Staples is clearing out their Streetfinder Palm 3 GPS sleeves. They're $9.50. If you don't have a Palm 3, there's still a Rockwell Zodiac GPS board and an antenna inside.

Good luck finding them. I found 1 in the 3 Staples I visited today, still marked $60 but I asked for a price check and it was $9.50. Fair warning, none at Staples in Greensburg, New Kensington or Ross Township, PA

Does that GPS board support any of the protocols that Jan's code handles? A quick google suggests that the Zodiac uses a proprietary binary format, and not NMEA etc.

Remember the bit about the Earthmate support I wrote for GPSd? Guess what an Earthmate is...

That said, the Zodiac supports both NMEA and Rockwell binary *except* on the Earthmate, as far as I know.

Ahh. That concurs with other information I've since found. I'll be visiting Staples soon then. I wonder how easy it is to hack the hardware to provide power and pull out an RS232 cable. Any ideas?

No clue. I opened it and looked (4 philips screws) but I think I'm going to need to take it further apart than I wanted to today.

If anyone finds one unit more than they're interested in themselves, that they would be willing to ship across the Atlantic - here's a very interested party...

/Michael

If I find more than one more I'll keep you in mind; The guy who built the board and half-container for my Trimble SVee6 is next in line... but I doubt I'll find any unless I bag a day of work and go on a road trip.

Someone please clarify. What is meant by "Sleeve"?

My wife has a Palm3 that she never uses. Are you telling me that I could have a working GPS system simply by spending ten bucks and putting fresh batteries in her Palm?

Yup...

Dunno if this is the same model, but the principle's the same...

/Michael

Ah, this is the one. My local staples has one left, they have verified that it's $9.50 clearance, and I'm getting one. They're holding it for me.

Thanks for the information, this is actually pretty neat.

There's something I bought for my wife's Palm V a few weeks back for $40 that's more or less the same thing; Someone had it on sale. I got this to steal parts from.

Will this work with a PALM IIIc? If so is there anyone willing to pick one up for me and ship it to Canada? I am willing to pay the price and a little bit on top for effort if you wish. I can send funds via PayPal.

Thanks!
Rene

I think it says "won't work on IIIc" on the box, but mine isn't handy.

Hmmm... the one shown in www.navmanusa.com/land/p_series/index.html is actually shown with a Palm IIIc.

Any resellers of that gear with duty free shipping.

We don't have Staples here in Houston, (We have to use paper clips and duct tape to keep paper together) I was wondering if any kind soul would be willing to pick one up for me.

I thought there was a different model of the unit for a IIIc. I will check when I get home.

Boy, does one ever get what one pays for.

The software that comes with this thing is abysmal.

The hardware is worth more than $9.50. The software (to me) is throwaway.

Yeah, I understand that. It's just... Untile we figure out a way to interface this thing with the empeg, I'm stuck with the StreetFinder software as the only way I can get any use out of it.

I did manage to download one map to the thing, but it won't take any point-to-point directions. It asks me to insert the install CD then locks up as it churns the install CD nonstop.

Untile we figure out a way to interface this thing with the empeg, I'm stuck with the StreetFinder software as the only way I can get any use out of it.

The Palm connector is a serial port, basically you should just need to figure out:
-pin mapping. I felt lucky with Google
-where to power it

I assume it already does RS232 pullup from TTL, so that should be it. And if not, well, underpowered serial port signal shouldn't cause you any problem, it just won't *do* anything.

The thing already has an adapter and/or cigarette lighter power supply, so even power isn't an issue.

I wonder if there's any third-party or open-source software already written for this GPS unit, available to run on the Palm.

Yeah, but I'd rather power it from inline.

If someone makes a reverse Palm serial cable, just that should be sufficient...

Untile we figure out a way to interface this thing with the empeg, I'm stuck with the StreetFinder software as the only way I can get any use out of it

On the contrary, there's quite a bit of Palm software that will work with it. Here's a couple to check out:

GPS Pilot
Cetus GPS

Ooo, thank you. I was hoping there was third-party software that would work. That Rand Mcnally stuff is the pits.

(Although I have to say the map interface at the Rand McNally web site is really good. The resulting maps kick ass all over MapQuest. It's the 2-year-old Rand Mcnally PC software that makes maps for the Palm that sucks.)

Yeah, I can't stand that software. But, the GPS Pilot stuff is pretty good. You can import your own maps.

Tony, that must've been the one I returned when I realized it would NOT work with the Palm IIIc. The IIIc has a different shape to it than the Palm III and this unit simply will not fit onto the IIIc.

In fact, my IIIc broke today. Or I should say, I broke it today. Useless piece of crap that it was, maybe I'll pull it outta the trash and break it apart for a GPS or robotics project. Of course, it's the display that broke...oh well..

Check this site for Palm GPS software:

http://celia.mehaffey.com/dale/pilotgps.htm

Checkout Mapopolis http://www.mapopolis.com

Tony, that must've been the one I returned when I realized it would NOT work with the Palm IIIc.

Heh. And what part of the "Will not work with the Palm IIIc" sticker on the box did you not understand?

The size. If I remember correctly, there were NO printed indicators on the box, only a post-manufacture sticker on the extreme lower left of the front of the box. Distinctly different from the spec list. Also, the sticker was about 1/8" high and was sort of peeling off before I got the box. The whole thing was a previous return anyway. I'm starting to believe that there aren't any "new" items in our local Staples. I think they just use it as an outlet for returns...

Of course, when I asked the employee at Staples about IIIc compatibility, he flipped over the box, looked at the spec list, and said, "Sure, it'll work."