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Joined: Aug 18, 2004 Posts: 21 Location: Yorkshire, UK
Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:59 am Post subject: CP6 and Navman GPS sleeve
Today, I got a phone call from ALK querying the suitability of CP6 with my Navman GPS 3450 receiver. This is the one with the upgradable firmware and external aerial socket.
I was told it was not supported, but added that they had not tested their product with it. I remember reading somewhere that it works, but I would appreciate any confirmation anyone is able to give. I remember that when I configured CP5 with it, the system would recognise the sleeve automatically, but I had to manually configure the baud rate (among other things).
ALK have given me the option to cancel, but I wish to go ahead if I can be reasonably confident that it will work.
Has anyone any experience with CP6 and the Navman 3450 sleeve?
Having owned one of those sleeves about 3 years ago I would recomend upgrading to a more modern device. The latest Sirf III chip based devices leave those jackets in the dust. I realise it does not answer your question but therecomes a time when its best to bite the bullet and move on.
If you are looking for a recomendation try the HolusGPSlim 236, a cracking BT device which is small and a very solid performer can be had for £80. _________________ Regards BigH
Joined: Aug 18, 2004 Posts: 21 Location: Yorkshire, UK
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 6:07 pm Post subject:
Hello BigH
In what way does the latest Sirf III ship based devices "leave those jackets in the dust"? Getting a fix has never been a problem with the 3450 - at least not with mine. A Bluetooth device will mean I have to upgrade other items as well, such as having to store the maps on a SD card as opposed to a Compactflash one, a socket for which is provided in the jacket. There is also the question as to how (without a jacket) the PDA is able to be fixed in a position where I can see it from my driving position.
I might be sold on the idea of separate units if the GPS receiver could also receive the traffic signals from the radio (TMC). I have looked at the specifications for your Holux unit and it does not offer that sort of support.
Do this test with your sleeve, try and get sat fixes when inside your house, and when I mean inside I mean not near a window. With Sirf III I can get ~6 sat fixes without problems. With the Navman I doubt you will get any fixes. I also found that the sleeve could also loose fixes when in built up areas like central London, these modern devices do not. When it was first released the Navman jacket was comparitively good (I had one), however time and technology continues to move at a pace - it is now a bit of a dinosaur relatively speaking (no offence).
You can get wired and bluetooth GPS devices based upon sirf III, I prefer BT as it means you can put the GPS anywhere in the car (even the glove box - yes they work fine in there also!!) It means that your PDA placement can be optimised for viewing position without having to worry about line of site for your jacket (unless you use a remote antenna).
With regards to TMC, I don't know of any GPS devices that can do this as it is generally radio based - my Merc system uses the in car system to pick up TMC data, it is very useful I have to say. The Holux is one of several excelent GPS recievers based upon Sirf III, they are all pretty dam good. I just sold my Fortuna (Sirf Xtrac) which was also pretty good for £3 less than I bought the Holux, I think that is a nice upgrade!!
Some of the PDA based solutions use GPRS via your mobile to get traffic data (normally subscription) which means that life is slowly getting easier.
On the upgrade front I personally upgrade software and hardware every 12 months (or sooner if I spot a bargain) this way I can sell on my existing stuff as it is still very saleable, this minimises the pain of upgrading whilst giving access to the latest technology which by and large gives better performance and features. Memory upgrades these days are getting faster and cheaper (like everything else) - I just bought a hi speed 2GB sd for £70, this gives space for maps galore and a lot more besides.
I buy this stuff for the fun of it sometimes as I enjoy gadgets, it also provides a backup if I'm in my wifes car or when using a hire car.
You pays your money and takes your chance!! _________________ Regards BigH
Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 133 Location: Ambler, PA USA
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 11:57 pm Post subject: Re: CP6 and Navman GPS sleeve
TrevorFowler wrote:
Has anyone any experience with CP6 and the Navman 3450 sleeve?
Thanks
Trevor
I am still using the predecessor of the Navman 3450 sleeve. I call it the 3400 though it has no ID on it except the CoPilot part number 2-2-A-15-0013. Mine has no external antenna socket.
