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G8MNY > TECH 09.03.16 19:31l 186 Lines 9106 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 63003_GB7CIP
Read: GUEST
Subj: GARMIN Nuvi 200 GPS
Path: IW8PGT<IV3ONZ<IZ3LSV<ED1ZAC<GB7CIP
Sent: 160309/1651Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO #:63003 [Caterham Surrey GBR]
From: G8MNY@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EURO
To : TECH@WW
By G8MNY (Updated Jan 09)
(8 Bit ASCII graphics use code page 437 or 850, Terminal Font)
I have had one of these cheap GPSa nearly a year now. The boot up time quite
slow @ 20s, & very slow to find satellites on the move 5 mins. Sensitivity
seems fine with some indoor working after a while finding weak satellites. GPS
uses PSK with Rx bandwidth of 20MHz using P-Code or 2MHz with C/A code, on
1227.60MHz L1 Band or 1575.42MHz L2 Band. Mine did not like QRM signals between
1566-1592MHz so must be using L2 band.
Rear internal aerial
on/off
/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Touch sensitive screen, press an area icon
³ ³.-~ [±±±±]12:00³ ³ & it goes there. On maps you can move the
Side³ ³sig batt______ ³ ³ whole map, change scale 24 times. Detail
Card³ ³ /~~\ ³ ³ ³ ³ information for UK only, EU has main roads
Slot³ ³ ³ ³_ ³ ³ ³ ³ mainly & only major roads further away.
³ ³ \__/'-:- ³______³ ³ ³
³ ³ Where to? View Map ³ ³ On power up you get an optional password,
Rear³ ³ ÚÄÄÄÂÄÄÄ¿³ ³ then a safety message & then this menu.
Mini³ ³ ³___³___³³ ³
USB ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ Mounted with a Window sticker clip the holds
\GARMIN vüvi Tools LS / the GPS but allows easy GPS removal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHERE TO:
Address: England or Spell Country
³ ÀEnter House No,Street > Found Options\_Back/Map/Save
ÀSpellCity/Postcode or Search All > Found Options/
Food Hotels: Spell, Food, Fuel, Transit, Lodging, Shopping, Bank, Parking,
Entertain, Recreation, Attractions, Hospitals, Community, Motor
(Extensive database including Address & tel no etc.)
Recently Found: lists last few found sites> Back/Clear.
Favourites: List stored Favourites in nearest order.
Extras: Any loaded programs such as Points Of Interest files.
Intersections: Junctions addressed by postcodes as Addresses
Cities: Quick list of Nearby or Spell > Back,Map,Save.
Browse Map: Shows Map> Back, Save, Go.
Coordinates: Input Grid Ref> Back,Format,Next> Back,Map,Save. (no NGR!)
To read coordinates of the map somewhere other than where you
are, you need to set the GPS simulator ON (tools), go there on
the map press SET LOC & then go to the Coordinates option.
VIEW MAP:
Gives map & Ready to Navigate or Searching Sat.
Menu returns to start Menu.
Speed> Heading, Speed, Max & Mean, Time & Stopped >Back,Resets
Driving> Next road instruction info.
The default UK map also includes much of Ireland & the near coast of EU with
less detail to the trunk routes as you get inland. Other continents include
country/state outline only. Other maps can bought on line & downloaded.
TOOLS:
Settings: System: GPS Sim> on/off, Use> Mobile/Bike/Ped, Units> Mile/km.
Security:Lock> Off/On+Pin+Loc, Safe> On/Off.
Navigation:Route>Fast/Short/Off,Avoid>U+Maj+Toll+Fer+Share+Unpave
Time: Format> 24/12/UTC, Zone> 55 Zones, Daylight> Auto/on/off.
Language: Voice/Text/Keyboard > 40 languages
Display: Col Mode>day/night/auto, Shot>on/off,Bright>10x 10%
Map: Detail> 6 levels, View> 3 types, Vehicle> 3 types.
Proximity: On/off
Help: To, Map, Tools, Trouble, General, Shortcut, Settings.
Picture Viewer: comes with 9 Jpeg pictures, 1 can be start up picture.
Calculator: Basic calculator
Currency Converter: 175 currencies conversions, but only via $ rates.
Unit Converter: Area,Distance,Speed,Temp,Volume,Weight, in most units
World Clock: GPS clock time & Date & 3 time zones> 45 options/zone, & also
World Daylight Map.
