Database Develop

$49 GPS for the XDA. Works great. ---posted PICS---

I just bought an unlocked T-mobile pocket pc phone edition off of a person from up in the T-mobile area. I am currently with Cingular. I just input all the GPRS settings for Cingular and they work great.
I also have both models of the Digitraveler GPS from Radio Shack. They sold one for a laptop with a serial connection ,which is what I use with my Casio E-200. They also have model that comes with three cables one being for the Ipaq 3800. If you didn't know has the same connector as our XDAs. All you have to do is to unlock the connector housing with a small screw driver then unsoldered the wires and resoldered the three wires black GND to pin 5 on the XDA connector, Red TXD to pin 8 and Brown RXD to pin 10. I'm not at fault if you solder two pins together. Be very careful as 22 pins are in an area of an inch or so. Before you start up the Delorme Xmap software ,which is included with the GPS PDA version. You will need to go under the settings tab and uncheck the IR setting this will give you COM1 which is what the serial connection uses. When you connect the GPS with the software it should come up and say aquiring GPS. If not you may have solered to a wrong pin. This is a killer phone, PDA and GPS setup now. I will try to post some pics.
You could also solder two wires on for a charging circuit to the connector.
PICS of GPS
Dave

Yes that sound great I'm looking forward to see some pictures :lol:
P.s
I have Microsoft Pocket Street 2002 GSP feature can you recommend me a GPS unit to connect to my XDA :?:

Is the Digitraveler unit still available? I can't find it on their website... well, not in their online catalogue anyway. There's plenty of downloads, etc, for it
As I'm in Australia, its a long way to go just to drop in and see if there's any on the shop floor
Cheers,
PHB

uk gps £84 inc autoroute/pocket streets
http://www.mobtech.co.uk/ecbmob/item1286.htm

Hi XDA-rocks - is that the same unit rebadged? I suspect I don't actually need the s/w, and that the maps won't be of much use, given I'm in Australia... I can get local software for the Pocket PC for $50 AU [approx 15 UK pounds I think] and I have local maps already...
Also, newb question, do I pay VAT when ordering from outside of the UK???
Sorry to be a pain; any help appreciated!
Cheers,
PHB.

The link above is actully for an IPAQ (so you'd probably have to do some soldering).
The manufacturers site does mention XDA compatibility. Check out
http://www.royaltek.com
Sorry, but I don't know what the situation regarding VAT is.

That's cool - you've been a big help already!
Cheers,
PHB.

PHB said:
Hi XDA-rocks - is that the same unit rebadged? I suspect I don't actually need the s/w, and that the maps won't be of much use, given I'm in Australia... I can get local software for the Pocket PC for $50 AU [approx 15 UK pounds I think] and I have local maps already...
Also, newb question, do I pay VAT when ordering from outside of the UK???
Sorry to be a pain; any help appreciated!
Cheers,
PHB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally, you do not have to pay VAT (if the price does not include VAT).
But shipping charge may be high.

All good - I've approached the manufacturer directly to see what they offer [if anything] Failing that, I'll go retail.
Thanks for all the help guys,
Cheers,
PHB.

If you need shipping assistance, I'll be glad to be a middle man. I ship stuff to the UK all the time, and it is not expensive. You do not pay VAT but you do pay an import tax if the product is declared. I normally mark the customs for as "gift" which avoids the import tax.

Hey Dave, can you post more pics and maybe some more details about the soldering of the connectors?. I got my Xda, and I just got the Digitraveler, super cheap off ebay ($50!!). And I want to do this. Please help on how

I got it!, I succesfully followed Dave's instructions and now I have my Xda running Mapopolis with the Digitravel GPS. Is sooo cool!
I want to see If I connect the power suply, but the cable and the solder work came out really nice and neat. and I'm afraid to mess it up. I'll look into solutions, but so far the GPS works perfect, and cheapest solution!.
I will post a detailed tutorial with lots of pictures and diagrams on my website soon.
If someone needs me to help them out, or doesn't want to deal with the soldering and the hassle, let me know.
Question to the XDA-DEV gods. I'm a little confused. I see that the Xda car charger works on 6V according to this image and the Digitravel works also on 6V, according to the manual. Can I use just one car charger and splice the cables to each device?. Also, also I see in the diagram 6V I checked in the back of the phone and It says 5V. please help

