Related
Hey guys ive done a pretty quick review of this GPS receiver.
You can find it HERE
You cna buy these things dirt cheap on ebay.
Do not BUY this GPS on EBAY from ANY SELLERS!
This product is sold by several different companies on ebay that are all the same.
NOTE: IF you win it cheaply as I did, THE COMPANY WILL NOT MAIL THE ITEM TO YOU.
This happened to me, I had a very long and nasty process with them, including false feedback from them (They said I didn't pay etc?? thank God for Paypal receipts...)
etc.
I only resolved this by contacting a senior guys there and getting hastled.
TWO WEEKS LATER, another ebayer, who won his cheaply too had the same thing happen to him and asked for my help. SURPRISED?
SO Do not win this item item for 14.99 GBP+ 12.99GBP shipping, they will try not to send it to you. OVERPAY FOR IT. Then you will get it.
Also, The tracking is sensitive (works in my jeans etc) BUT INACCURATE in a City like London, it just jumps around too much, wrong streets. CONCLUSION: not great for urban corridors.
Mine will go back to Ebay. Soon.
If only
If only I had seen this thread a little earlier. Purchased mine today for around £18.50 plus the P&P.
Yeah they are quite obviously the same company etc hence the timing of the auctions, but not sure whether I am bothered about that.
Will have to wait and see if it turns up - as I did not pay the supplement I don't expect it for around two weeks.
Any other comments on performance ? - this will be my first bluetooth GPS. (If it shows up).
crazyC said:
If only I had seen this thread a little earlier. Purchased mine today for around £18.50 plus the P&P.
Yeah they are quite obviously the same company etc hence the timing of the auctions, but not sure whether I am bothered about that.
Will have to wait and see if it turns up - as I did not pay the supplement I don't expect it for around two weeks.
Any other comments on performance ? - this will be my first bluetooth GPS. (If it shows up).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HMM, after postage etc... it was around 25 quid i payed for it.
As for performance issues i havent had any complaints so far, first time i saw this unit was in Uni (Leeds) where a friend was using it on his Wizard, it was also a very built up area, indoors on the ground floor which is technically the basement but as it is on the side if a hill the room is exposed to the outside. He quickly got a fix etc....
I tested it out this weekend and it worked brilliantly! Hence why i wrote the review!?
It was due to the review that I went for it - total cost inc packaging for me was £31.
I will post as to (a) whether it shows up, and (b) what I make of it, in due course.
Have been emailed to say it is being dispatched.....
It has arrived.
The wife has put it on charge for me.
Could anyone who has one, confirm
(a) how long the first charge should be? and
(b) what lights should be on whilst charging.
It seems that she gets no lights, or all lights if she switches it on. It is currently on charge (I hope) with no lights showing.
crazyC said:
It has arrived.
The wife has put it on charge for me.
Could anyone who has one, confirm
(a) how long the first charge should be? and
(b) what lights should be on whilst charging.
It seems that she gets no lights, or all lights if she switches it on. It is currently on charge (I hope) with no lights showing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just leave it on charge... whilst charging you should have a red(ish) light on... which turns off when its finished charging!
Cheers,
How do you rate it?
crazyC said:
How do you rate it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very Good! I bought mine last year from ebay and compared to my previous GPS unit the Holox is fantastic! very fast satellite lock, easy to use, good battery life, works well in built up areas and can be kept anywhere inside car without the worry of loosing satellites!
My only negative is you can't use it whilst its being charged!
EDIT:: False alarm, Im confused, how come for the past few days the module has had problems getting a fix, then now it gets a fix no problem.
Turning the device back on later and it gets an instant fix.
Could somebody explain how the GPS works before/after it gets a fix?!
OK, keeping in mind I have nothing to compare with.
All seems to work well, seems to take a minute before TomTom settles down and communicates well with it, but once its up seems OK. reception when not under open sky not quite as good as I expected although ok.
the advertising all boasts about tracking 32 satellites but ....
Anyway, seems to do the job for me.
What I need now is a cheap air vent mount (passive as have charger etc) to clip my M3100 into. Seen some on ebay etc but they look as if they obstruct the USB socket.
Brodit one looks good but at at least twenty quid for the mount and vent attachment.....
Any suggestions?
crazyC said:
OK, keeping in mind I have nothing to compare with.
All seems to work well, seems to take a minute before TomTom settles down and communicates well with it, but once its up seems OK. reception when not under open sky not quite as good as I expected although ok.
the advertising all boasts about tracking 32 satellites but ....
Anyway, seems to do the job for me.
What I need now is a cheap air vent mount (passive as have charger etc) to clip my M3100 into. Seen some on ebay etc but they look as if they obstruct the USB socket.
Brodit one looks good but at at least twenty quid for the mount and vent attachment.....
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL so you werent tempted by the non-slip mat?
