Del Axim and Haicom 203

[loopy]

Can any one help please?



I am using a dell axim X5 and the haicom 203 gps on serial com 1. Up until recently I have not had any problems and then it just stopped working.



I have carried out a hard reset and reloaded the software. The GPS is locking on with a steady red light and the PDA is being powered.



I have no data between the dell and the haicom and everything is greyed out on the GPS status screen. I have double checked the gps settings in tom tom and entered the haicom on serial com 1 and even tried changing to NMEA 4800.....All to no avail. Any other suggestions or do you think it could be a faulty GPS unit?
_________________
If it aint broke then break it!

[JSBGPS]

I have had the exact same situation with my Haicom 203E connected to a Micom Mio 336 PDA. It worked fine for two weeks and then it just stopped working. I also thought it was a faulty GPS-device and bought a new device.

And every thing was OK again.

For two days!

Then the situation reoccured: My GPS-led is blinking (it has a fix) but no data is received in the PDA. The GPS-monitor shows one of two things:
1) no data is received at all
2) data is received but only the GMT-time is updated. No satelite-data is recorded.

Maybe this is related to the COM1-port? I've disabled every program that could possible use the COM1-port. No succes.

Help will be appreciated! It's too expensive to by a new GPS-unit every week.

[DavidW]

If a GPS unit stops working after two weeks, return it for exchange. They don't "wear out" after a fortnight.


I wonder if this is a more extreme case of the problems being discussed with Evermore chipset GPSes (as the HI-203E is) in this thread. At the moment, we're not to the point of firm conclusions, but it seems that the "Haicom GPS" setting in the TomTom GPS driver is for SiRF based GPSes, not Evermore, and may be causing problems by sending Evermore chipset GPSes SiRF configuration commands.


If I'm correct in my assumptions about the "Haicom GPS" setting, then the correct option for these Evermore chipset GPSes is "NMEA 0183v2 4800".

So far as bringing your GPS back into operation, changing to "NMEA 0183v2 4800" on the relevant COM port (second tab of the GPS driver - you may have to untick the box next to those settings first, then retick it when you've made the changes) will hopefully bring the GPS back to life.

If that alone proves insufficient, pull out the cigar lighter plug, wait a few seconds, plug it back in and try again. If it still doesn't work, leave it unplugged for 24 hours and try again - and if it doesn't work then, contact your supplier.

I'm not aware of any Evermore chipset configuration utilities for the Pocket PC, so if you have a misconfigured GPS and no way of connecting it to a PC, I'm not sure there's an easy way to reset it.


There is, however, another possible issue with the original poster. The Dell Axim X5 has a slightly strange serial port that can fail to connect in some cases. I'm not aware of a similar issue with the Mio - hence the main suggestion in this message.



David

(wishing he had an Evermore chipset GPS here together with an iPAQ 3800/3900 cable to run some tests to help out all those having problems with them. I've got some Haicom PC cables, but the only Haicom GPS I've got is a SiRF based HI-303MMF).

[JSBGPS]

Hi again.

Thank you for the comments and especially for the reference to the related thread which actually very precisely describes the situations I have experienced before the unit went inactive.

Unfortunately this doesn't help.

Here a some detailed information about my experiences.

First of all I have the exact same problem with two Haicom 203E-units. Therefore I don't belive it is a problem with the hardware (at least not the manufactors problem!)

I HAVE tried to leave one unit without power for at least two days and then connecting it again. Doesn't work

I've changed the driver to NMEA 4800 i TTN. Doesn't work.

I've installed the Winfast Navigator software in order to track data from the 203E. Installation was OK and the software actually tracks data comming from the unit. But it shows that the state of the 203E is "UNFIXED". Even though the led is blinking showing that the 203E ahs a fix. This is probably why the TTN software won't accept data from the mouse?

I've tested different setup's via the Winfast software. Including hotstart, warmstart, coldstart and factory-start. Nothing seems to help. As far as I can decipher the data coming from the unit it is always the same except for the timestamp.

Hopefully someone has a hint for me to solve this problem. Or maybe tell me how to reset the 203E to the original manufactory-state. Which software (PDA or PC) would you recommend to be used for my further investigations?

Thanks.   

[loopy]

[QUOTE=DavidW] If I'm correct in my assumptions about the "Haicom GPS" setting, then the correct option for these Evermore chipset GPSes is "NMEA 0183v2 4800".

So far as bringing your GPS back into operation, changing to "NMEA 0183v2 4800" on the relevant COM port (second tab of the GPS driver - you may have to untick the box next to those settings first, then retick it when you've made the changes) will hopefully bring the GPS back to life.

There is, however, another possible issue with the original poster. The Dell Axim X5 has a slightly strange serial port that can fail to connect in some cases. I'm not aware of a similar issue with the Mio - hence the main suggestion in this message.

[loopy]

[QUOTE=DavidW] If I'm correct in my assumptions about the "Haicom GPS" setting, then the correct option for these Evermore chipset GPSes is "NMEA 0183v2 4800".

So far as bringing your GPS back into operation, changing to "NMEA 0183v2 4800" on the relevant COM port (second tab of the GPS driver - you may have to untick the box next to those settings first, then retick it when you've made the changes) will hopefully bring the GPS back to life.