RadioSHACK GPS
i took your advice and got me a DigiTraveler too!
Radio Shack #20-1601 $39
i rewired the cable as u discribed. THANKS DAVE!!!
it now works great with my T-Mobile PPC.
...is there a better program than the one that came with it tho?
i've seen somewhere, a program that have Voice prompts that
advice u as you're driving to turn right and left...
OH! by the way... you can also get a 2.5 to 3.5 audio jack converter
along with one of those CD to TAPE adaptors, and u can have all audio
play on the loud cas speakers! great for speaker fone option

According to some reviews, Mapopolis is the all around solution. Faster, cleaner and easier to use. It has voice prompts too. Destinator is too big and complicated to use, of course, I only have tried for a couple of hours, but I will continuing testing it. I've been looking to TomTom USA Maps (Florida), but I can't seem to find any source, if someone can direct me for a Florida Map, would be greatly appreciated it.

would somebody post a couple of these cheap digitravelers that radio shack sells? I live in uk

Radio Shack #20-1601 $39
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it on sale now, or is that the regular price now? I can't find that part number in the online catalog, anybody got a URL? Or is it only available in stores?
would somebody post a couple of these cheap digitravelers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ship stuff to Europe all the time and would be happy to assist. I don't know what it weighs, but shipping is not all that bad to the UK.

you can get them cheap off Ebay

What are you using for soldering setup?
:?: :?: :?:
Curious. What are you using for your soldering setup? I opened up the car charger connector end and the pins are soooooo small I can barely see them. What I'd like to do is solder the speaker pins to the tape converter so that I don't have to use the 2.5 - 3.5 connector (thus having to only connect one thing). I'd also be able to connect the gps to it too.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thx
:shock:

I got it from RadioShack, costed me $7.50, and it came with the solder iron, a soldering iron stand, so you don't burn up anything, heatsink clamp, a very handy soldering tool, and the solder. Is very cheap, and Is small snough to use it for this job. Is helpful to just move the other pins to the side in order to isolate the pin that you are soldering, after you are done with each, and the solder is hard, move to the side and continue to the next one. Of course, move them slighty and slowly, don't yank it.

oh yeeeahh!. Now I have POWER!. I just finished soldering the connectors to a Xda power supply and now I can connect the Xda with the Digitraveler and charge the phone at the same time!. I adapted a retractable sync'n'charge cable to it (I used one of the other cables included, I think the one that I used was the Palm connector, since I didn't want to mess up the original cable that I did, in case something goes wrong) and just removed the syncing cables and left the ones for charge. One thing though I think the diagrams for the charger in the Xda-dev page is wrong, I got it working with pins 16,17,18 for (-) and 20,21,22 for (+). In the page shows 15,17,18 for (-) and 19,21,22. I got my conclusion dissasembling a car charger and examining the pins. Since this is a USB charger, it charges from the computer, and also, since I have the adapter to charge it for the car. It works perfect so far, I get the light on when I connect and the message that is charging!. I'll test drive it tomorrow with the GPS. Since the GPS accepts a regular a regular charger (available at RadioShack), I just connect everything with a Y-cable and that's it. A super cheap GPS system with full power! for less than $60 bucks!.
I'll post pictures and a turorial how to do it (including the charging connector) in my website soon

Broke Tilt in half

So one of my friends at work had an att tilt. However his son dropped it out of his pants pocket and the screen popped off. Screen is still in one piece however completly seperated from the tilt mechanism and the ribbon cable is missing. So I told him instead of throwing it away (cause att does not offer insurance) to give it to me and I'd see what I can do (Gonna unlock it and use it as an upgrade for my wing ).
I've read some of the hardware manuals and can already see I'll need parts to fix it. But I have no ideas what ones. Or if it's even worth it to fix. I mean its basically a free tilt minus any repair costs. Any help?

