XTRAC 2 GPS receiver for PDA CF slot

[LJM]

Help !! recently bought a new Dell Axim x50v. Installed TOMTOM - so far so good. Bought from Ebay following item -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5148640151&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

which is a Xtrac 2 Compact Flash GPS. Initially it worked but the time to aqire a position was very long, it then gave up on getting a consistent lock altogether. I am not sure on the settings that I should use - i.e. what type of GPS should I set tomtom to use. I have looked on the web for driver, help etc from the manufacturer but could find none ! The ebay retailer is not much use either. Sorry for the multiple questions but ;
Has anyone seen these GPS units and do they work ?
Does anyone have any experiance of how to set them up
TomTom web site implies a lack of support for CF cards, is this reallt the case.

Any help greatfully recieved.

Thanks
LJM

[DavidW]

Unfortunately you've found one of the hazards of buying from eBay - limited support from the seller and probably little to no manufacturer support. You may have a device with no warranty at all and you've not saved that much over buying retail.

CompactFlash GPSes work well with TomTom software; my older iPAQ h3970 based setup uses a Haicom HI-303MMF GPS in CompactFlash mode.


The correct setting in TomTom GPS is dependent on how the GPS is configured, but it's almost certainly "TomTom Navigator GPS" (which is the right setting for a SiRF based GPS in NMEA mode at 4800bps) on whatever port the CompactFlash hardware is - often they appear as something like CF_CARD_GENERIC.


If the setup is unreliable, it may be that there's a problem with RF noise from the Axim affecting the GPS receiver - which could be excessive RF noise radiated from the Axim or poor immunity in the GPS receiver (I'd suspect the GPS receiver if it's an EMC issue - Dell are normally fairly good on EMC design, whereas the GPS is apparently unbranded). My HI-303MMF is fine in my iPAQ h3970 setup - but if I put it in a cheap Taiwanese laptop I had access to at one point, it was hopeless. Indeed, if I brought the GPS in the iPAQ near the laptop when laptop was switched on, the GPS reception would nose-dive and often I'd lose my position fix.

The same problems are not shared by my Dell Latitude D600 - the Haicom HI-303MMF works perfectly in the Dell's PC Card slot.


It may be something less complicated than that - a faulty example of an otherwise good GPS receiver.



David

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