Great GPSing Indeed!

So, I took some time off from blogs, and decided to go on a little holiday to the mountains, and visit the Luray Caverns in VA. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a Freedom mini keyring-sized GPS (for a 100 bucks at Mobile Planet) after reading a great tip off in Tim's Blog. It worked instantly with my Blackberry maps, and has helped immensely around D.C., but I needed an application that uses map data that is loaded internally or on a storage card. My Blackberry is great for "on-the-spot" nav needs, but it's requirement to constantly update the map display via the high-speed cell network is not optimal. I could not count on having reliable cell covereage on this trip, so needed a local map source. A couple of years ago, I purchased a Navman PocketPC GPS unit (an expansion sleeve for older Compaq models), which is mostly useless now that my old iPAQs are dead or dying, but I thought, I still have the software/maps...

hmmm...maybe I could install and load the Smart ST software on my newer WM5 iPAQ hx2495, and use it with the new Freedom Mini keyring model...might work?

Well, it did work, but with a few tweaks, of course. First, I located the .cab file on my old PC, transferred it to my newer iPAQ, and installed it to the storage card. Next, I loaded my iPAQs CF card up with area maps. The install went off without a peep, and the software started up normally. SmartST required me to re-register and activate again, and I finally managed to get it to connect over the internet (after several server-side errors, it finally cooperated). The maps are a couple of years old, but should prove fairly accurate in most areas. SmartST V2 was written for PocketPC 2002, and runs fine on WM5, but only in portrait mode (it won't fill the display in landscape). The software automatically detected the maps on my CF card.

SmartST GPS settings

After getting the software/maps installed, I tried connecting to the GPS. This required turning on both handheld and GPS, and enabling bluetooth on my iPAQ. I used the iPAQ new connection wizard, and it detected the GPS shortly. It correctly identified it as a serial device, but kept erroring when connecting. I had to tweak the security and port settings, and finally got a good connection. I dredged up my old user manual for Navman/SmartST and tried the setup for it. These settings also worked for the Freedom unit, but your software may be different.

SmartST in 3-D turn-by-turn, and 2-D navigation modes

Okay, so what! You got your GPS working with your PDA and some old software...big deal! Well, yeah it is a big deal when you consider I paid a hundred or so dollars for the old unit/software, and would likely have paid at least that for a new GPS map application. It's also important to note that the iPAQs were made with a very user-friendly, and robust bluetooth capability, and that the WM OS is sufficiently backward compatible to support older applications. Anyway, the real point was to add my 2 cents to the praise for this GPS unit, and to Tim for pointing it out on our excellent blog. It worked for my trip to the mountains quite well, except in a few very remote areas. I simply stuffed the iPAQ in it's dock on the dashboard, and turned everything on.

Now for a few pix of the scenic Blue Ridge mountains, and Luray Caverns... If you want to visit the east coast of the U.S. for a nice mountain retreat, I highly recommend the Luray Caverns area, especially a little Bed and Breakfast called "Once Upon A Mountain". It's beautiful, even in the winter, the service was great (thanks Betsy!), and it's very cozy.