Excellent Car Cradle for SPV M2000 - MDA III, XDA III, PDA2k, 9090 Accessories

Hi
I have just bought an excellent cradle from a seller on eBay called vita.system. The cradle was £35.99 including postage and has a powered speaker which plugs in to the sound out on the phone for GPS instructions. It also has a ps2 style connection for plugging in a GPS receiver.
The phone charges fine and I have been using the navigator whilst answering and making calls using my Bluetooth headset.
I don’t think you can use the speaker for phone calls but I did not really want it for that as I am happy with my bt headset.
The phone just slots into the cradle and you push the sides of the cradle in to hold it securely.
Hope this helps any of you looking for a cradle.

Related

What is the best car Kit for iMate PDA2K? Any official one?

I haven't seen any post about the PDA2K...
I remember reading a lot of them about the XDAII and relative problems:
-getting GPS audio out of the car speakers
_...
I also remeber that the best solution seemed to be a car holder with build in speaker... would it work with the 2K as well (without forcing the Pins...)
As far you now is iMate going to come out with an official creadle?
Thanks,
Chris
i am not bothering to wait for the cradle... if the cradle for the xda ii was any thing to go by it will take ages and will be rubbish.
i took things into my own hands and built my own drop in charger for the xda iis.
i was going to post some pictures but i cant from my xda iis as the picture upload is not pocket pc compliant... come on guys - sort out the upload...
Don't wait.....
I agree....when i bought the cradle for the XDA2 i was really amazed to see how stupid i was to pay so much for so litle. The worst carkit i've ever seen.....
Now that i have my new Qtek9090 i didn't bother to wait. I just bought an Arkon powered cradle and it is just fine. I'm waiting for the audio adapter for the 9090 but i tried it with my old qtek2020 and i was amazed to hear Tomtom navigational instructions....mp3...click click.....and so on....
I'm now expecting the new audio adapter (they finished production today and began shipping) and i tell you it will do just fine.
Which Audio adapter?
Could you please be more specific regarding the audio adapter?
Thanks,
Chris
Arkon Cradle
iap sure...
The Arkon cradle (http://www.arkon.com/bluetoothgps.html) model CM745 is designed specifically for the Qtek 2020 and uses 2 connections to the PDA. The cradle has 2 USB connectors at the bottom, one to connecto to the 21pin connector to charge the PDA and another one for any accessory USB powered you may have. On the top of the cradle there is an audio line in wich connects to your PDAs headset jack to output the audio through the cradles internal speaker. The audio adapter is nothing less than a converter from the 3,5" cradle jack to the 2,5" PDA jack wich carries the sound to the cradle but doesn't deactivate the internal mic on the PDA.
Despite the simple concept design, i tried it with the Qtek 2020 and it works really well.
My waiting is due to the fact, i bought the Arkon cradle specific for the Qtek2020 because they told me it would fit the 9090 but they were preparing the new audio connector.
Note: You may have read somewhere posts about the 21pin connector beeing different from XDA2 to XDA3 but in fact (at least my Qtek9090) uses "apparently" the same conector. I don't need to force anything as some of the guys do...
How do you deal with the Arkon RF/speaker interference?
I read here that it was unacceptable...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=13654&start=0
how do you deal with it?
Saw another thread and started Googling. The Arkon "designed" for the Blue Angel is the "Arkon CM750 MDA III 3 PDA mount with speaker and gps charger".
Don't know about the quality but for £34.99 and free delivery to the UK it's got to be worth a shot. Look here http://www.morpethmobiles.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=X6AKMDA&cat=114
Best cradle for the PDA 2K
www.ProClipUSA.com
Finally there is a decent DSP carkit released by Carcomm (www.carcomm.nl) . I already have it here it only has to be build in in my car. It also comes with a mutebox that uses the left car stereo speaker to hear the sounds of callers and Tomtom. The partnumber CHFS-16. When it is build in i will make some pics.

tired of car cradles without audio out?

