SDS100/SDS200: How to make a GPS for the SDS-100 $42

[jonwienke]

Photos of internal install:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApJIS-l4xqPtgvQQbjn2uujFCymvKw

 

[hagensieker]

Made mine! Sweet Project. And great idea! Thanks.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Made mine! Sweet Project. And great idea! Thanks.

Nice job.

 

[hagensieker]

After using mine for almost 24 hours now I noticed I was consuming battery and had USB Low Voltage errors as I got down near battery death voltage.

I went on a search for a USB A cable with thicker wiring and found one that was probably 22 or 24 ga. wire. After soldering it up to the connector my GPS cable is now charging as opposed to consuming.

As Hit_Factor stated in his original post the cable must be of sufficient gauge to carry the proper amount of current.

All good now. Still an awesome project, well worth your time to build. Beats buying a GPS unit for $120 or so.

 

[hagensieker]

Here's the new "improved" cable. Do I wish the USB A cable were black? Yeah. Am I gonna change it? No. Is what it is at this point.

 

[KF5YU]

Does this arrangement need a separate power source to work or will it operate off the power from the SDS100?
Thx

 

[Hit_Factor]

This has a separate power source. The sds100 does not supply power out of the USB port.

 

[KF5YU]

Thx Hit_Factor, if I decide to build this then I would want to build it with a rechargeable battery pack...

 

[RRR]

Sure would like the internal install. Unfortunately, Mr. Wienke has other things going on, so I guess I'm out on that. Would love to buy the board he puts in them, it seems so advanced, and there's no way I'm messing with an external puck and all the mess that comes with it, for a portable.

Why won't Uniden offer this as an add-on??

Mr. Wienke, $100 for your GPS unit, and I'll install it myself.....

 

[jonwienke]

https://forums.radioreference.com/u...nal-gps-mod-tech-support-q-6.html#post2985043

 

[SCPD]

Photos of internal install:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApJIS-l4xqPtgvQQbjn2uujFCymvKw

why does the antenna need to be mounted with a hole cutout? as my htc and samsungs phones are in plastic cellphone cases and then in a leather case with no issue? just a quick question as your photos show no signs of shielding on back case of sds100 other then wht you add

 

[jonwienke]

The silver strips inside the case seen in photo #8 are RFI shielding material. Also, the module needs the cutout so that it doesn't touch the rear circuit board.

 

[SCPD]

Makes perfect sense..... do any of the usb port offer this power looks like it does?????? thinking of mounting it external.. looks like that would be a tough ribbon cable to plug in

 

[jonwienke]

You can't get power from the USB port.

There is a 3.7V tap on the front circuit board that can be used to power the GPS.

And the ribbon cable between the front circuit board and keypat is a PITA to reconnect.

 

[rbuxton]

I just got my GPS puck wired up. The GPS acquires within a few seconds. The SDS100 'GPS' indicator doesn't display for close to 2 minutes after inserting the plug into the USB port of the SDS100.



Then, I enter ZIP code 90210, it loads the California database and starts scanning LA County stuff. Even though the GPS indicator is on the SDS100 does not immediately switch to the local freqs (where the GPS is located.). Again, it'll take around 2 minutes for the SDS100 to recognize the GPS and then it'll reload the national database for the local area and start scanning.



If I disable the full database, unplug the GPS, enter a ZIP code for a 100 miles away the SDS100 will, of course, load and scan the correct freqs. Then I plug the GPS in and once the SDS100 reads the GPS data it'll change to the local freqs.


So, I suppose it works but the SDS100 takes longer than the 436 and 536 to read the GPS data.



I've never traveled with the Full Database enabled using a GPS. Is this how it's supposed to work? It reloads the appropriate states as you move down the road?


And, is the GPS data read time by design supposed to be close to 2 minutes?

 

[Hit_Factor]

Yep, that's how it works.

I agree 2 minutes seems long, my setup was pretty much instant. The GPS keeps track of how recent it's 'catalog' and downloading a new catalog takes some time. Maybe with regular operation it will be faster. In practice, a mile or two of latency while driving won't be noticed.

 

[rbuxton]

Upon further review...... I think I may have a short. I'll re-do the soldering job and report back.



Ugh.

 

[bagmouse7]

On mine, once the puck is showing that it has a fix, the SDS100 shows GPS indicator within a couple of seconds of plugging it into the USB port.

 

[rbuxton]

Second (better ?) soldering job complete. Plug in USB to computer, GPS acquires in less than 10 seconds. Plug into the SDS100 and it takes close to 30 seconds before the radio shows the GPS indicator. And then it works.



Back to scanning.

 

[UPMan]

Do you perhaps have site hold time set to something other than 0?