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Is anyone using an external gps with their X7501?
My internal seems so hit or miss - works sometimes, then not at all. And usually slow to acquire a position.
I would be using a Garmin RINO gps as the external receiver and haven't found a male mini B to male mini B USB cable yet to connect them.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
Ron
ron-powell said:
Is anyone using an external gps with their X7501?
My internal seems so hit or miss - works sometimes, then not at all. And usually slow to acquire a position.
I would be using a Garmin RINO gps as the external receiver and haven't found a male mini B to male mini B USB cable yet to connect them.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
Ron
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well can't help with cable but would think the 4 in 1 would let you
access USB port,I use a BT332 receiver with 7501 occasionally and it works
well,possibly a bluetooth off Ebay would be simpler.
I've been thinking of doing the same with a USB GPS I have which I know is extremely sensitive, and fast. I just don't have a 4-in-1 to test. I would leave it in the car for road trips and use the internal (and pray) when on foot.
If it helps, you aren't the only one. Many people have had problems. One person opened his up and claims that messing with the internal antenna fixed his problem, so it might be a manufacturing issue. Others have tried various ports and baud speeds and found solutions that way.
OK, I bought the 4 in 1 cable.
I tried a program called "VisualGPSce" to see if the receiver was passing on a position. I tried selecting any/all of the various serial ports available in the program, but none were getting any information from the receiver.
The Garmin interface is set to NMEA.
Any ideas?
Did you set up the port in the Connections > External GPS?
techntrek Did you set up the port in the Connections > External GPS?
I finally got around to playing with the ports but was never able to figure out which port the 4 in 1 cable USB was supposed to be.
I also thought I might have a bad cable since it would not "see" a brand-x thumb drive. Plugged in a friend's Kingston drive and it was immediately recognized. (learned all this from another thread here)
Last night the internal GPS was working but I had to remove the 7501 from the metal case. Perhaps this is part of the intermittent reception problems, although if I remove the device from the case, acquire a position and then put it back in the case, signal strength drops but it will still provide position data. That case has saved my bacon a couple of times, having dropped the device from desktop height twice. No damage whatsoever to the unit.
Anyone have any idea where the GPS antenna is in the 7501 case (edge?) I could modify the metal case somewhat to give it a clearer field of view and go back to working the internal GPS.
On the back of the 7501 there are 2 small rubber pop outs.
One of those is connection for an external gps antenna,
it's located closest to the camera lens.
http://member.america.htc.com/downl...vantage X7501/HTC_Advantage7501_Manual_US.pdf
If you look around the net you can find the Athena service manuals, which may describe where the antennas are. Only from memory, I believe the person that opened his up and played with the internal antenna said it was along the top near where the antenna ports are (which makes sense since antenna ports usually plug in at the base of internal antennas).
Keep in mind those antenna ports are for external antennas, and not external GPS receivers. As you look at the back, the one on the left is for cellular, the one on the right is for GPS.
I guess it's again not necessary to allow for a clear view of the sky for the internal GPS antenna because it stopped working again. No amount of settings tweaks have gotten it going again.
I'm still interested to see if an external GPS receiver will provide position data for loaded software, but when I connect the Garmin RINO to the 4in1 cable, the Advantage asks for a "driver name" for the receiver. I doubt Garmin has such a thing.
I looked for a generically named driver in the /windows folder onboard and was unable to ID anything.
USE G1 As External GPS On Laptop - Can This Be Done
The reason why I am asking this is cause I am building A Car PC.
I can use the G1 as A Wifi Connection Surf The Net With Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc....
But It would be great to use with MS Streets Of Garmin PC, etc... with the Dreams GPS
If this has not been done yet it would be great if some one could (Must Likely a Developer) make a program that can do this
Thanks In Advance
And I Also Already Did This SEARCH FOR USE G1 As External GPS
im pretty sure this has been covered b4 but im not 100% and the answer then was no( i personaly dont know but i remember seeing a bunch of people saying no) well hopefully thats helps a lil..
maybe the dream uses a comport to communicate with the gps reciever, if that is true you may be able to redirect this to a bluetooth-comport
It may be possible, but I really don't think it would be worth the tremendous effort, considering GPS dongles can be had for less than 20 a pop.
I think it would be awesome to do since it's one less piece of equipment to carry around.
All it would take would be:
A program to take reading of the GPS info.
Convert it to the proper format (emulating a GPS dongle which isn't hard.)
There already are various programs that can send data to the PC. Use one of their code.
Have a program on the PC to translate it all into a virtual com port.