My indoors performance is ok upstairs but is garbage downstairs. I wasnt expecting much indoors though. I tested it on the train yesterday and it was working great, even had the speed fairly well on VisualGPSce
Actually I was. Its fine for the Holux but because of the angle I could not see the screen very well at all.....
I'm having a problem connecting it to my TyTN. I don't have the GPS settings that you're talking about in the control panel. I cannot even connect it to my notebook.
hZSoul said:
I'm having a problem connecting it to my TyTN. I don't have the GPS settings that you're talking about in the control panel. I cannot even connect it to my notebook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notice in the review i say you need to unlock the applet first if you are using WM5?!?!
Download HTweakC and you can unlock it using that.
If you are running WM6 (which is not clear from your signature) it should be present in start>settings>system(tab)>external GPS.
I did see that however, I wasn't sure exactly what you were talking about. I couldn't remember the name of the app anyways. I remember downloading it not too long ago.
I just wanted to say that I used this with Google Maps for WM, and it worked like a charm. I had up to 10 sats at one point, with the average being 8. Even indoors right now I have 8. Works quite nice. I have the GPSlim 236 though, not the 231.
Now if I can just get this thing to work in XP I will be all set.
I would also like to note that I have an unlimited data plan, and even using edge the map updated itself very fast, while being locked into my position when driving. That is on the Edge network to!
Anyone tried various buad rate settings - does it have any impact upon usage?
Er Indoors already rations my messing around with the hermes time and I can't really get away with going and playing with it and the BT GPS in the car etc.
Holox Bt441
HI GUYS, AFTER READING ALL THE THREADS ALL I CAN SAY ITS ALL A BIT HIT AND MISS ! I PURCHASED MY BT GPS ON E-BAY FOR AROUND £25 INC PP IT ARRIVED IN 3 DAYS AND AFTER A LITTLE FUN AND GAMES CONNECTED IT TO MY XDA MINI WIN 5. I USE IT LONDON ALL THE TIME AND FIND IT VERY RELIABLE AND ACCURATE, A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS SEEM TO STEM FROM SLOW SD CARDS AND TOMTOM SOFTWARE WHICH NEEDS CONSIDERABLE RESOURCES. I HAVE NOW GOT A T-MOBILE HTC KAISER WITH WIN 6 AND LOTS OF MEMORY AND 400MHZ CHIP ! SHOULD BE INTERESTING !
What software do you recommend to use with this? I tend to lose my way a lot around London. Could you post a link, so I can get it at ~25-30 quid.
NB: My first post
Hello everyone!
I recently bought a HOLUX GPSlim 236 mouse to ue it with a navigation software on my beloved MDA III!
My decision for the HOLUX was actually based on various posts in this forum, where that GPS mouse has been praised as a very good, fast and responsive device!
Unfortunately, the results I have so far achieved, are almost pathetic!
When turning the HOLUX on after it has been turned off for the night, it takes the GPS pretty long to get a fix (which is usually signaled by a blinking light on the device). Sometimes it really takes forever! For example, today I turned it on when leaving the appartment. I went down the three stories to the street, walked on the street for 2 minutes, waited for the tramway to arriv for 1 minute, sat in the tramway near a window for 15 minutes, walked to the office in 5 minutes.... finally, shortly before arriving at the office, the HOLUX got a signal and could show me my position!
But even then, the position of me walking down the street was not even close to precise. Exact position and walking direction are almost always wrong when on foot!!
In a car, when finally getting a fix on the satellites, the positioning is sometimes better..... but only sometimes!
Long story told short: The results of positioning are poor! I wonder, where the problem might be!
DAMAGED DEVICE?
FAKE IMITATION? (how can i check what chipset is really woking in that thing?)
IS IT THE DEFAULT OF THE MDA3 and its poor Bluetooth abilities?
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH THE HOLUX 236? SPEED? POSITIONING?
dont know what to do....
any help is very much appreciated!
regards,
krz
Did you try Holux Support site? I have the same model and had some issues, and they helped me resolve them.
Here is their website: http://www.buygpsnow.com/support/show.asp
I've been using the GPSlim quite satisfactorily. It does sometimes take long to acquire a fix though, and I'm not sure of all the reasons for that. (Other than that obviously Bluetooth and the BA have nothing to do with it.)
GPS devices generally take longer for acquisition when they are switched on in a different place from where they were last used. They store a so-called "almanac" which helps them find a quick fix because they already know most of the position data. (This is called a warm start.) If switched on away from the old position, they have to re-acquire to almanac, which takes longer. ("Cold start.")
As for the lack of accuracy, unless your GPSlim is damaged, I'd tend to blame that more on the software. The software knows about streets, etc. and will try to put you on one of them if the data is not close enough. With e.g. Tomtom 6 on the BA this usually works very well. If your software doesn't do this sort of "magnetic snap" to a street well then your position will not be so accurate. It could also be that the "snap-to", which IMHO requires some measure of anticipation about which direction and speed you are moving, works better when driving than when walking.
