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Mount, Power, GPS and Audio

Ok, I want to use the XDAII in the LandRover for mapping, it is noisy in the truck, I also want to play MP3 WMA files via the car stereo.
I have a Garmin eTrex but am willing to get something dedicated if the price is right.
I want a cradle for the XDAII that will hold it securly,
I want to power/charge the XDAII and GPS
I want to get the audio out of the bottom connector into the front of the stereo (3.5mm socket) for music play back (poss hands free phone too)
I still have various bits of hands free kit from when I used to fix 'carphones' in the early 90's. It would be nice if i can fit a mic in car for voice dial and calls too.
If the info on the tech page is correct on the bottom connector it would appear all is straight forward to do myself, However we all know for the cost of the parts I could by something that would do what i want and more. So what will do it. I am unsure on the XDA to XDAII connection compatability.
Current experiance of produced products is a duel universal mount from memory-map, the GPS fits fine but the XDAII just falls out, not good for £30
Cheers

Hi,
I wish the same thing that you. I would like to use the Xda2 with Land Rover Discovery for mapping together my Garmin 3+.
To do this maybe we have to make a serial and power cable or find someone who can make it.
I think the pinage for xda2 is slightly different than the xda1. In myxda.com they said: "Most accessories are not common to both except for the car charger".
If someone here can help us to know what the correct pinage for xda2 than we can make one.
Or we can buy a serial cable from O2 (I am oredering one now) and check what is the pinage used for it and mix with the car charger adapter.
what do you think about it?

Charger from xda1, serial cable, gps, usb cable (charging problem) all work with xda2, cradle also works but you need to shave a little off the inside or you will mark your xda2. I have an arkon cradle/speaker, 2 usb power jacks, speaker jack with 2.5 to 3.5 converter from xda1, this works with xda2 but the rf break through from the phone to the speaker in the cradle is atrocious, i wish I knew how to fix that problem because when you receive a call you have 10 seconds or more of rf noise before you get to hear or speak to the caller, other than that it is fine and comes with lots of different mounting options.

pinout
When I get chance Ill get my scope on the pins and work it out. Ive had my eTrex working, used the standard serial lead for the XDA2 and the eTrex, just made a null modem adapter to connect between em (info on memory map web site) Works well but you have to dissable beaming as i think they share the same comm port.
I was going to buy the eTrex connector to bare ends from Garmin but it doesn't carry power only data!!! typical. Have thought of getting one of the dedicated GPS units.
So the next best option is to have a cable from the XDA2 to a small box, this will have TX/RX audio, power and data. The box will have a PSU for the XDA and a cigar socket to for the eTrex standard lead. Id rather not chop up the lead as it cost silly money.

Re: pinout
TDIPower said:
So the next best option is to have a cable from the XDA2 to a small box, this will have TX/RX audio, power and data. The box will have a PSU for the XDA and a cigar socket to for the eTrex standard lead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and your price for building these for every owner of an XDA2 (cos we're all going to want one! ) will be....?
Sounds like this would be accessory number 1 for anyone with an XDA2 and a car.
I've also got an eTrex, and I bought a serial/power Y-shaped cable last year for it, so they are available. It has a cigarette lighter plug to provide the power, and a serial output too for my laptop. Let me know if you need details - seems silly to buy a new GPS just because you can't get a combined data/power lead for it. It cost me £24 mail order, IIRC.

XDA connector
I need to find a UK supplier of the XDA connector, this would get the cost down. The easy way would be to buy the in car charger, strip it, mount the charger in the box, replace the cable with one that will do all the connections.
Ill try and play, get it set up and post somthing on here

Craddle for XDAII /MDAII
T-mobile germany sells one for €199, INCLUSIVE of sat nav software and wired mouse
Ready to mount

