Problems with Trimble XC

Im using a Trimble Pathfinder XC with a Toughbook running XP I downloaded the driver from Trimble but cannot aquire satellites. I read another post that pointed to a faulty adaptor, I bought a new adaptor that suppports GPS and still no go. Please Help

If I recall, the other poster never reported back as to whether the express card to cf card adapter was the problem and resolved it. How do you know you have one that works? What program are you using to determine if NMEA data is being received by the computer from the Trimble?

Terry

I talked to a Trimble tech who said it was probably my adaptor, and looking closer at the adaptor it is a reader, so I got the new one which supports I/O functions. I'm using a third party program called GeoResults Mobile but I also downloaded Trimble's GPS Controller. It reads the reciever but will not get satelites.

Sounds like you are moving in THe right direction. I am not familiar with the XC or software. Are you testing it outside to ensure the GPS has the opportunity to get a good sky view and lock?

Terry

Yes, I've brought it outside for over an hour, still no satellites. I'm not sure what else I could try, besides finding a laptop with a compact flash drive so I can skip my adapter, but i don't have one. Or has anyone used a compact flash adapter that works? also I've been searching through some data sheets but I'm not sure of the settings I should have on the com port or on the receiver its self. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks for the help Terry.

COM port settings generally have little effect as software tends to ignore them. If you are unfamiliar with the hardware and software, it might be reasonable to temporarily bypass one of them to test the other.

To confirm you are actually getting NMEA data from the XC to a COM port, yyou might try something like Earthbridge to monitor that port. Make sure the other programs are not active while testing.

Earth Bridge - Bridge the gap between Google Earth and your GPS receiver.

Terry

It worked. One of the problems was it wanted to use com port 1 or 2, I was using 9, so I changed that. Its nice to see the data stream on earth bridge. It also worked with Trimble's GPS Controller, but not as smoothly. I have to connect the receiver to EB and make sure I have a good stream, not the squares and question marks, reconnect if I am then once I get satellites in EB, I disconnect then connect to the receiver with GPS Controller and I will usally work. I am still having trouble with the mapping software I'm using, I usally get a data framing error but I am working with the software company to resolve that.

I'm having a problem finding an adapter that will work with the pathfinder xc to express 54 slot. What did you end up using?