I own Topcon GPT-7500 Series total station with the embedded Windows CE board. I was wondering what the chepaest and easist way to include bluetooth on that device. I tried hooking a bluetooth usb dongle on the usb port, but it des not appear to be detected. So can this be done via USB? Does it need a special type of bluetooth USB, or can it only happen vie the CF card slot, with a CF Bluetooth adapter?
It sounds like a driver issue. If you can get the driver for your dongle installed on the gun, the USB connection ought to work.
Are you sure? How can you get any kind of drivers on windows ce machine?
therock003, post: 423465, member: 12282 wrote: Are you sure? How can you get any kind of drivers on windows ce machine?
No, I'm not sure, as the only Topcon instrument I have predates Windows CE by a decade or two. But if it's Windows, it uses drivers, the trick is to find the right one and figure out how to install it.
Given that this isn't a robotic instrument, the benefits of a BT connection may not be worth the effort.
SD-1000 will add 500' to 1000' of bluetooth range to your instrument for $315.00.
This is a very expensive solution. I only want to have bluetooth connection so i can add the total station connection on the same project i'm running on the gps data collector and have a seamless operation. But i was hoping for a cheap solution that allowed me to make use of my already purchased dongles, or worst case scenario buy a supported dongle of up to 20E. Anything more than that is overkill, and i'll stick to exporting the job file and importing it on the data collector.
BTW: Windows CE is not an easily cusomizable system. It is aimed as custom software for business devices, and is written to serve their specific purpose. Only way to include drivers is to embed them inside the OS and reflash it on device. ITs not the usual Windows pricedure, here sir theres your drivers, now load me the hardware. And i cannot make sense as to how to inject driver spcific files, for a given dongle..
Those bluetooth dongles you mention are for PC only, not for WinCE.
So you only want bluetooth to export data from the gun to your GPS controller? Then USB is likely your only option.
Why not use your data controller with the Topcon GPT-7000 and your GPS?
USB is what i'm already using for data export. I want bluetooth to connect to the controller. But i cannot reach prices like the one before.
I have an older Nikon gun that doesn't have BT. I went through this same thought process. Then one day I connected my Nikon serial cable to my Surveyor 2, tweaked the COM settings, and now the Nikon is another field option that uses the same DC. Since its not a robot, the cable is. not an issue.
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I'm just spitballing here but I'll bet that USB port only supports data transfer and it would be restricted from being a data i/o comm port. You may want to look into using the data port to BT device as a solution. If $300 is considered expensive this option might be a budget buster.
therock003, post: 423446, member: 12282 wrote: I own Topcon GPT-7500 Series total station with the embedded Windows CE board. I was wondering what the chepaest and easist way to include bluetooth on that device. I tried hooking a bluetooth usb dongle on the usb port, but it des not appear to be detected. So can this be done via USB? Does it need a special type of bluetooth USB, or can it only happen vie the CF card slot, with a CF Bluetooth adapter?
We have a GPT3000LW with bluetooth onboard. We leave it turned off. It runs the battery down on the Nomad and if you have a period of inactivity, you have to resync the two devices. A cord fixed battery issues and connectivity issues. My advice is don't mess with it.
Topcon announced that the previous model series to your GPT-7500, namely the GTS-720/GPT-7000C series would be Bluetooth capable, by which they meant that the end user could install a Socket PC CF Bluetooth adapter in the CF slot on the unit. That series of instruments were nearly ready to be replaced by the GTS-750/GPT-7500 series before Topcon ever got around to producing the drivers for the 720/7000C units. So when the 750/7500 series came out, Topcon summarily announced that there would be no Bluetooth drivers for those units and they kept their word.
Thus, it would appear that the only prospect of providing Bluetooth capability for a GPT-7500 model would be on of the Parani-type Bluetooth transceivers that is equipped with a serial port. You would still need to plug an instrument cable into the port on the instrument but you would connect the cable to the Pirani device instead of your data collector serial port.
From your posts above, I am not certain in you are using the onboard TopSURV and simply want to import/export points or if you want to run the instrument with the data collector via Bluetooth. Those Parani adapters are available at http://www.senanetworks.com/products/industrial_bluetooth/sd1000.php
Guys i remember back then when i purchased it (crica 2010) the company offered a cf bluetooth solution. It was an adapter that clicked on the cf card slot not a data cable converted into bluetooth.
Anyway, is it possible to inject the drivers for a dongle and rewrite the windows ce kernel. I really have a bunch of bluetooth sitting around and paying 100-300 euros is not an option.
