A question to the more technically adept.

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Steve_Perry

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
3,241
Location
Wales, U.K.
Car
CLS350CDI Grand Edition
I'm seriously thinking of getting a Road Angel **Thanks to Jimmy for your help so far**.

I already have a laptop PC and one of the software packages supplied is AutoRoute 2002, that has all of Europe mapped in detail plus GPS input capability.

My Laptop doesn't have any legacy ports, i.e. old format serial or parallel but does have:

4x off USB2.0
1x off firewire/IEEE1394/iLink whatever it's called.
1x off PCMCIA TypeII.
1x off 56k modem.
1x off RJ45 High speed LAN connection.

Would I be correct in assuming, if I did get a Road Angel that I could connect it's GPS signal out to my laptop via a USB2.0 port (maybe or maybe not with a serial to USB adaptor) for AutoRoute to then act as Sat Nav? A bit like Sp!ke has set up in his car with his Infomap mapping software.

The only bits I'm not sure about are
1.) Whether RA can output GPS via USB2.0 and
2.) is there a cable that exists if 1.) above is possible.

Would this be possible oh technical gurus out there?

TIA,

S.
 
Steve

You can get a USB / Serial cable for sure - you would probably need a null modem adapter too. The only question would be whether the signal would transmit correctly into the USB end.

Would recommend a search on pocketgps.co.uk forum, and see if anybody there has tried it.

S.
 
Thanks for the speedy response Sym. :D

What would the null modem adapter do ?

Thanks again, would be awesome if I could get it working :devil:

S.
 
Hi steve . Im in the same boat as you with the no serial out.

Try this : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3730&item=3044960184


Autoroute will work as long as the road angel outputs a NEMA signal out of the Serial port.

Autoroute maybe isnt the best to use for nav in the car. IT will only update once every x seconds which is too long.

Maybe something like this would be better :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3430230571&category=3708

And you will also need a DC invertor to take your ciggie lighter socket back to 240v to keep the laptop powered :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2190563741&category=14423

I work really hard for my commision . Just as well i own ebay:D :p
 
Thanks for the info Jason, appreciate it :) As far as I am aware the RA does output a NEMA GPS signal. I've seen those power converters fairly cheaply in Maplins maybe they do the serial to USB cables for a fair price too.

Originally posted by fuzzer
I work really hard for my commision . Just as well i own ebay:D :p

I was wondering how you could afford all those gold chains :p :devil:

S.
 
NMEA via serial to USB cconverter *will* work but I've found that *most* Serial to USB converters didnt work as expected and caused all sorts of aggravation.

I tested mebbe 7 or 8 different converters and found only one that worked properly. The one that worked for me was £30 from maplins...I think they only do 2 types, one being cheaper than the other. Alternatively, you can get a Haicom (USB) gps mouse off ebay for as little as £30.

I must say, you will be very unimpressed with autoroute...no voice commands and I found it rather unaccurate at best.I tried Autoroute 2002 & 2004 and multimap 2003, all cr@p. Spend the £45 on infomap Europe... you wont regret it.

Basically, Ive played around with this stuff quite a bit so feel free to PM me for advice...BTW, you're welcome to 'demo' my infomap if you want ;)

If you want a custom made laptop mount made up, I know just the place...
image003.jpg
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Steve_Perry
What would the null modem adapter do ?

Not sure if you would need it - but connecting the RA to my iPAQ it was necessary - basically used for connecting 2 PCs together (I'm sure there is a more technical explanation!) - but you can also get it built into a cable . . . . might be different / unnecessary if you are going to use your laptop though.

S.
 
Thanks for your advice guys :)

Thanks peeps :)

Sp!ke, thanks for sharing your experiences as one who's already accomplished what I'm thinking of doing, I may well take you up on your demo offer ;) actually at £45 that software sounds like a bargain.

First things first though, it's all pretty academic if I don't have a source of GPS... "Jimmy!..." :D

S.
 
As Sp!ke mentioned you could buy a GPS mouse for about £30. It depends if you want a road angel anyway.
 
Re: Thanks for your advice guys :)

Originally posted by Steve_Perry

First things first though, it's all pretty academic if I don't have a source of GPS... "Jimmy!..." :D

S.

Steve, your GPS source is on it's way.;)

The Road Angel comes with a serial cable for updates, I think the same cable can be used to connect to your PC or USB adapter for GPS output.

Give Blackspot a ring, they are very helpful. Blackspot Interactive
 
Just remembered.....if you do try to use Autoroute with your GPS, Autoroute has a 15 second interval between each GPS reading. This is obviously no good. However, some nice people have written a little script to fix this issue and change the interval to whatever you like between 5 seconds and 1 second.

Get the patch from http://gpssoft.homestead.com/

Another very good resource that will assist anyone going down the GPS route is http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/ They even have a dedicated forum :bannana:
 
Thanks for the link to the patch Sp!ke :D and the pocketgps site must be good because Sym mentioned them further up :p

S.
 

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