wshader said:
So one of my friends at work had an att tilt. However his son dropped it out of his pants pocket and the screen popped off. Screen is still in one piece however completly seperated from the tilt mechanism and the ribbon cable is missing. So I told him instead of throwing it away (cause att does not offer insurance) to give it to me and I'd see what I can do (Gonna unlock it and use it as an upgrade for my wing ).
I've read some of the hardware manuals and can already see I'll need parts to fix it. But I have no ideas what ones. Or if it's even worth it to fix. I mean its basically a free tilt minus any repair costs. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check thi site, there is a manual how to dismantle kaiser. Could be helpful:
http://michael-channon.spaces.live....smantling+%2f+Disassembling+Guides+HTC%2fETEN

Thank you, however thats actually the repair manual I looked at. However while looking for parts I have yet to find the ribbon cable that connects to the display.
This is basically what I have except the ribbon cable is missing. And alot of steps missing to get it this way.

wshader said:
Thank you, however thats actually the repair manual I looked at. However while looking for parts I have yet to find the ribbon cable that connects to the display.
This is basically what I have except the ribbon cable is missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG, that had to hurt.

Yeah, kid was playing basketball and fell out of his pocket. I guess the kid has broke 4 phones this month... curve, tilt, 2 pantec duos. Told my friend to get him a $20 go-phone now lol. And use the savings to get me a tilt
I dont know what kind of damage besides the physical the drop may have caused. Phone was not on at the time so that may have helped it (I hope)

wshader said:
Yeah, and I dont know what kind of damage besides the physical the drop may have caused. Phone was not on at the time so that may have helped it (I hope)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope u repair it. Wish u luck.

Without actually looking at it, its hard to say what exactly you need. But you for sure need a new flex cable. Unfortunately that is the hardest part to find. At least here in the US. I usually buy broken phones from people who don't want to pay for a repair. Then I use the parts from them. You can get a new housing easily enough if you need it but the flex cable will be your biggest hurdle.
I suggest trying to find one broken on ebay and using the 2 you have to make one working phone. Even a broken Tilt can run for $200 on ebay though.

Anyone notice that case has already been replaced at some stage as it has a camera hole (not standard for Tilts) a keyboard without the white part and no logo. Perhaps the replacement was weaker than the original one. If the O/P searches the forum here for LCD Screen replacements there's loads of links to different companies supplying parts for Kaiser variants. I have no experience using any of them though so cant suggest which ones are best.

@Planet Neo
Yeah I was thinking that but was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Would suck to spend $200 for parts just to find the motherboard is broke or something to that effect. Was hoping someone knew of a place to buy a new cable or had one to sell. Also was hoping someone with some experience could let me know if they think I'd need a new tilt assembly.
@Flying Kiwi
Lol, I used a picture from kaiser disassembly guide to show what i was referring to. It has the standard tilt case. I'll be taking pictures of what I have as soon as I have the phone in my possession.

Okay I assume that its going to be very hard to get the ribbon and you're going to need housing. I believe that it will be the same as making a new tilt, because the screen is as good as dead without the ribbon so all you could do is get new housing and a new screen and it should rack up about $150-200. Which in my opinion is much easier and faster and better than frustrating on getting a ribbon.
Just my 2 cents.
Kraize

Planetneo said:
Without actually looking at it, its hard to say what exactly you need. But you for sure need a new flex cable. Unfortunately that is the hardest part to find. At least here in the US. I usually buy broken phones from people who don't want to pay for a repair. Then I use the parts from them. You can get a new housing easily enough if you need it but the flex cable will be your biggest hurdle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure you'll think I'm busting your balls / stalking you but hard to find? Hell no! Expensive, maybe ( $100) but hard to find? I think not. Good job you're not charging people for you expert advice else they'd be wanting refunds....how long did you say you'd been doing this for?
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=tytn+flex&category0=
You need a TYTN II flex. There are many other suppliers and if you go direct they may be a bit cheaper. google is your friend....
To check the board - connect to a windoze computer with a mini USB cable and power up or press the soft reset button to boot it - it should ident and install then try to sync. It should boot fine even with no LCD if it's OK assuming the battery still holds some charge.
A full housing will run you about $60. Some sellers have just front panels for about $40 though I'm unsure if these have the pivot.
M.S

