GPS TIP OF DAY

Tuesday - June 26, 2007
Pocket PC Tip: How can I display more sites in PIE?

Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE) will attempt to display any web site on the Internet. Some web sites prevent the display of data by checking the kind of browser that is being used and because of how they check it may be that it could display and use the page properly if they permitted it to connect. In particluar some financial institutions block access thinking that the connection is not able support encryption. If you encounter this problem you can change the name that PIE reports from 'mobile browser' to Internet Explorer 6. Follow this link to find more information and a cab installer you can use to make this change.

Friday - June 8, 2007
WayPoint Tip: Vista Support

Microsoft has released version 6.1 of WMDC. It has support in it for the Mobile Crossing WayPoint unit so it can now be used on Vista.

Thursday - June 7, 2007
Pocket PC Tip: Can I stop ActiveSync?

There is no command to exit ActiveSync and tapping the X will still leave the startup code running on system tray, but there is a way to stop it completely using a program from Micrologics called ActiveSync Toggle. This is a free download. Run it to turn off ActiveSync or to return it to full operation. This capability adds considerably to the use of ActiveSync. It can be used to recover from ActiveSync hangs and other problems. It will completely stop ActiveSync allowing the system resources to be freed. It will allow you to charge a WayPoint PDA in its cradle without having it turn itself on.

Friday - May 25, 2007
GPS Tip: Can I receive WAAS data in Asia?

WAAS is the USA name for a differential correction satellite system. There are compatible versions called MSAS in Japan and Egnos for Europe. The Japanese system recently went into test mode so that you may be able to receive it using the WAAS setting on your GPS. However, like the Egnos system in Europe, the data is only test data so it may or may not actually improve anything. The MSAS system does not publish the locations of their ground test stations but it is my understanding that they are all in Japan so there will be no ionospheic correction data outside of Japan. So even if you can receive the signal it is not likely to improve things and may make the accuracy worse. It is best to turn off WAAS for now if you are in Asia.

Friday - May 11, 2007
GPS Tip: What can I do if I can't find an application to do what I want?

You can write your own! A new feature from Basic4ppc includes the ability to easily retrieve data from a GPS. The Basic program can be used to develop programs for PC or PPC devices. Generally even non-programmers can use Basic to develop simple programs. The specific GPS functions include commands for: Altitude, ChangeDatum, CourseOverGround, DecimalLatitude, DecimalLongitude, GPSBuffer, GPSDecoded Event, GPSStream, Latitude, LatitudeHemisphere, LatLonToUTM, Longitude, LongitudeHemisphere, NumberOfSatellites, SpeedOverGround, Status, StrSplit, UTCDate, UTCTime, UTMToLatLon, WGS84LatLonToUTM, WGS84UTMToLatLon. Of course standard Basic commands are available for the rest of the task. This product uses the .NET framework from Microsoft.

Thursday - April 12, 2007
GPS Tip: Is there an official government site for GPS?

Yes, there is; actually two sites. One is GPS.gov while the second is a site called PNT.gov which stands for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing. This is a site for the executive oversight committee that was established by President Bush in 2004 by Presidential directive. This is a good place to read about the policies. In addition there is GPS augmentation information on the US FAA site and the US Coast Guardsite. Both of these and other government sites and some civilian sites providing data on GPS are shown as links from the pnt.gov site.

Wednesday - April 11, 2007
GPS Tip: Can Solar flares interfere with the GPS signal?

According to a recent release from NOAA and NASA the solar flares that appeared on December 6th did interfere with GPS reception for a time across the entire earth that was illuminated at that time. The effectively blocked the reception of this data. If you had problems that day this is likely the cause.

Wednesday - March 14, 2007
Pocket PC Tip: Need a better office suite for Pocket PC?

If you are looking for a replacement for Pocket Word and Pocket EXCEL you might want to look at Soft Maker. They have an office suite that consists of Text Maker (a Word replacement) and Plan Maker (an Excel replacement). They have version for many platforms including Pocket PC. These tools offer fully featured tools on the PDA instead of stripped down versions.

The applications have native formats but can read and write .doc files and .xls files as well. They are big, requiring 10 Meg on your PDA so install them to a card. They will still need 6 Meg when running. TextMaker can read Pocket Word files but PlanMaker cannot read Pocket excel files do you will need to turn off the file conversion in ActiveSync to send .xls files to your PDA and you should probably turn it off for .doc files as well. From the PC ActiveSync window select Options > Rules > Conversion Settings > Desktop to Device.

Features include standard processing capabilities plus graphics, forms, and dBase access. There is no Macro or Visual Basic support but these items are preserved in .xls files. A demo version is available.

Tuesday - March 13, 2007
GPS Tip: Need a replacement battery for the Mobile Crossing GPS?

All Lithium-ion batteries tend to wear out in a year or two. This is usually indicated by the fact that the device does not run as long on a battery as it once did. This graceful failure eventually becomes unacceptable for the user. At this point it is time to replace the battery. If you are nearing this point you may want to look at USGlobalSat.com for a replacement. The Mobile Crossing GPS is identified as the BT-308 on the site.

Thursday - March 8, 2007
GPS Tip: SiRF releases new version of SiRF Demo.

SiRF has released a couple of new versions of their famous SiRF demo program. This program provides control of SiRF chipsets using SiRF binary mode and allows the user to change many items on there GPS systems. Versions were released for both PC and PPC platforms. You can download SiRF Demo as a free release from their website.