Re: pinout
Sorry. What is the meaning of PSU?
sublimatica said:
TDIPower said:
So the next best option is to have a cable from the XDA2 to a small box, this will have TX/RX audio, power and data. The box will have a PSU for the XDA and a cigar socket to for the eTrex standard lead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and your price for building these for every owner of an XDA2 (cos we're all going to want one! ) will be....?
Sounds like this would be accessory number 1 for anyone with an XDA2 and a car.
I've also got an eTrex, and I bought a serial/power Y-shaped cable last year for it, so they are available. It has a cigarette lighter plug to provide the power, and a serial output too for my laptop. Let me know if you need details - seems silly to buy a new GPS just because you can't get a combined data/power lead for it. It cost me £24 mail order, IIRC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

PSU
PSU is short for Power Supply Unit. the bit that powers/charges the unit.
Sorry im not used to multi language conversation.

PSU
No problem!
I will learn a little bit every day

I am also currently looking at my options as like you TDIpower, I am trying to use the XDAII in a noisey landy.
I am interested in the parrot ck3000 which according to the blurb connects your phone etc via a bluetooth unit into your stereo unit. I have not looking into all the issues but I assume you would be able to use the phone/navigation and MP3 via this unit through the vehicle speakers to be able to hear whats going on? Mind you when I'm going a full tilt I can hardly hear the speakers either??
I know a couple of others on here have the parrot unit so mybe they could shed some light on this??
Cheers

sdio fm trasnmitor
i do not know if it is exist (sdio fm trasnmitor) but this will be a good solution for this case!

Hey,
Sorry to bring up old posts, but has anyone found a solution for Mount, Power, GPS (etrex) and Audio?
Dave

Have you seen this one ?
http://www.seidioonline.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BD-SMGF1XDAII
A friend of mine bought one for his iPaq and it's brilliant, just like a cellphone cradle, slide it in, and you are ready to go.

Hi
What you are asking for is available, apart from the sound in the form of the carcomm cradle http://www.totalpda.co.uk/product4738_0.aspx.
According to the connector wiring on this site you should be abale to get sound from the bottom connector, but what the connector page fails to tell you is you only get sound out o fthe bottom connector during in a call, so its no use for MP3 or Navigation sounds. Currently I am using the jack plug which is a real pain to plug in. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=50643#50643
Re the Parrot CK3000, I have just taken one out of my car as it did not work with the XDA2 if you have installed bluetooth tools. And without bluetooth tools the bluetooth GPS device would not work. Also you cant currently send sound over bluetooth apart from when in a voice call.
If you find a solution to sound from the bottom connector please dont forget to post.
Good luck
JustinP

@justinp: There appears to be A way to get all sound from the bottom connector.
The T-Mobile MDAII Carkit (QTek2020 carkit and the Yeti carkit are the same make) do just that!
Unfortunately I have this (cheaper) XDAII / iMate (Expansys-sold like) carkit wich only give in-call audio via the bottom connector.
There is someting with pin19 and pin9 (I read on the german www.ppc-welt.info forum).
pin19 must be grounded
pin 9 must NOT be connected (it is on some carkits thus messing up proper operation).
Now if someone can verify this!!
:?:

Full Car Kit Needed in UK - Whats Best ?

I have recently bought a XDA2 copy (SPV-M1000), Have Sat Nav working perfectly and would like to fit a full car kit...
From what I can see on the forums - none seem to work well..
I do not need to power the BT GPS as I have wired that already and it works fine.
At the moment I have a full Sony Ericsson P900 kit installed, can it be modified ie cable from cradle unplugged and a new cradle with xda2 lead plugged in ???
Anyway, I need a good working kit if one is available, I have looked at one supposedly an O2 original kit at £145 plus Delivery & VAT... but I think I have seen on here that it either echoes or blows the radio...
Please HELP
regards Alan - ps great forum, best i've seen so far.......