I can't really complain about the Bluetooth performance with my BA & GPSlim ... however for navigation on foot I tried to put the GPSlim (as it's so small) into the zip hood collar of my coat but found that the bluetooth connection doesn't work with the Holux on my back, behind my head, but does work if I slide the GPS in to the tip of the collar -- but it works best if I'm holding the BA in my hand the same side where the GPS is in the collar tip ... so the quality of the Bluetooth connection does seem very delicate!
Greetings,
Malkovich
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOHb5NfKAC0#t=0m09s
Well I got my Titan for a penny so I'll be selling it and buying that the moment it comes out....
*grumble grumble*
How about you guys?
http://www.wpcentral.com/hands-htc-titan-ii-att-video
Sorry a non replace able battery kills it for me, also I like the metal shell.
Titan II
I had a feeling that Titan II was going to come. But if the only difference is a 16meg cam and LTE it's not very exciting also since the battery is not replaceable. I dont know why people are so gun ho with having super internet speeds on a Phone. I'd be happy if they got 3G speeds (aka 4G on AT&T) working correctly.
I wonder when they where doing the show and tell at CES on the Titan II if the phone did a random power cycle like my Original Titan and the replacement Titan I have now. Ha!
Seeing that the titan's speeds are definitely throttled, and 4G is really just H (or might as well be), trading up seems like a good idea. I have had good luck with my HTC batteries, so I'm not too worried about that. Got my titan in the penny sale, I no reason not to sell it and trade up.
Also, non removeable back means the antenna issues will be permanently solved, and I'm sure the titan II will get a fix for the noise cancellation before the titan
Not being able to take the battery out is a deal breaker for me. I just watch all my friends with iOS devices always looking for some place to plug in when we are traveling.
I just pop my Amaze replacement battery in and I am off to the races.
I will personally wait for the multi-core and W8 kernal.
I was definitely looking at purchasing an extra battery for my Titan. I didn't have one for my Focus, and there were times I wished I did. However, I would definitely love to have an LTE phone. 5x speed for the same price I'm paying for data now sounds good to me.
As for throttled speed, I did several speed tests and got 5-6 Mbps and as high as 7 Mbps on my AT&T Titan using the Wi-Fi tethering and a laptop. I don't think they are throttled so much as the antenna on the Titan sucks and HSPA drops off quick with signal degradation. In fact, my only major complaint with the Titan is the antenna performance. I have to wonder if that's fixed in the Titan II.
Hmm, I have several phones so when one dies I used to just pop my Sim card in another one.
Recently, I bought a portable battery pack so I just charge my batteries from that. It's 12AH or so. Never again gonna waste money on spare batteries for each and every phone I get...
I was debating on getting a portable battery pack, but wasn't sure how well/fast they worked. Which one did you get?
Tempest790 said:
I was debating on getting a portable battery pack, but wasn't sure how well/fast they worked. Which one did you get?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the Newtrent IMP1000
There are some up to 20AH or so, but after looking through many reviews I settled for 11.1AH, because a lot of the reviews were saying the bigger ones were melting or otherwise breaking down in some fashion. Mine is only 2-3 months old, and I've only charged it 3 times, so the capacity is just fine for me, and it doesn't look like it's going to die any time soon.
Charges your device as fast as a USB charger. Mine is 5V 1A output, but there are models that support up to 2A output (for iPad and other). Since I only have one device that uses 2A I didn't think it was worth getting. The battery itself charges at 2A 5V input, and takes about 8 hours to charge (I remember when AAs took 8 hours to charge...)
It comes with a USB plug that has several interchangeable heads (microUSB, miniUSB) but I never really use them. I bought a nice backpack, packed up the battery, all necessary cables and my old phones, my laptop and laptop gaming accessories and I keep it in my car (it doesn't charge the laptop, to be clear. USB out only). I could go for weeks without an outlet , just hope my car never gets stolen.
Here are the ones I compared
http://www.zagg.com/accessories/zaggsparq.php#sparqSpecs
http://www.newtrent.com/HTC-EVO-android-External-Battery-p/imp500_android.htm
http://www.newtrent.com/IMP50D-dual-USB-5000mAh-iphone-battery-p/imp50d.htm
http://www.newtrent.com/Best-HTC-android-phone-Battery-Pack-p/imp1000_android.htm
I think HTC shouldn't have named this device as the "Titan 2".
Because it only has a better camera/battery and of course 4G LET;on the other hand,it's thicker and the backside has less aluminum and more plastic(Compared to Titan 1)
True. XDA thinks it should've been called the Titan LTE and I agree. It would better clarify the 4G product choice and also show it's an incremental upgrade.
