Re: [NTLK] All of this GPS talk is making me itchy...

From: Paul Curtis (Nations One Mortgage) (MicroSSG_at_Comcast.net)
Date: Wed Apr 20 2005 - 19:09:38 PDT


Thanks Brian,

I'm pretty much resolved to find a true PCMCIA Card GPS and not a CF/SD
adapted card. I really want the antennae to be much like my Buffalo WiFi
card. I can sacrifice reception because of the speed I'll be traveling,
around 1-5 mph. If I can lock even 7 satellites, that's fine - anymore and
that's bonus. I have found some conforming units in Europe. Last summer I
found 2 such units, but didn't pull the trigger. Their price was a little
steep.

Best Regards,

Paul Curtis
Certified Mortgage Planner
BBC Group, a division of Nations One Mortgage

(517) 775-6666 Cell (Voice Mail)
(517) 579-3283 Office
(866) 263-2956 Toll-Free Office
(517) 548-9735 Facsimile
Curtis_at_BBCGroupMI.com

-----Original Message-----
From: newtontalk-bounce_at_newtontalk.net
[mailto:newtontalk-bounce_at_newtontalk.net] On Behalf Of Brian
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 9:40 PM
To: newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net
Subject: Re: [NTLK] All of this GPS talk is making me itchy...

On Wednesday, April 20, 2005, at 06:17 PM, newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net
wrote:
>
> Help me find my beloved PCMCIA GPS Card! It has to be something I can
> buy 10-20 of as well.
>

Were you looking at the digest #202? <grin> It must be getting to summer,
last time I think this got much talk was June 2004.

I'll shut up about it again soon, but:

See:
<http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=newtontalk&m=108680916800770&w=2

for a low-power, 12 channel, WAAS-capable CF card GPS.

Froogle shows the -303S for $109 to $145. Add a $14 CF to PCMCIA adapter and
you are golden.

I have the Haicom 303E and it's great. I first heard about it from a happy
lister here quite some time ago. I am not sure there's anything better
suited for inside the Newton, in functionality or cost.

Keep in mind though that for $110-350 you can get a useable external GPS
with display, easy map availability, and you can hook them to your Newton
with Adriano's new cables. Although you can make maps for GPSMap, it's not
trivial. The cheaper GPS don't do WAAS, but things like the Garmin eTrex
(original one) are 12 channel, rugged, waterproof, have built-in display,
will do route-logging, and have data ports that someone could hook a Newton
to with a couple adapters or a nice custom cable, MSRP $106 US. The CF card
thing is perfect for me but my intended use certainly isn't typical. I've
used the original eTrex both standalone, and hooked to a laptop. The cables
(extra
purchase) were serial DB-9 which means you can hook up a Newton with some
adapting.

To address your specific question, I don't know of a low-power dedicated
PCMCIA equivalent, but one could exist. I've had no problems with my
CF-PCMCIA adapter, it's just wires, no circuitry.

Based on Victor's post earlier, make sure you get something that states
support for "true NMEA0183" else you may have issues (this goes for ANY GPS,
external or internal). Some of the GPS (Trimble? I think for one brand, but
that's like 3 year old data) will support proprietary "binary" modes, but
can be switched to regular ASCII NMEA mode if you have the right software
tools from the manufacturer, so read the fine print.

HTH.

Brian

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