ALK did not say clearly at the time I moved to V6 that the sleeve would still be supported. But now the US website says that V6 supports any unit you ever bought from ALK.
It works fine. True, I cannot navigate indoors but that hasn't been much of a limitation for me. Seriously, its reception is poor in comparison to what's out there now. But it gets me to where I need to go, rather reliably.
Furthermore, I have mounting solutions for car and motorcycle that are based on the dovetail or button on the back of this old unit. So it is very convenient to go on using it as is.
And I retain the advantage of taking the combined unit from vehicle to vehicle. And I have the available CF slot in the Navman (which I don't use though).
I will eventually get a BT receiver when the sleeve quits. I will connect it to vehicle battery power. So it will be a little more cumbersome to swap vehicles, I would reluctantly think about getting a second BT receiver if I felt lazy enough.
On another thread (navman gps sleeve) I describe how my sleeve began failing worse and worse to find and retain fixes, and how I touched up some antenna solder joints to restore it to full reception, even an occasional satellite found while indoors. _________________ Doug
CoPilot 6.0.1.24 (USA)
Compaq iPaq 3970, with PC2003
Navman sleeve (3400)
Blue Tooth GPS
Joined: Aug 18, 2004 Posts: 21 Location: Yorkshire, UK
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:21 pm Post subject:
Finally took the plunge and went for the upgrade.
The GPS 3450 sleeve worked fine, although (like CP5) I had to manually configure the sleeve (port COM7, baud rate 57600).
The installation was more problematic than I expected owing to the refusal of CP6 to recognise adequate room of either of my stotage cards (both were empty and had ample storage). Installing to my hard drive and then copying the folders to the CF card in the sleeve went OK (albeit slow).
First niggles:
1) Horrible ABC keyboard entry. In an intermediate experimental install, I did get the normal QWERTY one, so it might be possible by tweaing a .CFG or .DAT file (for example) to make it display the normal on, which after all is a Pocket PC standard.
2) Still obsessed with the so called "Driver Safety" mode. Why can't it remember the mode last used as a preference?
3) "Navigation" mode is gone. This was where the system followed your progress on the map, but did not announce directions. There is the rather silly "Walking" mode, which seems to ignore roads, but plots an "as the crow flies" straight line.
4) Seems more unstable than CP5 (yes it is possible!) when adjusting settings.
5) The fine tuning of vehicle speeds on various road types is welcome, but some trial and error is going to be involved. It would be nice if the system could learn the average speeds on the various road type travelled on and so provide a more realistic estimate. This seems particularly so since the categorisation of various road type (below motorway) seem rather arbitary. For instance, an urban B road can be quite an important one for through traffic.
6) The TTS voice no longer says "meelez", but pronounces the "A" as in the road A6018 as a short "a", so you only really hear the number. This did not occur in CP5.
7) The postcode seach does not seem to be enough on its own to identify an individual road or street, which it should. It gives several options albeit from a reduced list that includes the real road/street.
Overall, slightly disappointing given the bad press CP5 got in these forums.
Joined: 03/05/2003 14:45:49 Posts: 3999 Location: leyland lancs ENGLAND
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:43 pm Post subject:
im using the smartphone version at the moment and so cant help with most of your other questions though i can help with poctcodes sort of
the way cp6 uses postcodes is the same as tomtom and aa navigator as post code covers usually upto 10 houses or a couple of streets hope that helps a little _________________ currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl
3) Walking mode was in CP5, basically it plots real position rather than snapping to the nearest road. I find it anoying that while walking it anchors your current position close to the bottom of the screen, why not centred!!
4) I have notced some temporary freezes also, especially when looking at satellite status views.
5) Always a compromise I guess, at least we have it now!!
6) The TTS is still not that good, I had hoped for better.
7) Postcode search - it does work albeit a bit long winded.
Did you notice some minor roads have now disapeared!
In summary, I too expected more - it will be interesting to see performance/stability during navigation. Too early to say. _________________ Regards BigH
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