Sent from my HTC Titan PI39100 using Board Express
I expected better from HTC
I figured that HTC would have done a lot better, after reading though the thread here, I'm not very impressed and now even HTC is going with the un-removable battery!
I guess it's a good money maker for the providers and manufactures, if anything goes wrong with it, just get a new err well with ATT it's a used replacement phone. Regardless of owning it for 90 days or 1 yr, their policy is after 30 days and the Phone wiggs out on ya, you get a used replacement.
Well you do have the option to send it in to ATT to get it repaired, but then you have no phone unless you have a backup phone. I when through this issue several years back with Razer Flip phone came out, I ran in to problems with key pad separating in certain places and not others on the phone, I had no choice but take a used replacement.
And when that one also had the same issues, I just gave up and got my HTC HD2 T9193 and just upgraded the rom, I think I will just stick with what I have and fall for all the glitzy hype.
i know this have been discussed before but there is still no solution.
here s my problem: wifi signal drops suddenly when i hold my phone. ive done sevral speed tests. These tests confirm that holding the phone results in a really bad wifi quality. I ve tried eveything.
does anyone have any ideas? even if its hardware moding
thx
+1
Sad to say, in my tests, by tightly holding the phone, especially at the bottom right, the signal strength reduced by about 20dBm.
Sent from my XT910 using XDA
this really sucks since this phone is pretty good and so far its the only BIG problem i found. and no solutions....
Must be a random problem. I have the RAZR and RAZR Maxx and neither has this problem.
For me, on 2.3.6 wifi signal was low, especially taking phone by bottom, but on ICS, both t-mobile ics and latest eu ics, wifi signal is very improved. Hand issue remains, but signal is for me stronger.
well i guess im just going to wait for stock ics update and hope it improves but im guessing the problem wont disappear since this is clearly a hardware issue. and if this is random then im very unlucky
When software fixes a radio that software usually just makes the signal-strength meter show signal that's not really there.
There are apps on Play that "fix" all kinds of radio problems by installing signal-strength icons with the low-strength indications set inaccurately. It *looks* like more signal, but it's the same low signal you had before.
Signal strength has almost nothing to do with reception anyway. Signal/Noise ratio is what's important, and there's no meter for that. One bar of signal in a very RF-quiet area, is much better than five bars in a computer data center.
"Caveet emter, I reckon!"
- Mark Twain
I have no wifi issues with this phone. The GNex however was unusable at 30 feet from a high-powered Hawking WAP, or an Apple Airport Extreme WAP.
If you have a plastic case, try removing it. Some cases are made with recycled plastic and are infused with conductive material that can act as a Faraday Shield, blocking part of the signal. Easy test, costs nothing but a few seconds...
yea i already knew about the plastic thats why i bought a rubber case. I have to say it helped a little but didnt fix it. the problem is still there.
thx
Haven't seen any problems with my wifi, although I mainly use the 3G simply because I have 4 GB of data a month and I will never use that much when I'm out around town.
If the problem occurs when holding it a certain way wouldn't the simplest solution be to not hold it that way, also be very aware of any metals between you and the router as metals block radio signals, how old is your house, if old enough maybe lead paint, unlikely but just throwing all possibilities out there.
thx for your help. i didnt only test this at home and as for holding the phone im used to hold it like i hold all phones and its pretty annoying if i always have to hold it differently if i want to use the internet
Have you tried the free Play Store app, WiFi Analyzer?
This will help you find out what works/doesn't as it provides more sensitive strength measurements from the chip. It's handy anyway, since it shows WAPs that you aren't connected to. yet.
It's quite possible that your antenna wire bounced off the connector. An insignificant drop of an inch could do that if it was never seated correctly. It would likely operate in a degraded capacity as a result. If you're OK with cracking the case open, that's something quick to check.
How long have you had this phone?
I have never heard anyone complain about the Razr's WiFi reception, so I suspect this is something unique to that phone right there. What is your idea of poor reception? 100 feet, inside, is the practical limit. 300 feet in an open field. Metal wall studs, sheet metal siding, all of these will stop radio waves dead.
marawan31 said:
thx for your help. i didnt only test this at home and as for holding the phone im used to hold it like i hold all phones and its pretty annoying if i always have to hold it differently if i want to use the internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get that, just trying to "cover all the bases" as they say.
Giblet535 said:
I have never heard anyone complain about the Razr's WiFi reception,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you haven't been listening. The RAZR is universally acclaimed to have the worst WiFi reception of ANY device since 1999.
im ok with opening it... i actually opened it a couple of times and removed the battery but idk what to look for since nothing is labeled i dont even know where exactly is the wifi ship and antenna. i tested this as close as 6 feet from my router when i leave it on the table i get full wifi signal and speed test at max then i hold it and try... wifi signal goes down and speed test at 3/4 max speed...
thx
It's possible that I have an extraordinary phone then. I decided to compare.
