GPS and the 6000L

[duffman]

But has anyone found any USB GPS devices (yes I know most are serial now) that work with the Zaurus?  I don\'t want to end up buying one just to find out it won\'t work.

[lwong]

I would really want to know if someone can make it to work too. I have my eyes on the Delorme Earthmate for some time now....

And the follow nup question would be: if USB DOES does work, what do you do about mapping software? I still haven;t figure out how to create maps for qpeGPS.

Eagerly awaiting response,

FW

[mdweezer]

I would just settle for a standalone, handheld GPS.

I own a Magellen Meridian that I bought for $110, it has 100x the features of my buddy and his pocketPC w/gps card.  Mine has a searial interface that I can use with my laptop to use with Microsoft Streets and Trips or I can just use the GPS by itself.  It floats in water and has super long battery life.

Not to mention its fun to go geocaching with  www.geocaching.com

Get something that\'ll interface with a PC and you\'ll be set, with the lack of mapping software and the short battery life of the Z, you could spend less on a standalone GPS and you would have a much better time

[dmilligan]

I purchased a BC-307 compact flash model - works with the 5600 and my laptop.  Using qpegps on the Z and MS Streets & Trips on my laptop.

[lwong]

My primary purpose for having a GPS will be for in car navigation. In this context, not even the $1000 Megellen can rival the display on a SL6000 or on a laptop. If I use GPS frequently for hiking etc, a handhled will make more sense just like you suggested.

The major attraction for Earthmate is that I can plug it intp Z or a laptop depending on the circumstances. It even comes with a copy of Street Atlas. But of course someone has to do the hard work to convert the map into a Z-friendly format.

FW

I would just settle for a standalone, handheld GPS.

I own a Magellen Meridian that I bought for $110, it has 100x the features of my buddy and his pocketPC w/gps card.  Mine has a searial interface that I can use with my laptop to use with Microsoft Streets and Trips or I can just use the GPS by itself.  It floats in water and has super long battery life.

Not to mention its fun to go geocaching with  www.geocaching.com

Get something that\'ll interface with a PC and you\'ll be set, with the lack of mapping software and the short battery life of the Z, you could spend less on a standalone GPS and you would have a much better time

[jerbell]

I don\'t have a usb cable that fits the 6000, but I use a serial gps handheld with a USB to serial adopter cable on my laptop running linux.  I\'m hoping that when I get the 6000 usb cable it will work so I can access the keyboard while using it, which you can\'t do when using the serial port.

[duffman]

Well I\'ve found a GPS CF adapter that is recognized in my 6000L (can see it in system info) bu I don\'t knwo what device (in /dev) corresponds to teh CF port, anyone know?

[lardman]

Assuming it\'s the same as on the 5500, and assuming I\'ve remembered correctly then try /dev/ttyS3


Si

[dsavard]

I am looking forward to buy a GPS to integrate with my Zaurus 6000L and I would like to know if anybody here is having some experience with GPS and the Zaurus.

Seems to me there is two options to consider:

- CompactFlash GPS Card
- Bluetooth enabled GPS with a CF Bluetooth card

On the software side, what kind of SW is available for the Zaurus and how easy will it be to integrate?

Pros and cons for each alternative? Gotchas?

Brands known to work well or not work?

Thanks

[bazmi]

hi,

i use an ambicom CF GPS (with an external antenna when in the car) and it works good. use zGPS. prioir to ambicom, i used a pharos CF GPS but it died while still under warranty but couldnt get a replacement and just gave up on it.

regarding bluetooth, my advice would be to stay away from it as much as possible - i think that it is really a failed technology - none of my bluetooth devices whether it is my phone/headset combination or usb dongles or CF bluetooth work reliably in any OS - whether windoze, linux or symbian. the connection is at best flaky and even when it is there it is excruciatingly slow.

cheers,

/bazmi.

[Zuber]

I have a bluetooth phone, bluetooth card in my Zaurus and use a Bluetooth GPS unit.

All work well together. Used to use the last Bluetooth phone with my PC as well, and though fiddly to set up, that used to work fine as well. Not got round to setting up the new phone software on the PC yet.

But Bluetooth failed technology... Just a tad strong.

Anyway, one thing worth considering in deciding between CF v BT GPS unit. How you intend to use it.

e.g.
If you tend to use the device landscape, then you tend to find it pointing the wrong way for a CF card.

If you are out hiking, might find it more hassle carrying 2 seperate units if you go for a BT card. Stick it on the backpack ?

If you use in a car, then I find it quite nice being able to leave the BT GPS unit on the dash (good GPS signal) while using the Zaurus.

I found with GPS units, having them close to the windscreen makes a big diference.

With BT unit, not a problem, can pick up, put down Zaurus as I wish. With CF unit, you would probably be fixed in one spot.

My big issue at present, is I have a mounting kit for the C860 which mounts horizontal, so rules out a CF card for me.

By the way, tried all the units on our site and they work fine with the Zaurus Cxx models and the 5500. Not sure about the 6000, but can't see any reason why they should be different. Especially BT, since you are just using Serial profile.

So Haicom MMF, Holux BT and GlobalSat BT should be ok.

[grom]

Hello, this week I bought a Hollux GM-270 CF GPS reciever. I pluged it in my zaurus, and ... nothing happend
I searched help on internet and a found a page about the SL-5500G. So they suggest to recompile the pcmcia_cs module, but in my SL-6000L there is no pcmcia_cs module  Perhaps I'm on the wrong way, but in a first time, I'll try to flash the ROM with a newest image and, if there is the same problem try to rebuilt the module or all the kernel.
Has somebody another idea?

thanks for your help
grom

[cdollar393]

I just got an ambicom cf gps for my sl-6000.   Not sure of the differences between units, but I had to issue the command 'cardctl resume' from a terminal to get the gps to power on.  From what I understand, the Z automatically puts the CF gps in suspend mode, and the resume command wakes it up.  Once I had it resumed the lights on the gps came on and all worked fine.

[jansenq]

Hi there,

I'm also having a few problems with a cf GPS card (Rayming TN202).

I did find the serial_cs module on the net, and loaded that.  After a wack of playing around, I had the card working just fine.  Don't know how, as I have never been able to get it to work again.

The cf card works just fine when I plug it into my laptop via the pcmcia port.

When it is plugged into the Z it is turned on right away.  The Z thinks it is an anonymous memory card for some reason.

Where to get the latest ROM?  I've still got the stock ROM (brand new unit), and have searched high and low for an english ROM with no luck.

Any body got any suggestions?

Thanks,

Quinton

[AsLan^]

I have the Ambicom CF GPS, it works well with zgps.

If you are having ttrouble getting yours to turn on, I would suggest trying to run gpsd from the command line and passing different arguments for the serial port device until you find which one its using. My card is using serial port device 3 so I would type...

gpsd -p /dev/ttyS3 -s 4800

the -s 4800 is the baud rate of the card, after issuing this command with the right parameters the card should turn on. zgps should do this for you though.

Does anyone know of a gps program that will output in MGRS (military grid reference system) I was hoping to use this for work but lat/longs are useless to me.

Or perhaps does anyone know of a gps program that will output to the standard out so I could write a scipt to automatically convert between lat/long and MGRS ?