Mysterious Stranger said:
I'm sure you'll think I'm busting your balls / stalking you but hard to find? Hell no! Expensive, maybe ( $100) but hard to find? I think not. Good job you're not charging people for you expert advice else they'd be wanting refunds....how long did you say you'd been doing this for?
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=tytn+flex&category0=
You need a TYTN II flex. There are many other suppliers and if you go direct they may be a bit cheaper. google is your friend....
To check the board - connect to a windoze computer with a mini USB cable and power up or press the soft reset button to boot it - it should ident and install then try to sync. It should boot fine even with no LCD if it's OK assuming the battery still holds some charge.
A full housing will run you about $60. Some sellers have just front panels for about $40 though I'm unsure if these have the pivot.
M.S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, MS you really need to get off my nuts. It's getting creepy. I said in my post hard to find at least in the US. And the link you gave was for a seller in China. One more word of advice for the OP, Make sure this part actually works for the AT&T Tilt variant. I had a customer buy a Flex cable for the HTC Herald thinking it would work for the T-Mobile Wing but due to the modified button layout of the Wing it did not fit correctly. Much like this person HERE experienced.

Planetneo said:
Man, MS you really need to get off my nuts. It's getting creepy. I said in my post hard to find at least in the US. And the link you gave was for a seller in China. One more word of advice for the OP, Make sure this part actually works for the AT&T Tilt variant. I had a customer buy a Flex cable for the HTC Herald thinking it would work for the T-Mobile Wing but due to the modified button layout of the Wing it did not fit correctly. Much like this person HERE experienced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These things are made in Shenzhen so where you think the parts come from?
Stop talking &*%(* and I'll stop correcting your posts Instead of saying something is a fact say it's your opinion. It's not a 'rare' part - and they ship WORLDWIDE. It's not as if he'll get one from a local mom and pop store - it's gonna be mail order wherever you get it from and looking at the seller's feedback is a good judge - all my parts come from China - so why pay a middleman such as yourself extra $ just so it has a US stamp on the package?
Someone needs to act as quality control on your posts and it looks like it's gonna have to be me if you keep posting [email protected]
M.S

Motherboard replacement

Hey everyone,
I got my Tilt in April and at that time AT&T did not offer phone inssurance for it. The far right side of my mini-usb port is bent a little and this makes it a bit picky about charging and syncing. AT&T said it voided my warranty and that they couldn't do anything and told me to call HTC and they said I would have to replace my WHOLE MOTHERBOARD. They also said it would cost $305 to replace the whole thing.
My question: is there anything I can do about this myself? I am so concerned because I would like to sell this to a friend but get the port fixed if possible. Is there any other way to get AT&T to get me a new tilt or fix "something else wrong with it"? I can still sell it to my friend but I could get a bit more for it if this was fixed.
Thank you for any help.

You can fix this yourself by installing a new mini plug, they are fairly cheap, there is a few threads that have discussed how to do this yourself , if you do not mind taking apart your tilt...
Check the Wiki out as well

Or maybe I could have just been rude and told you to search just like you did to another user earlier...hmmmm

That was a fairly obvious question. I have not been able to find any specific threads about this for the kaiser. Also did not find it in the wiki. But it would be easy to over look seeing as I must type all this from my phone because my computer is dead at the moment. I will look tomorrow at school.

put in mini plug in this forums search , there are a couple of threads with decent info in them.. one of them has a link to taking the kaiser apart, and also has a link to a place the has the mini plug for $15 and also will says they will install it for $79....not bad if you do not have the skills..

PPC Techs are the ones offering the service
http://www.ppctechs.com/HTC-Kaiser_971/repairs/Sync-Connector-Repair-Service_633-373.htm
Since my soldering skills suck, this is what I would do...