My phone is seeing -60dbm from the Hawking extender that I'm closest to, which is about 20 meters away, behind three stick-frame (pine 2x4 studs, sheetrock) walls. The reading varies dramatically, depending on where I put it on my desk. So let's see what some other WiFi devices do...
My MacBook reads -58dbm. My iPad2 reads -59dbm. An HP Envy 15 reads -65dbm. And a Moto Atrix2 WCS (With Cracked Screen) reads -61dbm.
A transfer of 200MB ("random" data created via linux: 'dd if=/dev/random of=200mb.dat bs=1048576 count=200' so that compression algorithms don't skew the results):
Razr (6.12.79 ICS Black Widow): 9s
MacBook (Lion): 6.5s
iPad2: 10s
HP Envy 15 (Ubuntu 11.10): 7.5s
Moto Atrix2 WCS: 10s
I didn't repeat the test, and that is a busy WAP, but the results are what I expect for battery-operated devices. I also expected the ipad, atrix and razr to lose the race, since they have relatively slow storage systems, which have inherently poor write performance on files of this size (200MB won't buffer at all).
The WiFi cable will look like a white or black wire with a gold junction on the end where it meets the motherboard. I would expect that if you've had the phone open, you would definitely notice a wire hanging loose! I doubt that's the problem, but that wire is a coaxial shielded cable - like on cable TV only really tiny - and you can do all kinds of DIY replacement antenna stuff eg, adding an external jack so you can "beam" WiFi a mile away using a hacked Pringles potato chip can.
I actually think the problem might be RF noise in your environment. Florescent lights (CFLs), computing equipment, HVAC compressors, and motors can effectively "jam" WiFi signals, causing packet transmission failures to increase rapidly as the distance from the WAP increases.
We have a Fluke RF analyzer here, and our WiFi setup is quite good as a result.
Does anyone know if the Razr is unusually susceptible to RF noise? Maybe noise that the Razr generates from the motherboard/CPU/radios/BT? I'm not equipped to test that.
---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 AM ----------
Do you have other devices to compare the Razr to?
Did you try pointing all the rubber duck antennas on the WAP straight up?
I just checked an iphone, another ipad, another Razr, and a Dell laptop, and my boss's Razr was technically the winner on signal strength and transfer speed, but let's call it even. There are too many variables, and statistically significant benchmarking is beyond the scope of a forum comment.
The Razr has typical WiFi performance in this environment.
Thank you very much for your post. I did try with the desire z and the evo 3d which are doing jist fine wheather i hold them or leave them on the table: both signal and speed test are amazing compared to the razr (if i hold it). If you could tell me where the wifi ship and antenna are located (a pic maybe) it would be great because when i open the razr all i can see are metal plates everywhere probably for cooling. I dont understand what you mean by pointing all the rubber duck antennas on the WAP...
Thx again
I haven't had a Razr open yet. Even after dropping mine from a motorcycle and watching it slide into a ditch with an inch of water in it. Tough li'l bastards...
The WiFi antenna cable and connector are probably under one of the metal shields.
Most WAPs have 1, 2, or 3 "rubber duck" antennas that you can move to maximize the signal lobe pattern. You can use the WiFi Analyzer app to adjust them, but be prepared to walk a lot...
Others are just a box. The only one of those that *I* know of that works well is the Apple Airport Extreme. The Netgear Wireless-N HD, which is very highly rated, is a P.O.S.: it has a narrow, elongated lobe pattern, and if you're in that narrow lobe, it works REALLY well. If not, you'll be lucky to connect to it. Two people standing 10 feet apart, and one can have great service while the other can't even get an IP address.
The fact that you have other devices working well, and you sound like you've done this quite a bit, I'm guessing you have a problem inside the phone itself.
I manage about 200 phones here, and I haven't heard one word of complaint about WiFi. 3G/4G service? Yeah, lots of complaints about 3G/4G from people out in the woods or working in a valley.
These also work well as a WAP (tethering). We have a few of the Personal WiFi devices - a handheld that converts 3G/4G to WiFi for up to five users - but most people prefer this phone for that.
My old DroidX has a better WiFi antenna, but that's an exceptional phone with only one core: I spit on it. Ptui.
Blue Angel still is a great device (especially regarding D-Two and his Android for BA-project:good with its large sized screen.
The only thing i always missed was GPS. Of course there are car cradles with GPS, but for hiking you always needed an extra device.
Unscrewing BAs i often wondered what this empty black box on top should be good for except carrying the antenna.
Took me some time for research till i found what i was looking for: Teleprovodnik Keychain Bluetooth GPS-Receiver.