I'm sick of trying to find a car cradle that has audio out, ps2 and 12v for charging!
Why is it that no manufacturers of xda cradles ever realise that some of us want to listen to mp3's in the car and have tom-tom voice prompts coming through our stereos!
Being right handed, I want my PDA on the right of the steering wheel, so I can operate Tom-Tom before setting off, or change tracks on media player. I did look at the Brodit pro-clip solutions, but they all seem to be for the centre console for my car (a citroen AX)
I've discovered that the driver's side vent mount has a removable panel, which means I can easily mount a small piece of wood (effectively a small flat shelf) for mounting a cradle, this also brings the device out of the reflective glare zone in the windscreen during night driving. It also means all I need is a standard xda iis cradle to do this mod.
So with much careful thought I've decided to do the following:
Buy a spare cradle:
http://www.my-xda.com/xda2s_other.html
Which leads me to the next question....
Has anyone got any modding experience with the xda2/xdaiis cradle?
similar to this old posting for the Wallaby...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=256&highlight=cradle
(although I couldnt see any of the images on this old posting!)
In theory, this project has 3 key issues to resolve...
1) Powering the cradle and Bluetooth GPS
Three options seem to be available...
a) The hobbyist approach...I've seen various "car-kit diagrams" like this one,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/files/xda_car_kit_circuit.jpg
but to be honest I have no pcb making experience.
b) 12V to 5dc cigarette socket transformer adapter to provide power to the cradle, and perhaps to the bluetooth gps for charging. This should be easier to achieve!
Anyone have any links for low cost solutions for this, obviously it would need to convert 12VDC to 5DC at 2-3Amps
c) As the xdaiis usb cradle charges directly from a USB power source, this seems an Ideal solution!
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=EXP_USB-CLA
2) Audio out: THE MAIN PROBLEM!
Ideally I just want to get in the car and cradle the device, no other connections being required.
Therefore I need to modify the xdaiis cradle for audio output...
Ideally, the feed for the audio should come from the bottom connector, when the xdaiis is cradled.
With this in mind, I found this article about dismantling an xdaii cradle...
http://en.pdamobiz.com/en/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=42&PN=1
If you look at the images on this web-page, you can see that - at the back of the cradle on the opposite side of the usb cable from the 5volt dc input is what looks like a pcb pinout for a headphone connector...
is this right? Can anyone confirm this.
Would it be possible to solder a connector onto here (assuming the solder pads connect to the 22pin connector!)
As this would be far easier than mucking about trying to solder onto the miniscule pins on the bottom of the 22pin connector on the cradle as it goes into the pcb!
If it works of course!
b) modify a headset
I did consider modifying an old wallaby headset to wire it into my car amp
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/wiki/Connectors , does anyone have any info on the pinout for the himalaya/blue angel headphone socket? I have also tried a friend's xda II headset on the IIs and yet again they have changed the pinout! The audio connections are once again totally different, resulting in the "echoing" effect when one headset is plugged in from the other device. This means that the audio ground pin has changed since the xdaII headphone socket schematic! This difference is also confirmed by looking at the handsfree "pod" on both headsets... The IIs has one button for answering a call, where the II has two buttons, wether it is the same as the XDA1 (Wallaby) remains to be seen....
c) buy a PDA2k 3.5mm headphone adapter...
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=118289&sbadd=118289
Then use a standard lead to connect it to the hi-fi amp in the car.
3) charging the TOM TOM BLUETOOTH GPS
I'm wary of putting anything other than the recommended voltage (5VDC) into this device, so the best option is to supply power using (1b) or (1c) above, perhaps cutting into the supplied RJ cable to minijack psu to hook it up from the same supply.
While I'm on the subject of the bluetooth gps.... Does anyone knopw how long does the tom tom bluetooth gps work with a full charge?
Does it vary based on an active connection, or is it the same as on standby?