But then... I'm not a programmer. And the way I discribe it would be more like a hack than a proper program. But I don't believe the android API's allow you to control the way that the USB or the Bluetooth is identified by a computer.
It can be done but I don't think android naively supports the serial port profile over bluetooth which you would need to accomplish this. Once you figure that out all you need is to get your phone to spit out NMEA location data over that connection and your laptop will see it as a Generic GPS device.
phin1ght said:
It may be possible, but I really don't think it would be worth the tremendous effort, considering GPS dongles can be had for less than 20 a pop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, and if you're building a CarPC, a small GPS dongel - that can be placed in good line-of-sight - is the better option anyway.
-bZj
I would prefer connection over internet or WiFi as it won't be easy to provide sky view to an laptop or pc so any user may place his laptop or pc at an place, get near an window for sky view to his android phone, then the data would be transferred to pc via internet or WiFi connection instead of connecting usb chord each time...
There are already apps like printer share which uses the phones internet connection for printing, also the upcomming app teradesk that lets an user to get files from his pc even when we are far from our pc,.....
Both apps use a server and client method for data transfer... so hope this would be possible...
I got extremely lucky today when I walked into a local CanadaComputers and they happen to have two 32GB TF101 in stock after the rest of their shipment sold out the day before.
I want to build a nice mount and put it somewhere on the dash. Has anyone thought about such a project?
Hiding the cables won't be an issue. I'm going to mount a 300W A/C inverter inside the centre console and cut a piece out the back (facing the back seats) and put a small plastic or metal grate for air flow (the fan exhaust on the inverter unit will face the grate).
Will run two USB cables through the transmission box and through the dash to where the mount will be installed. One for my Captivate and the other for the tablet. The Aux port is also in the centre console for music and video purposes.
To my understanding the tablet requires a 5V/1.2A source to charge with the tablet sleeping. To use the tablet while charging, 15V/2A is required? I'm not 100% sure. There is a 12V DC port in the centre console that is only active while the vehicle is running. The tablet can charge while the vehicle is running and run on battery power (sleeping) while the vehicle is off.
Internet connectivity will be tethered from my Captivate via Mobile AP. It works *decent* but for apps that require a consistent connection often disconnect between coverage sites. I hope LTE fixes this problem.
There are some limitations but I think I work around them. Such as Always On. When I'm running Google Maps on the tablet it will still sleep. I want it on at 100% brightness while the car is on and I want it to sleep while the car is off. Kind of like how Windows 7 has power profiles - one when A/C is connected and one for battery power.
I also want the tablet to automatically connect to the Captivate when in range. Does the tablet search for Wifi connections even while sleeping? By the time I open the car door; I want the weather widget and my Gmail to be updated. I want Maps working with a data connection. Everything automated.
Voice is also a HUGE bonus with this setup. I tested it today - works very, very well. My only quibble is the voice input button on the home screen is so tiny. I need a widget with a nice big voice input button so I don't have to turn my head off the road to look at the screen.
Oh and the reason why I don't want a 3G model of the tablet is because when LTE goes live in Canada it's promising up to 150 Mb/s downlink. I don't want to be limited by the tablet's radio. 802.11n supports ~300 mbit. When I upgrade my Captivate to a new LTE phone (probably around Xmas 2011) I can tether to the tablet with the higher speeds without a hitch! 3G is so 2010.
I'm so hyped this is gonna be AWESOME when it's done.
Give me ideas!
Of course you buy a Garmin GPS that is more accurate, and has weather, traffic, gas prices, car mount, etc and works when there is no Wifi signal for $200.
jerrykur said:
Of course you buy a Garmin GPS that has weather, traffic, gas prices, car mount, etc and works when there is no Wifi signal for $200.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but does it have a 10 inch IPS touch display with a tegra 2 and USB host? + internal storage for movies of course.
jerrykur said:
Of course you buy a Garmin GPS that has weather, traffic, gas prices, car mount, etc and works when there is no Wifi signal for $200.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Small screen, can't watch movies, no browser, no email, no music...
flak4 said:
Small screen, can't watch movies, no browser, no email, no music...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He might as well be saying "why buy a transformer if you can buy a netbook for 200"
This sounds like an awesome project, I'll look forward to seeing your updates. Tasker might be a handy app for this.
seshmaru said:
but does it have a 10 inch IPS touch display with a tegra 2 and USB host? + internal storage for movies of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they have screens you can actually see in daylight unlike a tablet.