Adelaide, Australia - HTC User Needs Urgent Assistance

Hi guys. I've been a member of this forum for a fair while now and you guys are the most helpful, wonderful and pleasant people to ask appropriate questions to, so I pray that a fellow statesman can help me with this problem.
I hooked up my TyTn II to my PC yesterday and noticed it wasn't working, trying everything software didn't help. I pulled the USB cord out and to my surprise, the furthest right pin was pointing a little bit wrong. So, I spent an hour carefully moving it back in place, connected it up, worked.
I have two methods of hooking up, one to my PC and another to a wall charger that came with my BluANT Bluetooth Car Kit. After reading that non-standard ports on anything other than an official HTC product can bend and damage pins because of the way they are designed or somesuch, I became a little paranoid.
But, everything was working fine.
Until this morning.
The furthest right pin was ON TOP of the pin to the left of it. I spent another hour moving it back in place, tried to plug it in to the computer, didn't want to go all the way in. I did not jam it. I did not push it. Looking at the pins I saw that the furthest right has completely ****ed itself. I can't see exactly if it's snapped or just bent right around, but it won't sync and it won't charge.
Fonebiz are apparently the HTC repair people in Australia, is it possible that the whole chargeport can just be replaced and I can have my phone back relatively soon?
Answers as soon as you can guys, I really can't go without a phone for long.
P.S. It's Friday and I'm getting an engaged signal everytime I call their Adelaide office.
Please help me.
EDIT: I am using a cooked ROM, running Touch Commander so it all looks legit on the surface, apart from the boot screen. I am hoping that this doesn't get the phone sent straight back to me, because it's a hardware issue. Am I correct?

darkstarwastaken said:
Fonebiz are apparently the HTC repair people in Australia, is it possible that the whole chargeport can just be replaced and I can have my phone back relatively soon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not familiar with what repairs that company undertakes and how quickly but certainly if you've been reviewing these forums for a while you'll know there are plenty of companies elsewhere that offer a broken USB port repair service. There really is something wrong with whatever you're plugging in to your TyTN II or how you're doing it. I've had mine since they first came out (bought it here in the UK at the end of September 07) and haven't had a single problem with the port despite regular usage of my charging cradle, non HTC official AC Adapter (the original HTC one blew up after a couple of weeks and 4 recharges), 3-in-1 USB adapter and 3 HTC Headsets. All pins are still straight as a die and connections rock solid. I'm careful not to get any dirt in it and always gently plug in the device straight on.
EDIT: I am using a cooked ROM, running Touch Commander so it all looks legit on the surface, apart from the boot screen. I am hoping that this doesn't get the phone sent straight back to me, because it's a hardware issue. Am I correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're wanting it repaired under warranty there are instructions in the wiki about restoring your device to it's 'as from the factory' state and you could use the micrSD method to restore all except your spl - that final step needs a working USB port (one of the risks in running a non-official setup while under warranty). I don't know what your chances are but I suspect a little better if only the spl is non-official than the whole lot (irrespective of what it looks like on the surface). Even if you have to pay for the port to be replaced though, as long as it's just a case of soldering in the new connector, that service doesn't cost the earth (at least from the American website I saw offering the service).

In all honesty Kiwi, I think the guy I bought the phone from didn't take care of it in the short time he had it.
But I got a TyTn II for $250 AUD. I'm happy to spend $80 odd to get it repaired in a neighbouring state.
Thank you for your words of wisdom, I am having it repaired as we speak.

[Q] Which one to buy?

Hi folks, apologies if this has been asked before - I have tried to search the forums already but '3G' and 'UK' are omitted from the search query for being too short/common which makes it kind of impossible to get a result...
Anyway; I live in the UK and want an eReader. for obvious reason the Nookcolor is getting my attention but I wonder if there is any point in getting the 3G version shipped over or should I save my cash and get the Wifi only model? I don't believe the 3G is enabled in the UK due to licencing restrictions with AT&T but if I root it, can I use 3G and a UK sim card for web browsing?
Secondly, I'm seeing a number of people complain about screen issues and dodgy USB connectors - given that a friend of mine living in the US will be buying it and shipping it over to me - what tests should he perform to check it's ok before sending it?
Cheers .M.

3g nook color doesn't exist. easy decision!

Nope, no 3g. Screen issues I've heard of (but not seen) include dead pixels or dust under the front surface glass. That's easy to look for.
The dodgy USB connector isn't all that much of a problem in my view. They should have caught it, however. They also should have recessed the jack and put it somewhere other than the front middle -- it's vulnerable as it is.
I've heard that a generic mini-USB cable that fits solves the problem -- suggesting that the issue is in the cable and not the jack. I've no idea if that's true, however.
I'd have your friend charge it, start it up and and run it through it's paces. Check the screen, make sure the speaker works, etc. Then repack it and ship it off to you. And don't throw the box away -- it's designed to be a nifty stand.

thanks guys - genuinely hadn't caught the fact that there isn't a 3G version of the color.