Which Gps Device To Get For Pandora?


DAP

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A Bluetooth GPS is probably a bad idea if you plan to take it out of the country. Bluetooth is a bidirectional radio, and may not be legal to use in all countries. (GPS might not be legal in all countries either, but if it is, how you connect it to the Pandora is irrelevant).

A USB GPS sounds like a good idea, until you look a bit more closely.

For some reason, the main USB port (the standard A connector) on the Pandora does not support USB full speed or USB low speed, only USB High Speed. A USB GPS is most likely to be a USB Full Speed device, since most of them pretend to be a USB to serial port converter to the PC. So one can't connect it to the main USB port without using a USB hub. That would be rather inconvenient on a hiking trip. I've yet to see a battery powered USB hub.

The USB OTG port (mini AB connector?) can handle all USB speeds, but someone was mentioning "power issues" meaning perhaps it can't be used to power a USB device?

There is a good chance I have some of the above details wrong. For instance, the standard for USB pretty much requires that a USB master first talk to a device in full speed or low speed before switching to high speed, so I don't understand how one can design a USB master that only works in high speed mode.

Anyway, once someone untangles my USB confusion above, could someone suggest a good comparison chart for the available USB GPS receivers? So far, I've only found this site: http://www.maps-gps-info.com/usbgps.html
 
DAP said:
A Bluetooth GPS is probably a bad idea if you plan to take it out of the country. Bluetooth is a bidirectional radio, and may not be legal to use in all countries. (GPS might not be legal in all countries either, but if it is, how you connect it to the Pandora is irrelevant).
That seems really strange to me - I wasn't able to find any such legal problems after a fairly cursory search, but I can't imagine that any country would forbid short-range low-power radios. They'd certainly have to ban mobile phones if they did that, anyway. Maybe North Korea would do something like that, but who wants to hike there?
Bluetooth sounds like your best solution, unless the OTG port turns out to be fully powered and you can use a USB one with a small adapter.
 
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Are you sure Pandora only supports High Speed USB devices? There are some videos over the Internet of Pandora gaming with USB gamepads. As far as I know, most (if not all) USB HID devices (keyboards, mouses, gamepads, etc.) are low speed or full speed.
 
doragasu said:
Are you sure Pandora only supports High Speed USB devices? There are some videos over the Internet of Pandora gaming with USB gamepads. As far as I know, most (if not all) USB HID devices (keyboards, mouses, gamepads, etc.) are low speed or full speed.
you can always use an usb-hub to connect all kinds of usb-devices to the pandora, that's how it was done in the videos, afaik
 
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doragasu said:
Are you sure Pandora only supports High Speed USB devices? There are some videos over the Internet of Pandora gaming with USB gamepads. As far as I know, most (if not all) USB HID devices (keyboards, mouses, gamepads, etc.) are low speed or full speed.

I certainly hope it supports low and fullspeed. I dont want to use a USB-Hub to attach a gamepad/keyboard etc.
Anyone got word on this?
 
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http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/GPS

That page might be useful, its aimed towards use of a GPS for OSM, but most of the information on there is pretty good.

I have bought an i-Blue 747 after some recommendation from OSMers, and i'll be porting any parts of its toolchain needed to the pandora, along with building my OSM app.
 
DAP said:
A Bluetooth GPS is probably a bad idea if you plan to take it out of the country. Bluetooth is a bidirectional radio, and may not be legal to use in all countries. (GPS might not be legal in all countries either, but if it is, how you connect it to the Pandora is irrelevant).
BlueTooth is radio, but very low power. I've never heard about any country where it's not legal. (For wi-fi there are some countries where there's a lower-than-normal limit for power.)

Which doesn't mean that BT _is_ legal everywhere, it's just that it would have to be a country where even cellphones are legally dubious.

In my opinion a Bluetooth GPS is by far the best current alternative. They are cheap, they have the most modern chipsets, which give you the best sensitivity and startup time, they are robust and will work with all your gadgets instead of just the one which your serial GPS works with. Unlike an SDIO GPS you can put it in a favourable position in the car (and keep it in a pocket or on a keyring when out of the car).

And when there's a newer and even better chipset you can just get a new BT GPS, for probably an even lower price. Which is what I did when my Sirf Star II BT GPS started to feel a bit long in the teeth when there were newer chipsets coming out! :D
 
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AFAIK bluetooth, as well as cam phones are illegal in Iran, as they might be used for immoral actions, such as photographing women nd sending the images to others.
 
