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Home / I-Opener Areas / I-Opener Technical Stuff Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog?

Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) justme Profile I picked up a Rand McNally GPS from OfficeDepot as was discussed a while back... and some indicated using only 4 wires from their telephone connection inside the I-Opener to a serial port inside the I-Opener... Well I have 2 questions, first I don't see on any search any referances to which wires go where... that is what the color codes are on the Rand McNally GPS (what's to ground, whats to where basically). Also I read older posts which suggested a single transistor could create an effective serial interface for the GPS to operate... well kewl... has anyone done this? That is 1) Can someone finger for me which wires go to which connections (power and pins on the serial interface). 2) If anyone has done a single transistor mod which got the serial port to work, can you refer to a digikey part number? I'd be especially interested in anyone who has gotten this to work with a GPS. I'm interested in reducing both clutter and USB devices... a phone port install to the GPS would be much cleaner than the USB -> serial connection I'm currently using and would spare me the need for a USB hub when I drive. Thanks Thanks 05-19-2001 07:34:25

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) * StarFish * Profile So "justme", How's your Hack going ? First I would like to Reference the SnackPac GPS Thread. & then I would like to point to the Virgin Webplayer\ GPS\serial ports working with WP Thread where "koulouty" says he Removed certain transistors to Elimanate the Need for the RS232 interface. 1) Can someone finger for me which wires go to which connections You Look up the Connectors & with that info You can tell What Wires are which. My Notes for My Unit, Bare Wire (PS/2 Pin 3) is Ground, Red Wire (PS/2 Pin 4) is 5VDC White Wire (DB9 Pin 2) is RX, Yellow Wire (DB9 Pin 3) is TX Use this Info @ Your Own Risk !!! Double check What You Do. Pinouts: "Prefect Hack" @ the bottom of this Page Find RS232 Serial Ports. http://www.geocities.com/iopener_hack/prefect/index.html If You read My post & know that the RS232 Mod may Not be Needed, This Becomes the Answer ! 2) If anyone has done a single transistor mod I haven't Noticed this. Maybe someone else knows a Link to this Thread ??? 05-21-2001 23:00:52

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) redwood Profile ok, silly me, I can't get the picture Large enough to read.. @ http://www.geocities.com/iopener_hack/prefect/index.html I'm ready to do this mod, and, it seems simple enough, I have my MAX chip... I'm using a Garmin GPS .. so, if there is another site, with the IO serial pinouts, ie: what/where these caps/resitors go, I would truely be thankful, :) 08-05-2001 09:04:53

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) *SF* Profile Hi Redwood, Try Right Clicking on the Image, & <Save Image As> "whatever.jpg" then Double Click the File for Your Default .jpg Viewer. or Use Your Favorite .jpg Viewer & Open Image Let me know, if you still need Help. * StarFish * 08-05-2001 15:28:36

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) redwood Profile thanks starfish, yes, I did that, .. but, my son says, that image is just a thumbnail, and won't provide high enough resolution... anyway, I do think I can figger this out, if I could read it... thanks if anybody has a viewable ver of this... 08-06-2001 07:34:52

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) Ragnar Profile If you have Adobe you can save it as a pdf file and when viewing in that format use the magnifying glass to enlarge it. It will be high resolution and you should be able to see it easily. I just got my maxim chips in today and am going to do the mod sometime this week. Of the four wires, one must be 5V and the second must be ground. Those two should be easy to find with a volt meter. Then you only have two choices for RX and TX. Two tries and you got it. 08-06-2001 09:08:56

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) *SF* Profile FREE Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® 5 Yes, this is the Way to do it ! I printed these along Time ago with an Older Version. Just Left click on Image after you Install Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® the magnifying glass is a TOOL, just Drag a Box around the Area you want to enlarge. & a poor Photo of my "point to point" Wiring & Hub/Counter Page of other poor Photos (The Good ones I aren't mine!) 08-06-2001 10:30:49

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) zyxw Profile | Email Hi, At risk of being castigated for not wanting to solder... Compgeeks is selling a USB to Serial adapter which works great with my Rand Mcnally GPS and costs only $17 plus S&H. Happy GPSing 08-08-2001 03:38:46

RE:Rand McNally GPS lowest cost serial mod ... perhaps from Digikey catalog? (modified 0 times) redwood Profile ThankYou Ragnar and SF !!! the .pdf _did it! now, little bit of time and I will give it a try! I have my Maxx chips, thanks guys! zyxw, I nearly got that cable, but, waited too long.. oh well, better to have a _learning exeriece... well, I just Love the Quick, Helpfull info I get on this board!! Thanks guys! 08-08-2001 07:03:04

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