As for the rest, if you was watching movies or using the USB host to run your coffee warmer while driving please stay away from me. Heck, if your talking on your cell phone and driving stay away from me.
flak4 said:
Small screen, can't watch movies, no browser, no email, no music...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch movies, browse web, check email, lose control, skid onto on coming traffic, kill yourself and kill others. Superb idea.
gumbi4u said:
Watch movies, browse web, check email, lose control, skid onto on coming traffic, kill yourself and kill others. Superb idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because only the driver could ever want to watch movies or browse the web. Checking your mail in the dunkin donuts parking lot is also ridiculous and dangerous and will kill everyone.
gumbi4u said:
Watch movies, browse web, check email, lose control, skid onto on coming traffic, kill yourself and kill others. Superb idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you all crapping on my thread?
I practically live out of my car because of my job. I use to do everything off of my phone and Zune. But the displays are too small. Yes this includes watching movies on my phone while waiting for some tests to complete (which can take hours). I use my phone for GPS and Google Maps (I don't use standalone GPS units). I drive long hours and spend a lot of time away from my home.
My laptop is good but is a hassle to set up. Personally I find navigating a tablet easier than navigating a laptop using the mouse pad. Using a laptop while sitting in the drivers seat is cramped, too. It's so annoying that I usually browse using my phone rather than my laptop.
The tablet can potentially replace the need for a Zune, GPS and laptop (for browsing, email and multimedia purposes) in this scenario and its functionality and performance will only improve over time.
You're telling me this isn't a sweet idea?
I was hoping to get some more thoughtful responses. If anyone has any answers for my initial post - regarding the AC requirements for the tablet - and how I can automate tethering, please share.
flak4 said:
Why are you all crapping on my thread?
I practically live out of my car because of my job. I use to do everything off of my phone and Zune. But the displays are too small. Yes this includes watching movies on my phone while waiting for some tests to complete (which can take hours). I use my phone for GPS and Google Maps (I don't use standalone GPS units). I drive long hours and spend a lot of time away from my home.
My laptop is good but is a hassle to set up. Personally I find navigating a tablet easier than navigating a laptop using the mouse pad. Using a laptop while sitting in the drivers seat is cramped, too. It's so annoying that I usually browse using my phone rather than my laptop.
The tablet can potentially replace the need for a Zune, GPS and laptop (for browsing, email and multimedia purposes) in this scenario and its functionality and performance will only improve over time.
You're telling me this isn't a sweet idea?
I was hoping to get some more thoughtful responses. If anyone has any answers for my initial post - regarding the AC requirements for the tablet - and how I can automate tethering, please share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have wifi set to on at all times and the network is remembered, it will auto connect when in range. Regarding the power, you'll need 2A 15v to charge it while it's awake. The USB cable supplied however doesn't deliver enough power and can't be used with a car adaptor for USB, you'll need to have a converter to use the wall charger for the tab.
Not sure about the other things though.
Take a look at thsi Youtube video below. The day the Ipad 2 was released, this guy mounted one in the dash of a new F150. Custom fiberglass/bondo work to rebuild the console to allow the docking directly in the dash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jr3_zLHTbY
Tablet mounted into dashboard = sexy
Not legal in some US states, I have no idea about Canada.
flak4 said:
I got extremely lucky today when I walked into a local CanadaComputers and they happen to have two 32GB TF101 in stock after the rest of their shipment sold out the day before.
I want to build a nice mount and put it somewhere on the dash. Has anyone thought about such a project?
Hiding the cables won't be an issue. I'm going to mount a 300W A/C inverter inside the centre console and cut a piece out the back (facing the back seats) and put a small plastic or metal grate for air flow (the fan exhaust on the inverter unit will face the grate).
Will run two USB cables through the transmission box and through the dash to where the mount will be installed. One for my Captivate and the other for the tablet. The Aux port is also in the centre console for music and video purposes.
To my understanding the tablet requires a 5V/1.2A source to charge with the tablet sleeping. To use the tablet while charging, 15V/2A is required? I'm not 100% sure. There is a 12V DC port in the centre console that is only active while the vehicle is running. The tablet can charge while the vehicle is running and run on battery power (sleeping) while the vehicle is off.
Internet connectivity will be tethered from my Captivate via Mobile AP. It works *decent* but for apps that require a consistent connection often disconnect between coverage sites. I hope LTE fixes this problem.
There are some limitations but I think I work around them. Such as Always On. When I'm running Google Maps on the tablet it will still sleep. I want it on at 100% brightness while the car is on and I want it to sleep while the car is off. Kind of like how Windows 7 has power profiles - one when A/C is connected and one for battery power.
