Bluetooth Receiver Power

SkidSolo · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 03, 2004 Posts: 2

I am looking to purchase some software for my IPAQ 3870 to allow me to use it for in car GPS. I have got the choice down to 2 option’s

TomTom 3
Navman 4410 (although I am not sure of availability of this)

Both of these utilise a Bluetooth GPS receiver.
I do however have a couple of questions and would be grateful for any assistance :

1) I have a car with a reflective screen, I do have a area that is free from the reflecting material, but this is rapidly becoming full of tag’s (Dart and M6 Toll). Can I therefore mount a Bluetooth GPS receiver in the rear screen. ?
If I do mount the receiver in the rear screen I will have to provide power to it, how will this work :
a. Do I have to supply a permanent 12V supply to the receiver ? and thus will it always be switched on and or charging thus draining the cars battery.
b. Should I supply a 12V supply that is switched on when the car is started ? If so what happens to the receiver when the car is switched on, does the receiver stay switched on and thus drain its internal battery ? I would assume that this reduces the overall life of the receiver battery if it is constantly being charged and discharged.

2) Do either of these packages provide an altitude figure ?
3) What is the map accuracy like in Europe ? I am travelling to the French Alps later this year and this is one of the main reasons for purchasing a GPS unit.

icsys · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:23 pm Post subject:

I am looking to purchase some software for my IPAQ 3870 to allow me to use it for in car GPS. I have got the choice down to 2 option’s
TomTom 3
Navman 4410 (although I am not sure of availability of this)
The 4410 should still be available however I would consider the 4420 which is the same BT receiver but with v3 software and more up-to-date maps.
1) I have a car with a reflective screen, I do have a area that is free from the reflecting material, but this is rapidly becoming full of tag’s (Dart and M6 Toll). Can I therefore mount a Bluetooth GPS receiver in the rear screen. ?
yes you can. the beauty of BT is you can place the receiver anywhere for optimim reception.
If I do mount the receiver in the rear screen I will have to provide power to it, how will this work :
a. Do I have to supply a permanent 12V supply to the receiver ? and thus will it always be switched on and or charging thus draining the cars battery.
You don't need to power it, you could use the internal battery.
I don't know about the TomTom receiver but the Navman will switch off after 2 minutes if there is no active connection .
When externally powered, in the case of TomTom it will be charging. In the case of Navman it does not charge when plugged into an external supply.
b. Should I supply a 12V supply that is switched on when the car is started ? If so what happens to the receiver when the car is switched on, does the receiver stay switched on and thus drain its internal battery ?
In both cases using external power will not drain the internal batteries. You would be better having the supply on the ign circuit, however you will need to manually switch on the receivers each time you want to use them.
I would assume that this reduces the overall life of the receiver battery if it is constantly being charged and discharged.
What you say above regarding overall life is partly relevant to internal rechargable batteries, they have an expected lifespan of around 400 charges.
The 4100 receiver (4410/4420) uses std AAA batteries (you can use rechargables if you wish though) which means they are easily replaced.

2) Do either of these packages provide an altitude figure ?
3) What is the map accuracy like in Europe ? I am travelling to the French Alps later this year and this is one of the main reasons for purchasing a GPS unit.
Neither package gives an altitude figure
Map accuracy should be better than 5 metres 95% of the time
_________________
Ian.
iPAQ 2210 | Navman 4100 BT Receiver
Navman iCN 635
TomTom GO
Anquet OS mapping

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