There is, however, another possible issue with the original poster. The Dell Axim X5 has a slightly strange serial port that can fail to connect in some cases. I'm not aware of a similar issue with the Mio - hence the main suggestion in this message.

David, I have had my haicom replaced as the unit had cracked around the screws holding it together. I have tried all of your suggestions in your reply and it still doesnt work...I am at a complete loss on what to do next!!!!

[DavidW]

I'm at a bit of a loss what to suggest now. I fear that somehow the 'dead' GPS has got locked into Evermore binary protocol mode and/or strange serial port settings. I'm guessing to an extent, though - I could only tell for sure with your GPS in front of me so that I could look at what it is (or isn't) outputtint.


WinFast Navigator isn't going to allow a reset - that's for SiRF based GPSes. It'll probably do nothing, but could potentially make things even worse (particularly as, in the respective binary modes, both SiRF and Evermore use command 0x80 for configuration - but the parameters are quite different).

There are configuration utilities around for Evermore based GPSes - but I'm not sure there's any for the Pocket PC. There are such things as Haicom PC cables - I've got both a USB cable and a 9 pin serial cable here, but I don't have an Evermore based Haicom GPS to experiment with.

Just to add to the hassle, if someone lends or gives me a HI-203E to play with, I don't have an iPAQ 39xx series Haicom cable, so I can't run it with TomTom Navigator 2. My HI-303MMF is used in CompactFlash mode with the Pocket PC.


I am interested both in this problem, and in the "always points north" problem in the other thread I've linked to this one. I suspect I may stand more chance of replicating the "always points north" problem, but you never know. I may be able to figure out how to reset these GPSes using just a Pocket PC.


I'm wondering who the biggest vendor of Evermore based Haicom gear is in the UK - I'm guessing at globalpositioningsystems.co.uk.

I'm not a Pocket GPS staffer, and I won't claim to be one to try to get loan gear. However, I hope my record on helping people to troubleshoot in these forums stands for something. It does seem as if there is some kind of problem with these Evermore based GPSes, though what I can do to help understand this issue is limited by me not having a HI-203E or similar Evermore based GPS.

I don't have 80 pounds to spend on a GPS and cable that I don't need (I'm perfectly happy with my HI-303MMF).


Dave is aware I want to help you guys out. I know, too, how busy he is with the work to sort out the forum performance issues (he and I have exchanged emails recently).

I'll email Simon Pitts at globalpositioningsystems.co.uk and make him aware of this thread and those linked to it. He's posted in the forums himself once or twice. I think he ought to be aware of this, particularly as his company has seemingly discontinued the HI-303MMF in favour of the (presumably cheaper) HI-303E, and the cheapest GPS mouse and TomTom Navigator 2 bundle they sell uses a HI-203E.



David

[woodman]

Hi Guys,

Just to muddy the waters a bit, I am having exactly the same problem with a Haicom 302CF on a Toshiba E740. Up until a week ago no problem, tried to use it yesterday and all I get is the fixed light and no data visible either in Winfast Navigator, Haicom's GPSInfo app or TomTom GPS.
The only response I seem to get is the light appearing when I select the correct (I think) COM port and disappearing if I pick a different one. I have tried every suggestion on this forum (and GPSsystems UK forums) but to no avail. I am convinced something has confused the COM ports but having reset everything it wont talk.
I chose the compact flash as I assumed it would be less grief and it has been until yesterday. I think I may have to return it as a failed unit?
Have you guys had any further joy getting it working?

Cheers

Ian

[Stapi1972]

Hi Guys,
I have a Dell Axim5 with the 203E mice attached. When bought it worked fine but then after a few weeks it started to take a long time to get a fix. It came to a point where no fix was gained.
After going through a lot of pain, I've decided to try one last thing - before trashing it to pieces...
When you start the engine, power is supplied to the GPS mice. If you start the GPS within the software application (mine is Mapopolis) the message will say " Running/No Fix". At this point take the mice outside the car and leave it there for a few seconds. The fix will be gained immediately! Once this procedure is complete, put it back in the car (under the front windscreen) and you are all set. The nice thing about Mapopolis is that you can see how many satellites are "looked at" and how many are tracked. When I had the mice in the car, the software reported 9 satellites in range but only one tracked. Once taken out of the car, the tracked number went up to 7 and the fix established instantly.
Please note that some windscreens have a UV protection film in their structure which may cause the signal to be distorted. This is particularly true on newish cars.
I've even put the mice in the glove compartment and it worked without any problem for 3 hours!
Good luck and let me know if it works for you.

[JoeriDeValck]

I have the same problem as described above :
I am using a haicom HI-203E for several years now, and it worked fine.
At first I used a Compaq IPaq, now a Fujitsu Loox 610 for more than a year and a half (tomtom 3 and tomtom 5).
A couple of weeks ago it stopped working.
I tried disconnecting power for 24,48 and 72 hours, but when I plug it in the car, the light immediately fixes, and no signal on PDA.
Normally it takes about 2 minutes the light is blinking and trying to fix position.
I am looking for the GPSInfo program to really check the output, but can not find it.

I am also looking to reset the GPS unit ...

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