Nikon D200 / D300 and GPS

I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where they
showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the camera.
Seems all the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the serial
level RS-232 signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS that has TTL
level output along with the serial level signals. My question is, is
there a way to pull the power the GPS needs to run from the camera? The
GPS spec sheet says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I can avoid making a
battery pack for the GPS, that sure would make for a nice very small and
simple solution to having a GPS on the camera instead of having it in
your pocket with wires all over the place. The GPS is only 41mm square
and I was thinking of making a hot shoe mount from some old dead flash.


--
Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com

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Chris W wrote:
I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where they
showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the camera. Seems
all the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the serial level
RS-232 signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS that has TTL level
output along with the serial level signals. My question is, is there a
way to pull the power the GPS needs to run from the camera? The GPS
spec sheet says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I can avoid making a battery
pack for the GPS, that sure would make for a nice very small and simple
solution to having a GPS on the camera instead of having it in your
pocket with wires all over the place. The GPS is only 41mm square and I
was thinking of making a hot shoe mount from some old dead flash.



Hot shoe sounds like a good idea. Infact, you could create it with a
hotshoe socket on top too (if they're available anywhere) so you could
use a flashgun alongside it.

http://www.stockholmviews.com/diypho...kon_mc-35.html shows a
pinout of what seems to be the orginal cable - looks like it has power there.

Your idea of hotshoe power is covered in
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=18460359
(could be some help)

- --
Brendan Gillatt
brendan {at} brendangillatt {dot} co {dot} uk
http://www.brendangillatt.co.uk
PGP Key: http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?...rch=0xBACD7433
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Brendan Gillatt wrote:
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Chris W wrote:
I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where they
showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the camera. Seems
all the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the serial level
RS-232 signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS that has TTL level
output along with the serial level signals. My question is, is there a
way to pull the power the GPS needs to run from the camera? The GPS
spec sheet says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I can avoid making a battery
pack for the GPS, that sure would make for a nice very small and simple
solution to having a GPS on the camera instead of having it in your
pocket with wires all over the place. The GPS is only 41mm square and I
was thinking of making a hot shoe mount from some old dead flash.



Hot shoe sounds like a good idea. Infact, you could create it with a
hotshoe socket on top too (if they're available anywhere) so you could
use a flashgun alongside it.

http://www.stockholmviews.com/diypho...kon_mc-35.html shows a
pinout of what seems to be the orginal cable - looks like it has power there.

Your idea of hotshoe power is covered in
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=18460359
(could be some help)

I made one; here are the instructions. I use it all the time.

http://cynicor.blogspot.com/2006/07/...n-d200_28.html

Chris W wrote:
I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where they
showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the camera. Seems
all the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the serial level
RS-232 signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS that has TTL level
output along with the serial level signals. My question is, is there a
way to pull the power the GPS needs to run from the camera? The GPS
spec sheet says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I can avoid making a battery
pack for the GPS, that sure would make for a nice very small and simple
solution to having a GPS on the camera instead of having it in your
pocket with wires all over the place. The GPS is only 41mm square and I
was thinking of making a hot shoe mount from some old dead flash.

Hi, Chris.

Yeah, that connector seems to be proprietary, and they're proud of it.
Even the 3-wire version with only bananna-plugs on the end is expensive.

Don't try pulling that current through the 10-pin port. There's no way
it's rated for 45mA; if they haven't current-limited it (they should
have) you'll damage the camera. Maybe wire to the camera battery contacts?

Personally, I wouldn't hack on my expensive camera, and I don't like
making the camera bigger (or adding external wires) unless it really
needs it. Why not sync the GPS data to the pictures in post-process
instead of real-time?

The cheapest candidate I've found so far is the Garmin eTrek H (~$100)
will do ~12 hours on a set of AA's and supports serial downloading with
an add-on cable. You'd need to code the script to load the EXIF data,
but it's about half the cost of Sony's GPS photo gadget. Haven't had
time to hack out this project yet, but it's high on my list.

I am curious, though - what GPS module did you find in that size?

Cheers,
Richard

p.s., speaking of adding dangling wires to the camera, I find it a bit
ironic that Nikon's D300 wireless module (WT-4a) is a brick with a cable
to the camera. :-) I thought the D200 style (in the battery grip) was a
lot slicker.

Richard H. wrote:
Chris W wrote:
I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where
they showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the
camera. Seems all the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the
serial level RS-232 signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS
that has TTL level output along with the serial level signals. My
question is, is there a way to pull the power the GPS needs to run
from the camera? The GPS spec sheet says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I
can avoid making a battery pack for the GPS, that sure would make for
a nice very small and simple solution to having a GPS on the camera
instead of having it in your pocket with wires all over the place.
The GPS is only 41mm square and I was thinking of making a hot shoe
mount from some old dead flash.