So far the BEST car kit I've found is from Yeti. See the other thread regarding car kits for details. It is not cheap, around 250 Euros. I have one on the way.
Here's the description from their e-mail:
The carkit you seem to be looking for desperately really does exist! In fact, we’ve already sold large amounts of it, also to overseas customers… The specs listed on the forum by a Dutch contributor are right, only the connection to the carstereo doesn’t come standardly: if your carstereo has a line-in, then a special cable is required (ˆ 40,- ex VAT). If your carstereo has no line-in, then a special connection box (ˆ 55,- ex VAT) is required in addition to the cable.
Once having made the connection with your carstereo, you can listen to the Music files on your PDA in stereo over the carstereo and control the volume on the carstereo as well. As soonj as you answer the phone or place a call yourself, the PDA will mute the music and your voice-call will then sound over the carstereo. Should you be using navigation software on your PDA (the carkit has a connector for a GPSmouse), then all navigation instructions will sound over the music files you’re playing, without muting your carstereo (since that would soon be very annoying when navigating in town!). And ofcourse the PDA will be charged in the carkit.
As you may have seen on our website, the carkit comes standardly with a microphone, external speaker, junction box, connection cables, firm PDA holder and small installation materials. A GSM-antennae (with standard connector) is required, because the PDA’s internal antennae will be switched off in the carkit. Given the fact that quite a few cars already nowadays already have such an antennae, we’ve decide to not include the antennae in the standard package, but sell an inside-on-glass antennae as a ˆ 25,- (ex VAT) option, thus keeping the standard price of the carkit as low as possible.

Do you want the full hands free functionality or would a BT Headset suffice? If it would then the Carcomm XDAII Cradle works well www.carcomm.nl .

I've just bought a Brodit holder and mount for my Beemer Mini and I plan on getting a BT headset sometime in the near future. That's pretty much all I could ask for. Sure I could get one that has the stuff Carlos described, but I will probably be moving on with the XDA products as and when they come out and don't want to have to buy more again and again...or at least not at so hefty a price.
Anthony

Newbie XDA/Sat Nav upgrade question

Hi, I've recently registered despite lurking for most to the time I've had my XDAII, but never had to ask a question becasue someone else got there first.
I'm being forced down the route of changing from my XDAII because the touchscreen section cracked yesterday Having said that given the amount of abuse I've given it I chuffed its lasted this long, probably a year better than any other phone I've had!
One of the major things I use my XDAII for is Sat Nav, using TT3 and a Holux GPS cradle, which is a very neat installation one power lead, no need to wire up a reciever or power a bluetooth reciever etc. My understanding is that all of this can be reused if i go to either the XDAIIi or XDAIIs, because the connector pins and OS are the same (or atleast similar) etc.
However if I upgrade to the XDA Exec, I'm going to need a new cradle, new GPS reciever (because I dont think anyone does a combined cradle and reciever for the Exec like I have currently), and new TT5 software to use with the 2005 spec OS? Does anyone do a powered/active 'stick to the windscreen' mount for the Exec, the Brodit unit looks like its vehicle specific, whic his great if you only drive one car...which I dont! does anyone do a wired GPS reciever to mate with the Exec or do I have to use tart mode, sorry bluetooth? :wink:
What are your thoughts on all of this? To Exec or not that is the question.
Regards
Iain

Brodit do a suction cup windscreen mount in the Proclip range. I would imagine this to remain compatible with their Exec cradle.

Hi,
I retail all the brodit kit, if you are not already sorted, ill be happy to advise if i can.
Hope that helps, PM if you need any assistance.
Thanks
Bryson

Gps receivers and cradles

Hi was looking on ebay for a gps craddle and receiver. Is any make better than the next, or is there a better place to spend my money?
I am after a receiver to run Tom Tom5 I don't mind if I need to permently wire it into my car. With the cradle just want it to charge my phone and have a speaker output for tom tom/handsfree would be nice.
Too many to choose from.

