Did deluo mess up these wiring pins?

Munk · 12-24-05, 07:18 PM

I have been completely frustrated with one of my two deluo GPS receivers that I got just two days ago. Specifically the Axim x50v GPS.

In attempts to get the GPS working I reset my x50v from Windows Mobile 5 back to 2003se but that didn't work. Lots of utilities and settings later I started looking at the wiring and here is what I found.

Pins 9 and 10 are shorted together!
Pins 11 and 12 are shorted together too!

Based off of this wiring diagram these are what those pins represent.

9 Serial RTS
10 Serial RX
11 Serial TX
12 Ground

Now, should "transmit" and "receive" go directly to the pins without needing a "request to send" hitting high at the same time? Even then, sending transmit to ground seems like it could damage the serial communications.

Here are some photos of the cable to demonstrate the pins being shorted. You can see it plane as day! But, of course I used an ohm meter to verify these findings.

Can anyone verify that this is wrong or right? Please help.

JakeRich · 12-25-05, 11:41 AM

Had you not opened it, you could simply have contacted the vendor to get a a replacement. However, now that it is opened, the warranty is probably invalid. I'd suggest you contact the vendor if you think the unit doesn't work. I reviewed that unit a while ago with an X5 and it worked perfectly.

Munk · 12-25-05, 12:02 PM

JakeRich, I love you man. I think of you as the GPS guru of Aximsite and I'm very thankful for your help.

I opened it up because deluo, Aximsite and other friends with GPS stuff couldn't help me. They thought I was crazy or just unable to correctly configure the product. I have had a year of using my other bluetooth GPS with three different PocketPC's and having no problems. My job revolves around a bunch of wiring, soldering, trouble shooting and so on. So, I wasn't about to let deluo say it was me or my problem.

With the connector there were two screws and mostly "snap-in" parts that kept it together. So putting it back together was a snap. :) There are no visible scratches or anything else. Hopefully I can return it but, if not, it's just the connector portion and not the GPS itself. I believe it is a $15 part.

JakeRich, do you think that the wiring is at fault too? That these pins shouldn't be shorted together? If deluo wont take it back I can always try to unsolder these shorts and then hopefully have a working product.

12-25-05, 01:45 PM

TX shorted to ground is always bad. Impact of RTS to RX depends the flow contol logic, but isn't exactly good.

JakeRich · 12-25-05, 06:39 PM

I still say that if it is wrong, get the vendor to replace it. From the picture I can't see any cross soldering. The solder resist between the pins seems intact. But if you are sure they are cross connected, get the vendor to send a replacement. If they refuse, you can try some solder wick to remove whatever you think is excess to see if it makes a change.

Munk · 12-28-05, 02:43 PM

YAY! Deluo contacted me today and they'll take a return for the connector portion of the GPS. This is despite the fact that I opened up that connector, took photo's and even sent it to them. I'm glad that they are doing this as it shows more about what kind of company they are. :approve:

Before you say "Hey it's wrong that they take back something you opened up ". Think about this for a second. Imagine if you were the person who received this product and didn't know a lick about "transmit", "receive", "clear to send", "request to send", blah, blah, blah. You wouldn't have attempted looking for bad soldering work. You would have focused days and weeks of e-mails back and forth with the manufacturer and in forums just like this one. Eventually, you would be so pissed off that you would give up and not say anything or just get your money back. Your experience with GPS equipment would have stopped you from ever trying another GPS device for your PDA or laptop. You would end up buying a self contained device from Garmin or Magellan or whoever. So, who loses out? I can also tell you that I was very careful with opening it up and putting it back together that you would never have known it was done.

Thanks everyone that helped.