Hi, Chris.

Yeah, that connector seems to be proprietary, and they're proud of it.
Even the 3-wire version with only bananna-plugs on the end is expensive.

Don't try pulling that current through the 10-pin port. There's no way
it's rated for 45mA; if they haven't current-limited it (they should
have) you'll damage the camera. Maybe wire to the camera battery contacts?

Personally, I wouldn't hack on my expensive camera, and I don't like
making the camera bigger (or adding external wires) unless it really
needs it. Why not sync the GPS data to the pictures in post-process
instead of real-time?

The cheapest candidate I've found so far is the Garmin eTrek H (~$100)
will do ~12 hours on a set of AA's and supports serial downloading with
an add-on cable. You'd need to code the script to load the EXIF data,
but it's about half the cost of Sony's GPS photo gadget. Haven't had
time to hack out this project yet, but it's high on my list.

I am curious, though - what GPS module did you find in that size?

Cheers,
Richard

p.s., speaking of adding dangling wires to the camera, I find it a bit
ironic that Nikon's D300 wireless module (WT-4a) is a brick with a cable
to the camera. :-) I thought the D200 style (in the battery grip) was a
lot slicker.


Here is the GPS.
https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/p...products_id=23

After further research it seems it has 3V TTL levels and the camera
wants 5V so I will still need a converter. Also it seems this guy...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=18460359

has powered his from the camera but it is unclear where he is getting
the power... I think it might be from the hot shoe.





--
Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com

Chris,

In case you don't already know, there's software that does the same thing.
Check out http://www.robogeo.com

"Chris W" wrote in message
...
I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where they
showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the camera. Seems all
the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the serial level RS-232
signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS that has TTL level output
along with the serial level signals. My question is, is there a way to
pull the power the GPS needs to run from the camera? The GPS spec sheet
says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I can avoid making a battery pack for the
GPS, that sure would make for a nice very small and simple solution to
having a GPS on the camera instead of having it in your pocket with wires
all over the place. The GPS is only 41mm square and I was thinking of
making a hot shoe mount from some old dead flash.


--
Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com

Chris W wrote:


Richard H. wrote:
Chris W wrote:
I found a web site a while back (don't have the link anymore) where
they showed how to make your own cable to hook your GPS to the
camera. Seems all the $100 cable does is us a $2 chip to convert the
serial level RS-232 signals to TTL level. Well I have found a GPS
that has TTL level output along with the serial level signals. My
question is, is there a way to pull the power the GPS needs to run
from the camera? The GPS spec sheet says it needs 45ma at 5V. If I
can avoid making a battery pack for the GPS, that sure would make for
a nice very small and simple solution to having a GPS on the camera
instead of having it in your pocket with wires all over the place.
The GPS is only 41mm square and I was thinking of making a hot shoe
mount from some old dead flash.

Hi, Chris.

Yeah, that connector seems to be proprietary, and they're proud of it.
Even the 3-wire version with only bananna-plugs on the end is expensive.

Don't try pulling that current through the 10-pin port. There's no
way it's rated for 45mA; if they haven't current-limited it (they
should have) you'll damage the camera. Maybe wire to the camera
battery contacts?

Personally, I wouldn't hack on my expensive camera, and I don't like
making the camera bigger (or adding external wires) unless it really
needs it. Why not sync the GPS data to the pictures in post-process
instead of real-time?

The cheapest candidate I've found so far is the Garmin eTrek H (~$100)
will do ~12 hours on a set of AA's and supports serial downloading
with an add-on cable. You'd need to code the script to load the EXIF
data, but it's about half the cost of Sony's GPS photo gadget.
Haven't had time to hack out this project yet, but it's high on my list.

I am curious, though - what GPS module did you find in that size?

Cheers,
Richard

p.s., speaking of adding dangling wires to the camera, I find it a bit
ironic that Nikon's D300 wireless module (WT-4a) is a brick with a
cable to the camera. :-) I thought the D200 style (in the battery
grip) was a lot slicker.


Here is the GPS.
https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/p...products_id=23

After further research it seems it has 3V TTL levels and the camera
wants 5V so I will still need a converter. Also it seems this guy...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=18460359

has powered his from the camera but it is unclear where he is getting
the power... I think it might be from the hot shoe.

IT POWERS FINE WITH THE 5V PIN OF THE 10-PIN CONVERTER! I have been
doing it for two years with my GPS.