Do you mean an integrated cradle/gps receiver? Personally I would only ever buy a bluetooth receiver as it means it will be compatible with more that one device, and means I can get any PDA I like that GPS software will work on.
If you just want a bt receiver, and a suitable cradle, then look at the Arkon mounts. They make everything from cheap vent clip units, ro tripple mount window hanging units, to permanent screw fixed units, both with, and without powered speakers.
I find the speakers on my Wizard, and Universal, and my previous Magician & Alpine loud enough that I didn't really need the added powered speaker with the additional cabling going everywhere.

it depend on what device you are using for somthing like the universal tytyn oe kjam then you wont be able to use a a gps cradle you ca only use a bluetooth gps for these devices.
have a look at the holux cr100 the connector at the bottom of th cradle can be changed to suit a number of pocketpc's

i would also search brodit. they do wired cradles. Still think a separate cps reciever is the better way to go with a cradle for the pda.

external Antenna?

Is there a spot to connect a external antenna like on tytn at the back?

No there is not.

ardsar said:
No there is not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure?
Its usually hidden somewhere in the battery compartment under a sticker or label or rubber plug. It might even be under the battery its self.
What is very strange i found it in one phone under a lable saying Void if removed...
Very odd considering the plug while not public common use. Is a perfectly viable antenna connection and often used in rigs, car phones and business.
But most phones have them.

Yes, this doesn't.

thnx for the info guys. hmmm this might change my descion to get it. unless it has better reception then i get with my Tytn i wont be able to get reception without it.

This is an issue for me too, as I just found this:
http://www.easydevices.co.uk/products.asp?partno=TCANTENNATPRO&model=
Says it's an external GPS antenna for the HTC Touch Pro...
Or would this work?
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/10939.htm?referer=FR_PROD-PR-P-10939

The first thing is discontinued, obviously because they found out (probably by some angry buyers) that TP DOES NOT have a GPS plug.
The second is a full BT GPS device. Works with any BT enabled computer or PDA (inc. the TP).

GPS Antenna
I was also disappointed that there was no BT antenna available.
I was seaching some GPS antenna maker hoping to find some that could use existing MiniUSB port on TP but it seems the port is unable to support communication with GPS software.
So sad, this would have been a good enhancement to TP if there was MiniUSB GPS antenna maker.

Guys do you know what you are talking about?
I suppose not.
BT or USB are not "generic I do it all" technologies. They work based on specific protocols.
A GPS antenna is usually passive equipment - and even for active ones we mean that something amplifies the received signal.
THAT signal (and in fact the whole antenna), is "stupid". It is the part of the chipset to receive the ELECTRICAL data and make them into usable data.
I am not sure if I am getting through, my English are not the best, but the point is that you are looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing.
Now if you want a real USB or BT GPS that you will use instead of the internal ones, that's a whole different story. This works and actually does it by using the "COM" (serial) support that both USB and BT include.
To make the story more complete though, USB solutions will not work for devices that don't support "USB-host" (i.e. being the host part not the client part of the connection). Most WM don't have this (and yes Diamond and TP also don't). So you are left with BT.
To be honest if you are ready to pay for that premium (and you seem to be, by the links you give), what is your problem if what you connected is a full GPS that "replaces" the internal one or not?
I hope everything is more clear.

I presently use a TyTN II, and have an external aerial as the mount for the device is under a metal dash, so shields the signal...
I therefore need an external receiver for GPS.
Se here: http://freespace.virgin.net/shaw.clan/modifications.html and click on the TomTom hiolder link, although this is with the older QTEC 9100.
Make sense?

For driving with my Garmin in the car i used a Re-Radiating in my Xterra with excellent results.
This is basically the setup I have, although the internal antenna wasn't integrated into the power plug.
http://www.semsons.com/gpsreran.html
Mine is a bit more similar to this so you can control where you mount the internal antenna.
http://www.mapsdownunder.com.au/cgi-bin/mapshop/MG-GPSPHMANTRA45.html
I have yet to test it on the Fuze but will probably do it when I have time this weekend. The change in signal strength is drastic (on the garmin).

Woow insanely expensive!

Kerensky97 said:
....
I have yet to test it on the Fuze but will probably do it when I have time this weekend. The change in signal strength is drastic (on the garmin).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let us know if it works.