The smallest one i could find, fits exactly to the backcover of Blue Angel. (eBay, € 19,--)
So i took a BA-Antenna (pic1,left/middle), peeled it off its carrier straight to the connectors and cut off the carrier right next to them (1/left/top).
Took Teleprovodnik, cut the battery cables and added some wire to connect the battery jack in the middle of the GPS-board with two flat brass contacts fixed to BA's backcover. These contacts are positioned into the outer gaps between those of BA Mainboard (pic4).
[Red is (+), black/blue is (-)]
Now the GPS device can drain its power as soon as BA has booted. If phone is off, the GPS receiver can't drain battery capacity.
Two lucky incidents: on/off switch of GPS is right next to top of backcover, so i mounted a BA volume switch that now serves the on/off of GPS.
(Another possibility would be replacing the IR-Screen by a microswitch (does anyone here still use infrared connection?) and let the one on GPS board turned on.)
And second the LEDs for bluetooth and satellite appear to sit right behind the camera hole. (Yes, i had to dismount the camera; maybe one day i'll find some smaller device, but as i still use a 30 years old analogue Praktika, i don't really miss it.) (both pic3)
Unfortunately Teleprovodnik doesn't have data output through his USB jack, so cable connection is useless and i have to use bluetooth.
But after all it works- after some fight against bluetooth&gps-settings on my BA , i now have a fully working GPS in my blue angel- just tap on wireless/bluetooth on my homescreen, turn the switch and start navigation
One small problem had to be solved- the level of network connection.
During my mounting experiments i didn't treat the antennafoil very well, cut off some parts...
...and lost about 15% of of network level compared to a second BA on same Network.
Now that the whole system is running, i'll work on optimizing the antenna.
If you put it in the wrong place, it shields the bluetoothconnectors or GPS-signal.
Maybe i'll add some ringantenna...
edit: 10.11.: took new antenna, now folded the parts i in former version had cut off, partly for giving place to switch inwards, and: excellent!
No difference to a non-modified phone any more.
The problem had been less disturbing if you used onboardnavigation; with google maps for example
you sometimes saw where you are on the map, but not the map itself until you reached an
area with better coverage. Tested on O2, which isn't this strong around here.
With Vodafone it's running better, but i keep O2 for testing.
Still sometimes occurs, but now only in areas where i know radio coverage is poor or worse.
I'll add some more detailed pics soon.
Mounting the switch:
First drill two holes, size and place as shown in pic below.
Use a file to remove the plastic between them.
Take a volume switch for Blue Angel, cut off the outer two silver parts.
After checking if the range it serves when placed into the longhole
fits to GPS' switch glue it into the Backcover of your BA.
You need to take two small right angled pieces of plastic, placed on the right side
and in front of the two vertical ribs on both sides of switchhole
(from the now useless antenna holder, has three different sizes) to
connect the switchholder to the upper side of the backcover and a
7x2mm strip roundet at one long edge to support the switch from underneath,
parallel to the horizontal line in backcover under the switchhole
(can be seen on the pic where the red switchholder is missing).
In first version this strip was broader, so i had to cut off a piece of antenna,
which came out to be no good idea. Obviously.
Now antenna fits under the horizontal part of switchholder.
The battery contacts:
Here i've taken some pieces of brass, 2x10mm bent to a hook at one side
so after installation they come parallel to the battery contacts on motherboard.
To place them two gaps have to be filed into the backcover.
The middle of each of these two gaps has to be 2,4mm from the side of the contact hole (a).
By this the GPS contacts sit right between the two outer contacts on each side of battery connector.
(For my proper version i've taken the two battery housing ground contacts from a dead BA, see (c). )
To fix the contacts a strip of black plastic (the thin material from antenna holder,
there's not enough room for the thick one) is glued over them.
At the same time you're doing this remove plastic at point (b) so GPS' board fits in.
Inbetween i found out CMOS backup battery CR2032 cable&plug is similar to the original of GPS receiver,
so i can replace the original one by one coming in one piece.
(some pics will follow)
Awesome work!
Thanks.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Don't just say thanks- klick it! (Of course i'm nevertheless glad 'bout it...)
Project is getting better and better, antenna problem solved.
Now working on a proper version for my own everyday-use.
Because of gsm-network-coverage, double-sim should be next project.
Together with D-Two we're heading for Blue Angel 2.0 !:highfive:
...of course i'm just providing a pearl on the icicle of D-Two's cake...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BT-Mini-Key...0570828383?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item1e66a0ba5f
Found this, in case anyone want to buy something less...russian. Just ordered one.
EDIT: Also, how's your battery life with this thing?
ares93 said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BT-Mini-Key...0570828383?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item1e66a0ba5f
Found this, in case anyone want to buy something less...russian. Just ordered one.
EDIT: Also, how's your battery life with this thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's quite the same device. All come from Taiwan, and mine also looked different when i ordered it.