SPEAKER: 10x 1O% levels & mute. Quite sharp sound, I found it very loud in a
large VAN, but it seems much quieter in a car, where the loudest setting may be
needed.
12V Car Adaptor is to 5V @ 1A at the 5 pin mini USB plug. Be warned using the
wrong rated adaptor (less than 1A) can result in a totally fried GPS I have
seen one of those!
The USB socket is also what you need to do backups & downloads of new files
etc. a modern PC/MAC see it as 2 more drives, the GPS itself & the sim card.
I interface with Win98se PC with updated driver, & use the sim card veiwer for
diplaying pictures etc.
A friend has put in mine all the UK repeater sites as a POI file, & all the
Sainsbury's (not included in the database).
IN USE
I did find the map speed (where you are) is spot on for the navigate mode.
but slightly late (has to catch up) in the normal map mode & can be off the
road if there are any Rx errors. The next road instruction button is useful,
if you did not hear it well, or you have time to hear the next few well
before you need to. I did find the time to reached destination very useful, &
the accuracy of the destination generally excellent (right outside), but not
always, as occasionally it proportions house positions that are not known.
Using it as a car finder (save location on parking & take it with you), is
also good if you are often parking in a maze of small roads.
The brilliance is excellent if no direct sunlight is on the screen, & the
automatic nighttime setting just reverses any white areas to black, & keeps
the map detail the same. I put a stick on screen guard over mine as this
should give the delicate touch screen a longer life.
On battery mode you get up to 5 hours, but that depends on brilliance setting
& if the battery charge indicator is truly in sync with the battery status!
If you turn it off while it is navigating a journey (e.g. low on battery) it
restarts the same navigation quickly working out where it is on that route
you are. (unlike Sat search delay if you power it up cold on t
SB IBM @ WW
Laptop HDD Repair
By G8MNY (New Feb 07)
(8 Bit ASCII graphics use code page 437 or 850, Terminal Font)
I have an old DEL black & white laptop ideal for /P packet work, as it has the
same 12V socket connections as the TNC & Rig. But over the last few years it
has been more & more difficult to boot up from cold. I say cold as if you leave
it to warmup, or apply a lot of heat (hair dryer) to the drive, you hear a
click & it works 100% with no errors at all.
As this is not a practical solution & compatible replacements are unavailable
(a memory stick & adaptor was my next port of call). Not to be out done &
having a background in real engineering (PRESTEL) on old exchangeable drives, I
decided to strip down the small HDD, to see what was wrong! Opening a sealed
drive not in a clean room, I thought would nearly always result in a damaged
head crashed drive, but I was wrong & have got away with it OK!
INSIDE THE HDD
Inside the drive you see - - - - - - - - - - - -
this sort to layout. / _-Ä~~Ä-_ Park |
/~ ~\ Magnet
The tiny heads are on the | / \ ÚÄ/ |
end of an pivoted arm which | H\ | ³*/ H=Heads
also has the head moving || \\ | ³³park | o=Arm Pivot
bare actuator coil inside ³ Axle() arm\ ³ ³³Arm
a powerful magnet. || \ \_³³ |
| \ o ===\\
Under the iron oxide | \ Platters / \_// \\|
covered recording platters \ / ||coil//
is the brushless platter \ ~Ä-.__.-Ä~ \\ // |
motor, axle & main bearing. - - - - - - - - - - - -
HEAD PARKING
As this is a laptop drive head parking (put heads on an inside track for
landing & have less vibration during transport) is important, & this is where
my trouble is.
A steel park arm limiting the head travel, normally sticks the park magnet at
power off. But when cold the actuator coil has not enough force to unstick
this, however when hot this is not quite so powerful, & you can hear a click as
the actuator frees the arm from the magnet. At the end of the arm is a tiny
sliver of something to give a magnetic residue gap to limit the magnet pull.
I now suspect this has worn down a few microns increasing the park magnets
holding power.
MY SOLUTION
This was really an old dodge for sticky relays etc, I applied a sliver of
sticky tape about 2x 3mm to the face the park magnet. This will undoubtedly
wear through in a few 1000 parks but it certainly works! Care was taken not to
"touch" or "breath" on anything in the drive especially the patters, & to
refit the cover as soon as I had finished, each time I looked etc.
TESTING
I have the old Norton DT (DistTest) utility that runs under DOS, that can
quickly test the whole drive, & also scandisk etc, so far it says no errors, &
it has always booted up from cold OK.
Why Don't U send an interesting bul?
73 De John, G8MNY @ GB7CIP
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