Do I need to power it in the car at all? Can I not just charge it as required at home? There doesnt seem to be much literature about the Bluetooth GPS reciever's battery life in the box!
Anyone care to comment on these ideas?
:lol: :lol:
I think the fact that no-one makes a cradle which provides audio-out through the bottom connector of the XDA2 is because the XDA2 doesn't provide this possibility. It's not the car-kit manufacturers' fault. Blame HTC.
However, I could be wrong... :roll:
My solution: I bought one of these XDA2 mounts ( http://www.pdamods.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A11XDA2MNT&cat=23 ) which works really well. It charges the phone and my TomTom BT GPS. To achieve audio-out I plan (eventually) to use the XDA2's headphone socket by drilling a hole through the mount's base in the right spot and using a 2.5mm jack adapted to play through the car stereo. Not an ideal solution, but surely must be simpler for you than trying to build a reliable (and safe!) 12V -> 5V convertor and butchering a spare XDA2 desktop cradle?
Just a suggestion... 8) Let us know how you get on. Good luck!
QUOTE 12V to 5dc cigarette socket transformer adapter to provide power to the cradle, and perhaps to the bluetooth gps for charging. This should be easier to achieve!
Anyone have any links for low cost solutions for this, obviously it would need to convert 12VDC to 5DC at 2-3Amps
Just about any mobile phone car charger will do.
Silicon s, you must be wrong :lol:
I have found someone that makes a DSP handsfree set with Audio on your car speakers, separate mic and all with the bottom connector. It even delivers laptopconnection for Dialup and GPS.
The overview
http://www.thb.de/showpage.php?lang=en&mode=show_product&cat=1&pid=2
Car Talk DSP
http://www.thb.de/showpage.php?lang=en&mode=show_product&cat=1&pid=2
The Cradles
http://www.thb.de/showpage.php?lang=en&mode=show_product&cat=1&pid=2
XDA docked
http://www.thb.de/bilder/take_talk/mda2_gps_big.jpg
http://www.thb.de/bilder/take_talk/mdaIII_large.jpg
MDA III - Important Information:
Replace file "Wavedev.dll" on your MDA III and restart the system. Audio response now can be listen via loudspeaker.
http://www.thb-service.de/download/MDAIII/Wavedev.dll
FYI, It appears that the replacement WaveDev.dll file offered by the car Kit company causes bluetooth headsets to stop working at all (not just in the car).
tfletch said:
FYI, It appears that the replacement WaveDev.dll file offered by the car Kit company causes bluetooth headsets to stop working at all (not just in the car).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm looking for. Have you found anywhere to actually buy them? I looked over the whole site.
How about this alternative cradle. I bought one for my XDAIIs and it works perfectly. Got one for the birds XDA2 and that work great too.
It provides power to either a wired GPS or charges a bluetooth GPS, it has a built in speaker and a cables provided to run from the XDA's headphone socket to the cradle. THIS THING IS LOUD!
One word of caution, the speakers in my car are shielded so I don't get that warning noise from them that I am about to get a call or text. The speaker on the cradle is NOT shielded and so you do get interference when you are about to get a call or switch cells.
http://www.pdamods.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A1SSSPKMNT&cat=23
i thought about using my 6601 as an MP3 player in my car as well. but since my eclipse cdplayer does mp3, i abandoned the idea
option 1: cut up a 2.5mm headset and plug it into the top of the device
pros: cheap and effective
cons: have to plug it in every time (and unplug it to take a call)
option 2: pair a bluetooth headset with the device, crack it open and wire the speaker to a preamp
pros: wireless
cons: ruin an otherwise good bt headset, music would be in mono
option 3:
http://motorola.digitalriver.com/se...e&SiteID=motostor&productID=36065700&Env=BASE
"transfer audio to hands-free"
pros: wireless
cons: EXPENSIVE, pretty vague description
option 4:
http://www.itechdynamic.com/html/border22.htm
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/itech/nightingaleBSH338/en.htm
pros: wireless, stereo, routes incoming cails through car
cons: i cant find it anywhere
its called the "nightingale BSH338" or the "Bluetooth Stereo Clip Headset"
if anyone finds one, please reply with a link
ok i did some more reading on the subject and i found this (page 2 of the forum)
http://www.seidioonline.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CK8AG21MXDA3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=17149

