Serial Port Speed

[Badger]

Does anybody know how to change the speed of the serial port on a 2210? I have a wired GPS receiver that will sync up to speeds 4800, 9600, 19200 and 38400. At the moment it is sync'ing at 4800 as that is presumably the current speed set on the serial port

[Reidan]

On my Navman GPS reciever, connected to my H3765, the port speed is set in the software. Take a look around in your software package for your GPS to see if you can find a similar setting.


Reidan

[Badger]

Thanks for the reply. I am setting the speed in the software but I get nothing for the GPS when I do. Sounds like I need to configure the GPS itself. The manual it came with is useless. It's smaller the a post-it note!

[allgire]

Most GPS receivers that are NMEA must be set to 4800.

Can you say what GPS receiver and what software you are using? I have a few different units, and different software packages - maybe this will help diagnose it.

Thank you.

[Badger]

Thanks for the reply.
It is a Seidio GR-300 Receiver that was bundled with a Seidio G2500 Ready mount kit
http://www.seidio-europe.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BD%2DSMGF2IP22

The leaflet that came with it says:
Interfaces
1) dual channel rs-232 or ttl compatible level with user selectable baud rate (4800-default, 9600, 19200, 38400)
2) nmea 0183 version 2.2 ascii output (gpgga, gpgll, gpgsa, gpgsv, gprmc, gpvtg)
3) real time differential correction input (rtcm sc-104 message types 1, 5 and 9)
4) sirf protocol

I am using tomtom. I can get it to work using sirf(4800) and nmea(4800) options. The problem I have is that whilst driving, the position of the map is up to 500 yards behind the current location. When I stop you can watch it go through about 15 positions before it catches up. It is not tomtom that is slow because it still goes through these 15 settings when using the simple GPS window in the start/settings/system/gps display. I used to use a compact flash GPS but I *ahem* broke it.

[Reidan]

Are you storing your maps on a SD card? There is an FAQ about certain model iPaqs and SD cards running slowly.


Tom Tom FAQ (http://support-uk.tomtom.com/cgibin/uk.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=ZI19lChh&p_lva=1438&p_faqid=49&p_created=1100154900&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTI1J nBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9cnVucyBzbG93JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU 9MyZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMT1_YW55fiZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMj1_YW55f iZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPX5hbnl_JnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=)

On my GPS I can change the refresh rate. It defaults to 1 update per second which has been fine for me. Does TomTom software have a setting like this?

Reidan

[allgire]

Ok, thanks. Looks like a good unit.

This almost makes it sound more like a refresh issue rather than a baud rate problem.

I had Microsoft Streets & Trips 2001 on a laptop, and it had a 15 second delay by design. The new version does not have this restriction. That was the software though and not the hardware.

That said - I'm not so sure that this would be your issue. I found a link on GPSPassion.com that someone reported a problem with their GPS being really slow with an iPAQ 2210. Here (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3451) is the link to that article.

I haven't tried it personally on a 2210, so won't be of much more help. Hopefully someone else with a 2200 series can confirm this, but I'm surprised I haven't heard about it before if that really were true.

According to their marketing information - the Seidio SGR-300 wired receiver is based on improved SiRFstarII and specially designed to work with Seidio G2500 GPS ready mount. It is WAAS capable. It can be plugged into G2500 mount without any adaptor cable. The combination of Seidio SGR-300 receiver and G2500 mount ensures the best performance on your GPS application, and they do advertise it to work with the iPAQ 2200 series.

I see the specs of the receiver are:
Chipset SiRFStarII

Power
+ 4.75 ~ 5.5V DC
Backup Power 3V Rechargeable Lithium Cell Battery, up to 1,000 hours(41.7 days)

Dimension
59.0(W) x 51.0(47.3)(D) x 20.6(H)(mm)
2.32(W) x 2.00" (1.86) (D) x 0.81" (H)

Interface
Serial Port
RJ11

Baud Rate
4,800 to 38,400 bps

Input Messages
NMEA/SiRF Binary Set altitude, position, date&time, select output messages and rates

Output Messages
SiRF Binary plus proprietary messages NMEA-0183 v2.2 GGA, GSA, GSV, RMC, VTG, GLL

Environmental
Operating Temp
-40 °C to +85 °C
Safe Storage Temp
-55 °C to +100 °C

Relative Humidity
Water proof design for all weather

Mechanical
Cable Length
1m

Mounting
Magnet Pad

Performance

General

Tracking channel
12 satellites


Update Rate
1 second

Acquisition Time
Cold Start
45 sec., average

Warm Start
38 sec., average

Hot Start
8 sec., average

Reacquisition Time
General
0.1 sec., average

Position Accuracy
Position: 5-25 meter CEP without SA
Velocity 0.1 meters/second, without SA
Time 1 microsecond synchronized GPS time

DGPS Accuracy
Position: 1 to 5 meter, typical
Velocity: 0.05 meter/second, typical

Dynamics conditions

Velocity
515 m/s (1,000 knots) Max

Acceleration
4G Max

Altitude
18,00m (60,000 ft) Max

This points back to the software though as the receiver has no physical adjustments.

Hope this helps.

[Badger]

Thank you both for your assistance :)

Reidan,

I do have a SD card plugged in but all of the maps, postcodes poi's and programs are stored on a CF card. There is no setting (that I can find at least) to change the refresh rate.

Allgire,

I'm pleased that my GPS seems to be suitable for the job. That article is interesting. I borrowed a blue tooth unit and that runs very well, so I concluded it was a problem with the serial port (hence my original post). I tried a program this evening called visualGPSce and started it logging to a file and the amount of data being logged didn't come close to 4800bps, so I agree with your suggestion that it is a refresh issue. Having said that, the article suggests that the pocket pc slows to a crawl. I haven't experienced any slowing down whatsoever on mine.


Looks like the answer maybe to send it back and get a bluetooth one instead. Pity though, I'm not too keen on the bluetooth receivers and I found the CF receiver inconvenient to carry around sticking out of the top of the unit

[Reidan]

Have you tried contacting Seidio support?

Reidan

[Badger]

I've send 2 emails to their support address recently (although not about this problem) and received nothing in return. I had decided I wouldn't get any support on this problem either. My second email to them was regarding a power supply problem with the cradle itself which I was going to return to them anyway for a replacement and have been trying to decide whether I am going to return the whole bundle on the grounds that they sold the bundle as a 2210 GPS system that doesn't work.

[Badger]

Update:

I have changed the interface from sirf to nmea. In addition to this I now set the route on the ipaq BEFORE dropping it into the cradle and it works flawlessly.

Thanks for all your help guys :)

[Reidan]

Glad to hear that you got it figured out.

Reidan

[allgire]

Yes, excellent.

Thanks for posting back your success.