Monday - March 5, 2007
GPS Tip: GPS Information Web sites

Check Dale DePriest's site for lots of information on GPS systems including several pages devoted specifically to Pocket PC devices used with GPS. Dale's stuff is also included on gpsinformation.net which contains all sorts of GPS information. Dale is a consultant at Mobile Crossing and author of most of these tips.

Tuesday - January 27, 2007
GPS Tip: Technology from Hedy Lamarr is used in the GPS system.

There is an interesting article publish in Gear Digest on some background technical data used in GPS and other modern systems. It turns out that Hedy Lamarr (the movie star) was one of the patent holders on spread spectrum technology which is used in GPS systems. Read the entire article: The origins of GPS on their web site. The article was written by Calvin Chu, an employee of Mobile Crossing.

Friday - February 23, 2007
GPS Tip: How can I force a cold start on my Mobile Crossing GPS?

Mobile Crossing GPS receivers currently use SiRF II chipsets that provide for automatic cold starts. To get the automatic cold start to work you need to ensure that the unit won't be able to retrieve satellite data for 5 minutes. This can easily be done by placing the unit under a metal pan or in an area where it cannot get any satellites.

This capability is also in many other GPS devices using this chipset. Its main purpose is to provide for a new satellite connection when you move the device more than 200 miles from where it had its last GPS fix. A side effect is that it does a cold start anytime it cannot see the satellites which can lengthen the time of first fix if you leave the GPS on inside a garage area.

Tuesday - February 20, 2007
WayPoint Tip: How can I update my PDA for the DST changes?

There is a new ROM build available on the Web site. This corrects for the new Daylight Savings Time start and end dates. Note that DST will start on March 11 this year. After installing, please change the time zone and then change back to trigger the settings properly. The easiest way to do this is to bring up the clock and switch to visiting, click ok, bring up the clock again and switch to home, click ok. Please download here.

If you do not wish to upgrade your ROM or want more information on this change please visit the Microsoft web site for downloadable files to correct this problem. Here is the Microsoft information.

Monday - February 12, 2007
Pocket PC Tip: How can I get online help for my Pocket PC?

Microsoft has developed a Windows Home web site that, among other things, can provide help on Operating system and applications. Check Windows Mobile Help. Scroll down for data on your specific OS. WayPoint users should select 2003 Help although some of the other sections may be applicable as well.

Monday - February 5, 2007
Pocket PC Tip: Looking for a finger friendly keyboard?

There is a new finger friendly on screen keyboard from Prevalent Devices. This keyboard is called Phraze-It™ and features an easy to remember multi-tap method to reduce the number of physical keys, thereby increasing their size. If you would like to use your fingers for data entry you might want to check this one out. A 7 day free trial with a free training game will get you started.

Friday - January 26, 2007
GPS Tip: Adding Georeference data to pictures

If you sometimes wish you could remember where a picture was taken you may want to georeference your images. The idea is to add lat/lon location data to the digital image so that you will know where the camera was when the image was taken. There are some cameras that can add this data automatically using an add-on or built in GPS. An earlier one of those was from Kodak and featured an operating system/programming system called digita™. It attached to a Garmin GPS. Newer systems include one from Navman and the latest is one from Ricoh. The Ricoh will also work with the BT GPS you already have.

If you want to do your own there are software products available that can use your time stamped tracklog and your time stamped picture to figure out where you were when the picture was taken. Other software can let you add the pictures to a map for your scrapbook.

Monday - January 22, 2007
GPS PPC Tip: Can I just leave my PDA in the car?

We do not advise leaving the PDA in the car. For one thing it is a great theft target but also it does not have the capability to operate in the hot and cold environments found in a car that is left outside. The operating range is from 32 F to 104 F. If the unit is left in a car overnight in the winter months the screen can behave really sluggish if it works at all. This will usually recover as the car warms up and work normally. No touch screen likes really cold weather.

Thursday - January 18, 2007
GPS PPC Tip: My GPS sees the satellites but won't get a fix.

Occasionally a SiRF based GPS (like Mobile Crossing uses) will see all of the satellites and show good signal strength but will refuse to get a fix. The best way to fix this is to force a cold start. If you GPS program does not allow you to cold start the GPS then download the one from our web site: http://www.mobilecrossing.com/downloads/GPSInfo_WM5.zip. Unzip the file and run the exe to install a copy of GPS Info on your PC and on you PDA (ActiveSync required).

Once you have the program on the PDA you can soft reset the PDA to insure that no other programming is using the GPS and start the program. Select the Com port for you GPS (The BT GPS on a WayPoint is Com8) and start the GPS from the start button. Data should start to appear on the box below. Once data begins to appear you can tap the cold start button. You can switch to the GPS Info screen to check the status of the fix. The satellites should appear in a line in the center until a new almanac is gathered and then the unit will get a fix. You can then stop the GPS connection and use your regular navigation program and it will have the fix you need.

Note that this program will also work on your PC or on Windows Mobile 5.0 devices if you can connect your GPS to them.

Tuesday - January 16, 2007
WayPoint Tip: Will WayPoints need to be updated for DST this year?

Yes, DST is changing by 4 weeks this year. It will start earlier and end later to save more energy according to the Government. You can expect a ROM upgrade in February to handle this change. The upgrade should be installed before March 11, 2007 when the change takes place.

Monday - January 15, 2007
Pocket PC Tip: Where are more tips?

There are more tips at: old tips. That page also has its own xml feed but it will not be updated any longer.