DAP said:
I've yet to see a battery powered USB hub.
They do exist, though. Unfortunately, the only ones I ever found took AAA batteries but I don't want to get rechargables of yet another battery type. If anybody sees an AA powered hub around, send me a PM! Of course, every AAA hub could be modded to take AAs.
 
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Fishbong said:
AFAIK bluetooth, as well as cam phones are illegal in Iran, as they might be used for immoral actions, such as photographing women nd sending the images to others.
WHAT

WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING, THAT'S DISGUSTING!

fucking perverts ruining it for everybody! :angry: :angry: :angry:

OrR said:
DAP said:
I've yet to see a battery powered USB hub.
They do exist, though. Unfortunately, the only ones I ever found took AAA batteries but I don't want to get rechargables of yet another battery type. If anybody sees an AA powered hub around, send me a PM! Of course, every AAA hub could be modded to take AAs.


Mhm, well you could purchase a normal powered one, some battery cases and a male connector fitting to the USB hub and make one fairly easy. Maybe I should make a guide, I just so happen to have all the parts lying around
 
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why would you need a battery powered usb hub? wouldnt a standard usb hub 'forward' any power that it recieves along to its ports? shouldnt be a problem as long as you dont plug in more than one thing...
in reference to the usb otg port power issues, mweston made a post in response to a question about using the usb host to charge the pandora:
"Only the USB OTG port is connected to the charge path. It would be bad to have the host port in the charge path when it can create it's own 5V."
by this logic, the otg port couldnt provide a power source either
 
Snu said:
why would you need a battery powered usb hub? wouldnt a standard usb hub 'forward' any power that it recieves along to its ports? shouldnt be a problem as long as you dont plug in more than one thing...
in reference to the usb otg port power issues, mweston made a post in response to a question about using the usb host to charge the pandora:
"Only the USB OTG port is connected to the charge path. It would be bad to have the host port in the charge path when it can create it's own 5V."
by this logic, the otg port couldnt provide a power source either
A USB port is allowed a maximum of 500 mA of current. If you use an unpowered USB hub, it is allowed at most 2 ports (4 port unpowered USB hubs are violating the spec), and I believe each port of the hub is then restricted to 100 mA.

An unpowered hub MAY be a viable solution to plugging the GPS into the Pandora, but I don't know how much current a GPS requires.

But this solution is rather awkward if one is on a hiking trip wanting to use the Pandora as a GPS with maps. The cables & hub are bound to get tangled in something.
 
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phrosty said:
I use one of these: http://www.buygpsnow.com/Canmore-GT-730F-U...port__1037.aspx

It works on Linux just fine.



Hey phrosty (or anyone else that has it), I'm assuming it works fine even while driving? Any bad lag at all? I'm really thinking about getting one just to say I have a GPS. :lol:

On a related note, the site says:
Software compatibility: The Canmore USB GPS Stick is compatible with nearly any GPS mapping software available and fully compatible with NMEA standards (all versions).

Any word on anyone porting GPS software? I guess while I'm here, I'm assuming this'll work on the Pandora at all?
 
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I did a bit of poking around in the beagle board schematic.
If the Pandora uses the same TWL4030 that the Beagle Board uses to interface to the USB OTG port, then the USB OTG port will be limited to 100 mA when used as a host.

Are the Pandora schematics available somewhere?
 
gmhuntr7 said:
Hey phrosty (or anyone else that has it), I'm assuming it works fine even while driving? Any bad lag at all? I'm really thinking about getting one just to say I have a GPS. :lol:
Yup, no lag at all.
 
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This whole Bluetooth is a bad idea because its illegal thing simply does not apply in the EU, UK, USA, Mexico, and most likely all of Central and South America with the possible exception of Venezuela.

So, anyway, I've been using Bluetooth GPS for PC, Windows Mobile, and Nokia 770 Linux portables for several years. I used wired USB and wired Compactflash units before the Bluetooth, and they are not as good IMHO.
The Bluetooth unit runs for about 8 hours on a charge, uses standard 5V USB-style chargers, and is extremely small. I hot glued it to a small suction cup on a wire, and simply stick it to the car windshield.
No parasitic power sucking from the computer, and easily pops in my pocket when leaving the car.
It is definitely the way to go.
Now we just need to figure out the software and maps.
 
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