New GPS arrived... NOW WITH TROUBLES!!
 

Well my new Garmin GPS 35 finally arrived! It norm goes for 200 but got it on ebay for 80! I currenty have a MS GPS unit made by pharos. I wanted something more permanent so here it is. Now I have a question. I am going to mount it on my roof just behind my lightbar. I am going to run it through the brake light. To do this I just cut the grommet and I should be able to run the cable right? I searched for some posts on doing this but non I found said much. Thanks

Rock on! Congrats that a very good deal!

sounds pretty cool... post some pics when you get it installed!

very nice deal... garmin makes good stuff

Good luck with it Pat

now what grommet are you talking about?
once you pull off the CHMSL there is a fairly large hole
you can snake the wire through that and the headliner and the A pillar to get to the dash area
the only complication would be properly sealing the CHMSL to the cab so that it does not leak
depending on how thick the GPS antenna wire is the foam seal on the CHMSL may still work, or you might need to apply some sealant

i need a cheap GPS...i get lost a lot...but i dunno where to find one..

post pics man!

Ran my XM wire thru the brake light...make sure you put some clear sealant behind the brake light to keep water out. I learned the hard way!

WELL!! My GPS does not seem to work... I have tried it on 3 computers and two different programs. The one program finds the GPS on a hardware search, the other can not even see it.. Kinda bummed out... AND TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY!! My CF-37 toughbook died!! I was using it while goingb to Carlistle this weekend and the HD started tapping... BAD SIGN!.... So then it locked up as I was on my way home never to work again... I WAS PISSED! So I got the new battery out of it, and the RAM then threw it accross the yard!! LOL SO now I am going to see if there is something I can do about the GPS and then hook up a CF71 to the truck to replace the 37! John, is there anything I can do that you know of to get it working? For any one else who may know, please speak up.... It is a Garmin GPS 35 w/ the serial connection... It has no power led so I have no idea if it even is fireing up! Thanks! BEEN A BAD WEEK!

i think i found out why it was 80 . . .

Temper temper man!

The HD on the laptop is usually an easy fix. W/ the abuse most laptops face, having the HD go south is not unnexpected. I'm on my third HD myself. A moderately sized HD should be cheap enough.

Also make sure your Garmin GPS is in the right communication mode. Garmin GPSes default to an uber-cool prorpietary mode, but many GPS aware software tools cannot use that mode. Instead many use the very common NMEA mode. I know MS Mappoint is that way. I have to put the GPS in NMEA, then 'probe' for it from the map software.

Asside from that you can check which port (Com1/2/etc) the software is listening too vs which port the unit is plugged into. Old-school serial, RS-232, is horribly simple from a user's perspective, but can be tuff to debug because there is very little feedback.

Good luck man..

Yeah, I think the 37 is repairable -- or WAS until you booted it across the yard! There's a lot of good parts in there I could use, so don't trash it.

The Garmin mode default problem I mentioned to you as a possibility, Doc. I can find or write software that will allow you to switch modes from the laptop before using a program that requires NMEA. I'll start looking and if not, it's easy enough to send a command sequence on a serial port. Somebody must have the Garmin command set for that GPS published somewhere. I'll have a look.

[in large friendly, letters] Don't Panic!

The HD for the 37 is 1000 bucks...... As per panasonic! B/c it is shock mounted and all that jazz... I am of until fri night, John, If we need to meet. As for the temper.... I have had a bad 2 weeks... First my compaq laptop died... Then my dog died... Now the NEW laptop turns out to have a faulty HD so it is now DEAD!!... The 37 just died and the GPS does not work.... So it has been a tough time here.. I just ran out of patients!! I usually have alot but I felt better afterwards!!!.......

Bummer man. Try not to let it get you that far down.

I still wonder if you coulda replaced the HD w/ something cheaper. Maybe by 'improvising' something. The HD can't be that special, it has to be your basic everyday HD in their somewhere..

Anyhow, best of luck figuring it all out man..

All they do is mount a standard hard drive in gel. I have the gel and besides we have your old unit to cannabalize. Don't sweat it. No way we can't fix it for under $100 -- less if I can scrounge a laptop hard drive. I had a spare, but it's in the other CF-25 I have for now.

Well, the computer has been replaced by a cf71 cheap so that is a mute point.. But now I need to figure out the GPS thing. I will look in the manual, it had all kinds of info on the GPS and how it sends data...

Here is what the maunual contains:
Heading: Software Interface

NMEA received sentences
Almanac Information (ALM)
Initialization Information ($PGRMI GARMIN proprietart format)
Configuration information ($PGRMI GARMIN proprietart format)
Output sentence enable/disable ($PGRMI GARMIN proprietart format)

NMEA transmitted sentences
sentence transmition rates
transmittion time
GPS almanac data (alm)
GPS Fix Data (GGA)
GPS DOP and Active satelites (GSA)
GPS satellites in view (GSV)
Recommended minimum Specific GPS / TRANSIT data (RMC)
Track made good and ground speed with GPS Talker ID (GPVTG)
Geografic position with LORAN Talker ID (LCGLL)
Track made good and ground speed with LORAN talker ID (LCVTG)
Estimated Error Information ($PGRME Garmin Proprietary format)
GPS fix data sentence ($PGRMF Garmin Proprietary format)
Sensor Status info. ($PGRMT GARMIN proprietart format)
3D velocity info ($PGRMV GARMIN proprietart format)

Baud Data Rate Selection

RTCM Received DATA

Earth DATUMS


It has all sorts of what looks like programmming info. Give me a call John if this is what you needed... I can drop off the unit to you or fax the info to you if you want.. Thanks for all your help as usual.

Okay, let me know what you find out. I haven't looked for the manual yet. If I don't find it, come over with yours and I'll made a utility that you can use to change modes easily.

Can I have your old CF-37 (or what's left of it) for parts?

I posted above the info... As for the 37 it went to file 13 on mon morning... Before I had posted anything. I am sorry, did not think it would be useful anymore... Depending on what you needed ebay had many parts for sale like the screen and motherboard for one.