a Verizon RevA WWAN modem from Heartland it was $400 each! Plus extra for the frame/sled.

Just curious is you had a breakdown. I can always email them if you don't have it handy.