They just change the coverprint...
Came without any description or datasheet except a sticker on the back- good luck
password as always is 0000 (if not it for shure would be 1234).
"Teleprovodnik
Bluetooth GPS Receiver
Model Keychain GPS2000
FCC ID: OUP961300101
Serial N°: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Made in Taiwan" That's all.
(Funny: There's a company called Teleprovodnik in Bremen/Germany.)
Just found this:
General
GPS Chipset: MTK GPS
Frequency: L1,1575.42 MHZ
C/A Code: 1.023MHz chip rate
Channels: 51 CH for tracking
Antenna: Built-in patch with LNA
Datum: WGS-84
Acquisition Rate
Cold Start: 36 sec, average
Warm Start: 33 sec, average
Hot Start: 1 sec, average
Reacquisition: <1sec
Accuracy (none DGPS)
Position: Without aid: 3.0m; 2D-RMS DGPS:2.5m,2D-RMS
Velocity: Without aid: 0.1m/s; DGPS:0.05m/s
Sensitivity: -158 dBm (tracking)
Dynamic
Altitude: < 18,000m
Velocity: < 515m/sec
Acceleration: 4g
Protocol
GPS Output: NMEA-0183(V3.01) - GGA, GSA, GSV, RMC (default)
Data bit : 8, stop bit : 1 (Default)
Interface
Bluetooth? Version 1.2 compliant
Output Power: Class 2 (10 meter in free space)
Frequency: 2.4 to 2.48 GHz
Power
Battery: Li-Ion
Operation Time: 10 hrs
Power Charge: Mini USB
Environmental
Operating: -10°C to +60°C
Storage: -20°C to +60°C
Charging: 0°C to +45°C
Humidity: 5% to 90% non-condensing
Physical
Dimension: 46(W) x 32(L) x 14.7(H) mm
Weight: 22g
Others
Certification: CE / FCC / C-tick
LED: Bluetooth / GPS / Battery / charger status
Battery life i can't tell exactly, but with standard 1450mAh battery it's at least more than two hours
(which is more than twice as long as my HTC Kaiser runs on GPS);
i didn't yet make a long run test with 100% charged battery.
Tomorrow.
Of course it's also a difference, if you have your maps on SD card and don't continuously connect to internet.
And as there are batteries with up to 3600 or 4200 mAh i yet don't worry much about it.
edit: found a small manual in german and french on PDF.
NavGear KeyMate MK-51.
Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/1b8c2yj0802q5s8/NavGearMK51_Manual.pdf
B-44 said:
It's quite the same device. All come from Taiwan, and mine also looked different when i ordered it.
They just change the coverprint...
I'll post all Data as soon as i find again the backcover of mine.
Came without any description or datasheet except a sticker on the back- good luck
password as always is 0000 (if not it for shure would be 1234).
Battery life i can't tell exactly, but with standard 1450mAh battery it's at least more than two hours
(which is more than twice as long as my HTC Kaiser runs on GPS);
i didn't yet make a long run test with 100% charged battery.
Tomorrow.
Of course it's also a difference, if you have your maps on SD card and don't continuously connect to internet.
And as there are batteries with up to 3600 or 4200 mAh i yet don't worry much about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ta, mate. Any chance you could throw in some high res pics in the update tomorrow? Is a bit difficult to see which power pins you used.
Btw, this is one of the best mods i've seen. I stopped using my BA because my bluetooth GPS died. But this mod, combined with D-two's Android build and maybe an early series motherboard (high OC) will give new life to my BA.
ares93 said:
Ta, mate. Any chance you could throw in some high res pics in the update tomorrow? Is a bit difficult to see which power pins you used.
Btw, this is one of the best mods i've seen. I stopped using my BA because my bluetooth GPS died. But this mod, combined with D-two's Android build and maybe an early series motherboard (high OC) will give new life to my BA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean the pins connecting to the battery- those are just flat pieces of brass (~3mm broad), which i bent to the same shape as the pins of the Mainboard. of course they shouldn't be fixed with tape but a piece of plastic glued over them. The tape solution i only chose for the pics.
And if you look at your battery: + and - each serve two of the mainboardpins.
As we're about it- on the Photo you see (a) where flat gaps have to be filed for the battery connectors, a piece of plastic with the same gaps should be taken as counterpart to fix the connectors (i'll upload a pic as soon as i've finished my version).
at (b) the vertical plastic has to be removed where indicated to give place to the GPS' board.
There's really no space to be spent
That's crazy what you just did
I'm not using GPS, but it still is a great piece of work from you! Did you test if it doesn't interferes with the Radio? I mean, for example making a call with GPS on.
ares93 said:
maybe an early series motherboard (high OC) .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??? i think i could learn something right now...
miki100 said:
That's crazy what you just did
I'm not using GPS, but it still is a great piece of work from you! Did you test if it doesn't interferes with the Radio? I mean, for example making a call with GPS on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question. In first phase when i tested GPS hunchbacked, nothing special occured.