I also want the tablet to automatically connect to the Captivate when in range. Does the tablet search for Wifi connections even while sleeping? By the time I open the car door; I want the weather widget and my Gmail to be updated. I want Maps working with a data connection. Everything automated.
Voice is also a HUGE bonus with this setup. I tested it today - works very, very well. My only quibble is the voice input button on the home screen is so tiny. I need a widget with a nice big voice input button so I don't have to turn my head off the road to look at the screen.
Oh and the reason why I don't want a 3G model of the tablet is because when LTE goes live in Canada it's promising up to 150 Mb/s downlink. I don't want to be limited by the tablet's radio. 802.11n supports ~300 mbit. When I upgrade my Captivate to a new LTE phone (probably around Xmas 2011) I can tether to the tablet with the higher speeds without a hitch! 3G is so 2010.
I'm so hyped this is gonna be AWESOME when it's done.
Give me ideas!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you mount it on your dash? Want it flying in your face in an accident? Get a 99 bucks gps.
nxp3 said:
Why would you mount it on your dash? Want it flying in your face in an accident? Get a 99 bucks gps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess some people don't read threads. Idiot.
Some people just have to come and **** on everyone's great ideas and dreams. Personally it sounds to me like this can make your life easier, and more awesome. Post some pics as soon as you have them!
I have the same project in works, I am using a Pro Clip and pad tap to accomblish it in my 2007 bmw 3 series. I have both the parts ordered and in transit, will mount this saturday and share pictures if u are intereted. The tethering would be done with my HTC evo using the sprint 4G network and to avoid the wires mess will be using blackberry bluetooth gateway to connect to car stereo.
Gonnaaa be shiccccckkkk.
You don't need Wi-Fi to get GPS to work like some idiots are saying, only if you rely on Google Maps. Even if you want to use Google Maps, you can tether up the Transformer with your phone.
I mounted the TF to my vents, shot a video few days ago
Please be gentle with me, it's my first time, etc etc...
I have a tandem bicycle, and me and the g/f often go off on longish daytrips. It is in the design of most tandems that the shorter person has to go on the back. This means that they can see nothing forwards at all. As she does the navigating this means I have to keep up a constant commentary of what junctions and landmarks are coming towards us while she tries to tally that with the OS map.
I have a pair of HD2s and an old Touch HD with plenty of spare batteries, car holders etc.
I would love to find a way to use a remote camera on the front of the tandem and let her use one of the HD2s as the screen, especially as it has CoPilot live on it which would make the navigation much easier. (I know I said rear view in the title, but I suspect fewer people would look at the thread if I tried to put what I really want up there, and it's no different really.)
I understand that the 'phone's usb ports don't have the required hardware / software to allow me to plug a usb webcam into them.
I suspect that the way forward is to use one HD2 on the front as a bluetooth camera and give her the other as the display, but I doubt that this will be easy, and it will use way more power than a hardwired system which is an issue on a 'bicycle. It already weighs 1/5 tonne with the two of us and some touring gear, so adding a big central power supply would be a shame but is probably inevitable.
There was a brief thread on this on XDA dev in about 2005:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=243337&styleid=15
but it never went anywhere and will now be completely out of date.
Hopefully someone can help or point me in the right direction. Sadly I have no coding skills at all, so it needs to be off the shelf h/w or s/w...
Thanks for reading
ed.
wow...thats one big project you are thinking off...ok, all things cut short, your best bet will be a Bluetooth camera or a wi-fi camera/webcam. for the former, it can be done, but there arent custom drivers that you can just download to support it. even Bluetooth keyboards only recently started working with the HD2. However, what you can do, that will definitely work is a wi-fi based camera. im sure you are familiar with these. these camera have their own IP address and transmit the feed live via a wireless connection. from my experience, it works quite well, but it really depends on the gear you are using. if you are using a good wifi camera(im not familiar with the brands,but obviously the mid ranged ones will be considered good. If you cant find standalone cams, then buy a small wifi surveillance cam), then there will be a stable and lag free transmission. However, to get smooth feed, you need a good network connection. It will be best if you have a fast data or broadband connection on your phone. 3-4MBPS+ will be fine. Then of course, u need to enable your phone as a modem to connect to the camera. I have tried wifi cameras using a wi-fi connection, both on my PC and my HD2. It works smoothly. The cameras were fixed on R/C helicopters and worked at a range of 20m from the modem. Then again, i really have no idea how well it will work for your case. It should be ok, but not sure about 'good'. You can try!