Two bluetooth devices at once - gps and audio headset

Is this possible? I am trying to decide what gps to get - a wired sucker and cradle type with gps built in and a connection at the bottom of the BA, or a bluetooth one.
I use a bluetooth headset as well when driving you see...
All advice appreciated.
Joe
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Holux-XTRAC-G...itemZ5802720088QQcategoryZ64371QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HOLUX-Car-Cra...802709444QQcategoryZ64371QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
These are what I am looking at buying.
I see you were asking about the Blue Angel, that I can't answer you unfortunately, but I'm using the Magician with BT GPS (Swedish BLUEi device) and the Jabra BT330 headset simultaneously in the car, chatting on the phone while finding my way with Tomtom 5. Works like charm! Since I haven't been using the Blue Angel I don't know if it's using the same BT stack (Microsoft's own)
I use the Brodit active holder and hooked up a little cable-splitter charging the GPS and Magician through the same +5v USB supply. The GPS is on top of the dashboard with the discrete wiring down to the splitter. Had to modify the GPS to make it startup by the ignition, phew...
Anyway, hope this could be of any help though... cheerio
I see you were asking about the Blue Angel, that I can't answer you unfortunately, but I'm using the Magician with BT GPS (Swedish BLUEi device) and the Jabra BT330 headset simultaneously in the car, chatting on the phone while finding my way with Tomtom 5. Works like charm! Since I haven't been using the Blue Angel I don't know if it's using the same BT stack (Microsoft's own)
I use the Brodit active holder and hooked up a little cable-splitter charging the GPS and Magician through the same +5v USB supply. The GPS is on top of the dashboard with the discrete wiring down to the splitter. Had to modify the GPS to make it startup by the ignition, phew...
Anyway, hope this could be of any help though... cheerio
To answer, i'm using Qtek9090 with headset, while bluetooth activesync. And when i'm in my car, i use my bluetooth gps with my headset at the time with no issues.
joebongo...
to answer your question - yes you can use a bluetooth headset simulataneously with a GPS receiver. This works because the connection on both devices is establised on seperate I/O channels hence there is no interference. Globalsat BT338 + tomtom is a worthwhile combo trust me..
hope this helps
SN
No problem here connected to a Fortuna Clip-on BT GPS and a Parrot CK3000 with my Blue Angel. It was recommended to me to get the GPS and phone connected before the starting the car (which starts the car kit).
Thanks for the replies.
After I discovered the same popping on mp3 playback, this BA went back to the O2 shop (second one I have had), my contract cancelled as it was in the trial period, and I am now waiting for the universal (XDA exec, MDA Pro) to come out in a couple of weeks.
See you there.
Joe

Any way to connect headphones to Phone

Hi,
Is there anything like a converter or something that I can connect my headphones to my phone ? I'm not talking about bluetooth, I mean a cable connection to a typical headphone or to a regular speaker
Thanks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=280439
Got mine from eBay, works fine for a few bucks plus time to ship. Radioshack may have an adapter as well.
thanks guys
I found one on ebay, it seems useful. I'm going to try that I think. It's cheaper and seems like more comfortable.
I picked up the 3 in 1 adapter, which lets me plug in headphones a car charger and still use my mic from my headset.
Sounds like useless adapter, however
I plug the stereo output of the adapter into the line input of my car stereo, the OEM headset mic gets clipped to my seatbelt and the car charger gets plugged in.
Turns my Tytn into a mobil office and car theater system. I get to hear the audio from calls going through the 6.1 speakers in my car as well as play all my MP3's and videos through the phone.
The adapter was only about 15 bucks IIRC.

