Re: [NTLK] GPS Mouse Antennas for Newton (was: Hiking Newton)

From: RAParker (RAParker_at_Quadzilla.NET)
Date: Fri Feb 11 2005 - 12:39:42 PST


On Friday, February 11, 2005, at 10:55 AM, John wrote:

>> You can look at the GPS antenna, RS-232 cables and the power supply
>> setup here:
>>
>> http://webpages.charter.net/quadzillanet/newtongps.jpg
>
> I'm really interested in this setup, as I have a Rand McNally "mouse"
> antenna similer to this unit that I would like to use with my Newts. It
> also has the 9-pin serial and PS/2 connector. I'd like to know where
> you
> got the other parts to connect it to the Newt, and what packages you
> used and how it was set up.
>
> Thanks!
> JR
>

My saving grace was the fact that I knew the Polstar PGM-111 had a
9-pin adapter with a USB power tap available. It was exactly what I was
looking for. The device I was looking for (for my Newton 120) had to be
a serial device with an external power supply. A more common adapter of
this type is the (hardwired) cigarette lighter type adapter. That's
what you're probably going to find for your antenna. The best thing to
do is to try and contact the manufacturer for a source of the right
kind of adapter cable.

The USB battery pack and USB flex light are available from
computergeeks.com online. Going with the USB power tap made perfect
sense for my hiking Newton and so did the USB hub. But, the USB micro
hub had to be extremely specific for my purpose. It had to be very thin
and small, with two ports on the bottom side. It needed a very short,
right-angled cable that didn't stick out a full inch. The whole gizmo
(battery & hub) had to stack (with velcro) and slide into the back
pouch of the Army camo case, allowing access to the USB ports through
the pouch opening. After considerable searching for just the right one,
I picked up this micro hub on eBay. Let me tell you, it's a perfect fit.

The other parts, the DB25 to DB9 adapater and the "Mac modem cable",
are available from most online cable distributors. I had some spare
adapters and cables lying around, so that worked out for me. I'm
actually looking to replace the cables. I would prefer black cables,
but I also saw some "one foot" lengths available that look like they
may clean up the cable spaghetti.

Also, for a cleaner setup, you can go directly from the 9pin RS-232 to
a 9pin Mac serial cable (eliminating the series of adapters). For my
hiking Newton, those series of adapters actually provided the perfect
place to magnetically attach the antenna, since the adapters hang
outside the mesh pocket (which hides the extra length of cable for the
GPS antenna).

The "packages" you were asking about, I assume you mean the Newton
software? So far, I'm playing with an extra Newton MP120 (v1.3) I own,
as a GPS Newton. It leaves me somewhat limited, as far as software.
With a little assistance from Victor, I'm hoping GPS Map v1.8.8 will be
uploaded to UNNA and then the v1.3 MP120, running the full version of
GPS Map, will be very impressive indeed. I'm currently using GPS Map
Lite 1.2.9 and GPS Monitor 1.0. I tried to load the"US Map" but it's
too big for the 2MB Flash card I have. (Sounds like I need to join the
World Wide Newton Association a get myself a free upgrade :-).
Unfortunately, the smaller "World Map for any Newton" complained that I
needed v2.0, so as of now, the GPS works but I'm mapless, until I make
my own.

Ron

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