Alternatively, a more compact method will be to disassemble your HD2 right down to the camera and remove the lens cover. Then, disconnect the actual camera from the phone. Get the correct ribbon cable from your local store. I do not know the specifications of the particular cable, but you try going to a smartphone repair shop that sells replacement cameras for the HD2 and take a look at the ribbon cable. Then, you can search for longer ones or manually solder low resistance jumper wires from the connections(there a alot of connections mind you). If you want to do this, please get info on proper disassembly instructions and do alot of research!.
i really admire your endeavor and although it may be hard, best of luck to you and hope you succeed, should you undertake this. Nevertheless, just some small advice...If you are also considering about the budget factor, i think it could be equally expensive or cheap to buy a purpose built remote camera which can connect to a screen.
-cheers
A wi-fi camera on a helmet would give flexibility as to what you were able to view ie could move head to point camera in the direction that one wanted to view
Good luck
Thankyou both!
Sorry I've been a bit slow replying, home internet connection has been intermittent for a week or so...
Kawshigan, can you clarify something for me, when you talk about "fast data or broadband connection on your phone. 3-4MBPS+" are you saying that I should be sending the data via the cellular network? If so that is not going to happen. I don't know where you live but here in Canterbury, a small city in the most populated part of the UK about 50 miles from London, 3G is a dream. There is a 3G service of course, but it is so weak that it is unusable even in the town centre, so trying to use it away from the town for my project will be impossible (and would be very very expensive as we get only 500MB / month here cheaply.)
If you mean forming a wifi connection between the two phones, which I suspect IS what you mean, then surely the speed of the connection is whatever hardware can do, allowing for distance which is about 3' in this case.
I agree that a ready-made system should be a similar price but they do not seem to exist. There is something in the US but it is very expensive ($600?) and is intended more for recording accidents really. certainly it has no nav function. I'm too new here to post links but if you Google on "cerevllum.com" you'll see it, beautiful, expensive & only half the tool I need.
It seems such an obvious thing to do with a smartphone (the rear view camera I mean) as mirrors on bicycles don't work well, and most of the components seem to exist, it just needs someone to tie them together.
I suspect that putting an external camera on my Touch HD is beyond me. My soldering skills are ok, but surface mount stuff is beyond me, not least because I'm 45 years old and my eyesight isn't up to it anymore...
But then again, even as I type this I realise what you actually mean, is to mount the HD2's own camera remotely at the front of the bike and run a long ribbon cable to the rear handlebars. Now THAT is a GOOD idea. Probably I'd start with the Touch HD as my HD2 is still my everyday 'phone and I hope to keep it that way for ever. When I get some time I'll pull the Touch apart and see if it is possible. How long could the cable be before s/n & voltage drop problems etc became too much, I wonder?
The helmet cam doesn't really work as the problem is not so much positioning a camera, (I can do that on the handlebars) but how to get an instant display of what the noggin-cam is seeing onto the screen of a smart phone? The problem with the helmet cam is that I think the viewer would have the same problem that you get watching YouTube videos where the camera is bouncing around and rarely pointing in the right place all the time. The Tandem has good suspension at both ends so it would be ok on the 'bars I think. ( Google on "VCA 2010 Race" for an amazing video that shows this problem a little, and no, we don't do that on the Tandem...)
So when you remoted the CMOS sensor...
Did you end up giving the "extra long ribbon cable" idea a try and if so how did it work (or not. Interested in how it came out.
Ok, so I've been trawling the threads for hours and the time has come to make my first post on this..
Here's what I really want to do, and whether or not, as I understand, I can do it:
Nexus 7 in dash, 3G model - fine, been done loads of times
250GB USB HDD, connected via USB OTG, containing my music library - possibly, depends on my hard drive? Will it work if I can provide a secondary source of power to the HDD (my caddy allows this)
Charge the N7 at the same time - again possibly, with CM10 and kernel mod? Also new to Android so shooting in the dark a bit here.
OPTIONAL/BACKUP IDEAS:
Wi-Fi drive of some sort - If it works then maybe, seems like an extreme option though for a car install.
Google Music and stream my entire collection (I have 15GB monthly data sim that I can use in the N7) - will work but not ideal for me. I have a lot of lossless music which I won't be able to take advantage of this way. Which brings me on to...
USB DAC through OTG cable - possible I know, but to do this on top of the other stuff is gonna be difficult and unreliable? Can live with just the headphone jack output for the time being, unless:
Utilise the pogo pins for a line out and charging - would be a nice solution in the car but again, possible?
It would be fantastic if someone could tie this all together simply for me somehow, or if anyone has any far better ideas for what I'm trying to do :good:
Also feel free to ridicule my noob-ness
Cheers