Car cradle/charger with built in FM transmitter

http://www.shop2us.com/car_mount/d2_fm_kit.jpg
Hi All,
I have just purchased and tested this product. It cost just £22 from Ebay. Quite a bargain really. The build quality is quite poor. However, the D2 does fit quite nicely and you don't need to fiddle with it too much to get the mini USB connected. One strange thing is the side flanges. They do overlap the green and red phone buttons slightly, so you could find yourself accidentally calling someone when inserting the D2 into the cradle.
Once in, it is an excellent product. The sound quality through the car radio is superb. Even driving through London (where the airways are filled with legal and illegal radio stations) there is no interference with this transmitter. I have tried a few of these type of FM transmitters and can happily say this is easily the best so far. The volume on the D2 needs to be turned down to about 13 or 20% on the HTC, otherwise you will get some distortion when playing loud music.
Re-tuning is a breeze with the back-lit LCD screen, if the frequency you have it on has some interference.
One problem is making or receiving a call. When a call comes in, you can hear the ringing through the car speakers. However, this device disables the D2 microphone and does not have one built in itself. The only work around for this is to have a bluetooth headset. Therefore, once a call comes in, the bluetooth headset will then provide the sound and microphone and so you can speak/hear as normal. The car speakers will be disabled once you accept the call through the bluetooth headset. Obviously the headset will need to be connected first. Personally, I use a small programme called bluepower. This turns on bluetooth on my D2 when it is being charged and then turns it off (to save battery) when it is not being charged. Therefore, as soon as I put the D2 into the cradle, it links with my already paired bluetooth headset
So, I can now sit in my car with my D2 charging, playing music through my car radio and make/receive calls using my bluetooth headset without any problems....
All sounds great doesn't it?
However, there is one small problem.
If I choose to listen to a different radio station, I will not be able to hear my D2 ring or hear when an email/text comes in, or to the voice guidance on my iGO8 (not that I use it).... You may consider this a safety feature because you don't want to have this distraction whilst driving do you? Obviously you can still see these events in the usual way, if your screen is turned on. This is not such a huge problem I don't think, but some might.
Perhaps it will be easy to be able to somehow link up a working microphone with this system and have a rather decent hands free system, but I don't know how to. I have seen other threads which have also described this problem with other such systems, but never a solution except the bluetooth headset one. Maybe someone can suggest a registry tweak for this or a Mortscript programme???
Anyway, to conclude, I am very happy with this purchase, especially at the price.
Hope this helps someone
will the Pure fit in a TD2 cradle?
Will the Pure fit in a TD2 cradle? The bottom ends appear to be differently shaped. Is it close enough that the two can be interchanged for a cradle like mitsi posted?
I want a nice cradle with a built in usb plug so I dont have to figit. The proclip one is too darn expensive. Whereas the custom fitted car cradles for the TD2 are plentiful...
Mic For the FM Transmitter ALMOST !!!
Well like you i bought one of these fine products I did come across a couple of issues (and work arounds).
1. At certain output frequency's the GPS did not work ??, noticed that when the power to the FM Tx was removed the GPS signal returned. as I tried different channels the interference varied so worth looking out for.
2. Again at different output channels I would pickup the mobile trying to make a connection to the network (approx every 10min), again changed the channel the effect varied from bad to zero.
Microphone, I took my unit apart and the pcb has the position for a MIC marked on the pcb but no mic fitted. I took out a mic from the supplied handsfree kit supplied with the phone this fitted and off I went to try but no luck.
On further investigation the mic needed to be wired pack to the usb plug BUT the pins for the plug are enclosed in the glue used to hold the plug in position and there were no leads off the plug to wire too !!!!!!!!!!!!
But like u the unit is still worth the cash

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