berni29

Hi There

I have a generic CF GPS card (but made by ftech) that uses the FirstGPS architecture. I am getting the message that the card is failing to start. I get the message whether the card is in my AximX50v or laptop. I can confirm the message through hyperterminal on the laptop or a logging program on the Axim. This is the second card I have tried.....

Anyone familiar with First GPS by Trimble and have any ideas?

Many thanks

Berni

JakeRich

Ok, if two fail to start, it's not likely to a failed card. So, help us here with some symptoms. Exactly what is the message for failure and what software is reporting it? Are there lights on the card? What are they doing? What does the manual say they should do? Most GPS units don't start until they are accessed appropriately. Also, only one application can use the COM port at a time, so make sure you do kill anything that uses COM4 and after you use a GPS application, make sure you kill that one before you start another.

The First GPS is a pretty old chipset. I've seen references to it from 2000. It may be very slow to start and very slow to the first fix. Which of these is the one you are using?

http://www.f-tech.com.tw/Eng/Right_gps_all.htm

berni29

Hi Jake

Thank you for taking the time to reply. The model is the FGPCFCD02 which is the CF one you can see on that page if you scroll down a bit. The message is $PXEMRDI_FirstGPS_Startup_Failed*2A. I get it on the laptop when querying through hyperterminal and GPRS Express and Win Navigator. Also Trimble have a logging/performace program. Same thing with that. When using these programs, a green light comes on the unit for as long as the program is running (with the correct port chosen...4 on the laptop with a PCMCIA/CF adapter). On the PDA I get the same message with Win Navigator, Pocket Daq Pro and a couple of others. Tomtom5 makes the green light on the unit flash. When the unit is in acquiring mode it should flash red, and then solid when it has a fix.

The first unit that I had did eventually work with the laptop, and once with the Axim and TomTom5. With the laptop it just started flashing red and was OK from that moment on (having refused to work for hours and many attempts), and on the Axim it did the same thing. I was driving along green light flashing, Then red flashing started (I had done nothing that I had not done before) and the Axim starts issuing instructions. Just that once though. At the time it could see 4 sats. I was hoping that it had an intermittent fault, but this replacement unit draws a complete blank. Get the same startup failed message with both units.

I am stumped! I guess that I will get onto Trimble next week and try to get someone technical.

JakeRich

Since it's not a Trimble GPS, just their chipset, I doubt you'll have muc success. But good luck anyway! Report back what you find out.