But since i've build it in - i'll do my homework and report.
(But i don't expect it, as GPS is no NFC, and the frequencies are far different enough.
You could imagine some strange interference.)
B-44 said:
??? i think i could learn something right now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Early Blueangels overclocked better than the newer ones. I had one that ran on 600mhz (594 or something similar). My current BA, one of the last ones ever manufactured according to HTC, based on the serial number, only does 471mhz stable with the original board. Everything above that locks up the device. I bought a busted mid-series BA for cheap and transplanted the motherboard, stable at 530mhz.
EDIT: Its a hit or miss really. Its almost impossible to identify early models if they're in good nick. I look for the ugliest, most used BA when I'm parts hunting. Bigger chance of the being older. If you have a few spare boards, it might be worth checking which one clocks best and use that.
EDIT2: Might just be dodgy statistics since I only own seven of these things, but from my experience, branded devices clock better. Again, might just be accidental but still.
ares93 said:
Early Blueangels overclocked better than the newer ones. I had one that ran on 600mhz (594 or something similar). My current BA, one of the last ones ever manufactured according to HTC, based on the serial number, only does 471mhz stable with the original board. Everything above that locks up the device. I bought a busted mid-series BA for cheap and transplanted the motherboard, stable at 530mhz.
EDIT: Its a hit or miss really. Its almost impossible to identify early models if they're in good nick. I look for the ugliest, most used BA when I'm parts hunting. Bigger chance of the being older. If you have a few spare boards, it might be worth checking which one clocks best and use that.
EDIT2: Might just be dodgy statistics since I only own seven of these things, but from my experience, branded devices clock better. Again, might just be accidental but still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know there's some overclock-function in D-Two's ROM?
Aside from this- IMEI-Number should be a good indicator. Last number is checksum, and those i think eight before it should tell you if you've got an early model...
Tested yesterday. Took a 1490mAh Battery, unchecked Display Off after XX minutes and ran Googlemaps. After 2 1/4 hours battery was down to 45% and device turned off.
I'm now rebuilding the whole installation to rediscover little steps i may have forgotten in between, as i'm working on the whole thing cince early in july with several interruptions.
And think about antenna as in the place i've got it now it may shield GPS antenna a bit.
edit:now tested with 2400mAh battery. I couldn't believe it! Amazing! After last test - but now running and running; after three hours warning/battery low/ of course dismissed... BA keeps on running with lumid display for at least 5hours44 (no joke!)minutes. Imagine now 3xxc or 4xxx mAh! Power management and age of battery seem to be really important. Will countertest with Sundreams ROM, has got superb data management, but mean keyboard.
edit2: gps fix in new area ~5 minutes, re-log in less than 2.
B-44 said:
Don't just say thanks- klick it! (Of course i'm nevertheless glad 'bout it...)
Project is getting better and better, antenna problem solved.
Now working on a proper version for my own everyday-use.
Because of gsm-network-coverage, double-sim should be next project.
Together with D-Two we're heading for Blue Angel 2.0 !:highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dual-sim adapter like this: http://www.ebay.de/itm/DUAL-SIM-Ada...94541452?pt=Handy_Zubehör&hash=item4abcc3ff8c should work.
I tested one in my xda flame. There are a lot of brands out there. Mine was a Magicsim 3G - no cut. Look for: dual sim adapter 3G on ebay. About 15 Euro used. I like the no cut version with the foil board in between, as it is more flexible to build in.
SpecTec SDG-810 2-in-1 SDIO GPS Receiver Card & Micro SD
It would be nice if this had a linux driver, wasn't $50+, and didn't stick so far out of the top. Link
notime2d8 said:
It would be nice if this had a linux driver, wasn't $50+, and didn't stick so far out of the top. Link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen those devices but they are useless to us. First as you said they stick out totally uncomfortably, and second they would hinder us from using a 16GB storage card.
The ones i yet couldn't cope with are USB-sticks... maybe we could unshell them. Data connection will be the question.
muckelmaus said:
Dual-sim adapter like this: http://www.ebay.de/itm/DUAL-SIM-Ada...94541452?pt=Handy_Zubehör&hash=item4abcc3ff8c should work.
I tested one in my xda flame. There are a lot of brands out there. Mine was a Magicsim 3G - no cut. Look for: dual sim adapter 3G on ebay. About 15 Euro used. I like the no cut version with the foil board in between, as it is more flexible to build in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool you're here. As i wrote- double sim is NEXT, i know different devices, but first i'll take a look at optimizing antenna. I often don't see a difference to normal BA, but just want to get a little trick more...