Eric
01-12-2005, 11:47 PM
Mazda may not sell you their Mazda3 GPS Navigation system, but that does not mean that you have to do without. This is my system I used it in my old MX-3 as well. In fact it is totally portable. You can even put it in your pocket and walk around with it.
It is built around a PalmOS based application called Mapopolis.
Components:
PalmOne Tungsten T3 PDA: $400
Holus GR230 Bluetooth: GPS $200
256 Meg SD Card: $100
Mapopolis Navigator Maps: $100
Air Vent Cell Phone holder from Dollarama: $1 (I had to modify this with a Dremel tool)
The Mapopolis software is based on NavTech maps and knows about a lot of Points of Interest and businesses. The 256 Meg SD card holds enough maps that I can get all of Canada and most of New England onto the card. You can of course choose which maps to put on the card if you are going on a trip. Mapopolis does point to point navigation with voice prompts, so you do not have to look at the PDA to Navigate once you have told it where you want to go. The thing on top of the dash is the Holux GR230 bluetooth GPS. It has a nine hour battery life. The PDA will last about three hours on battery. Both devices can be powered and recharged from the cigarette lighter power point. This of course requires cables coming up from the power point (not shown in the pictures). The whole system works great.
The PDA can do many other things of course. One of which is be an MP3 Player. With a $30 FM transmitter powered from the power point you can listen to MP3s stored on the SD card over your FM radio at the same time that you are using GPS navigation (this of course reduces the number of maps you can have on the SD card).
Pictures below:
Note: the right side of the LCD display that is obscured by the PDA never displays anything anyway since NA cars don\\\'t display ambient temperature. The PDA can be dropped into the holder when driving or hand held for programming. Since the communication with the GPS is over Bluetooth, no wires are required, and the GPS is always on the dash with a good view of the sky.
http://www.firstclass.com/~eric/mazda/NavSys1.jpg
http://www.firstclass.com/~eric/mazda/NavSys2.jpg
When not in use it stores in the glove compartment or out of the car. No screws, velcro or double sided tape required.
For more information about Mapopolis see: The Mapopolis Website (http://www.mapopolis.com)
I am not affiliated, do not work for or own stock, etc. in ony of the companies providing any part of this system.
Oh yeah, DON\'T BE STUPID! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PROGRAM THE SYSTEM WHILE THE CAR IS MOVING OR NOT SAFELY PARKED OUT OF THE WAY OF OTHER TRAFFIC!
It is built around a PalmOS based application called Mapopolis.
Components:
PalmOne Tungsten T3 PDA: $400
Holus GR230 Bluetooth: GPS $200
256 Meg SD Card: $100
Mapopolis Navigator Maps: $100
Air Vent Cell Phone holder from Dollarama: $1 (I had to modify this with a Dremel tool)
The Mapopolis software is based on NavTech maps and knows about a lot of Points of Interest and businesses. The 256 Meg SD card holds enough maps that I can get all of Canada and most of New England onto the card. You can of course choose which maps to put on the card if you are going on a trip. Mapopolis does point to point navigation with voice prompts, so you do not have to look at the PDA to Navigate once you have told it where you want to go. The thing on top of the dash is the Holux GR230 bluetooth GPS. It has a nine hour battery life. The PDA will last about three hours on battery. Both devices can be powered and recharged from the cigarette lighter power point. This of course requires cables coming up from the power point (not shown in the pictures). The whole system works great.
The PDA can do many other things of course. One of which is be an MP3 Player. With a $30 FM transmitter powered from the power point you can listen to MP3s stored on the SD card over your FM radio at the same time that you are using GPS navigation (this of course reduces the number of maps you can have on the SD card).
Pictures below:
Note: the right side of the LCD display that is obscured by the PDA never displays anything anyway since NA cars don\\\'t display ambient temperature. The PDA can be dropped into the holder when driving or hand held for programming. Since the communication with the GPS is over Bluetooth, no wires are required, and the GPS is always on the dash with a good view of the sky.
http://www.firstclass.com/~eric/mazda/NavSys1.jpg
http://www.firstclass.com/~eric/mazda/NavSys2.jpg
When not in use it stores in the glove compartment or out of the car. No screws, velcro or double sided tape required.
For more information about Mapopolis see: The Mapopolis Website (http://www.mapopolis.com)
I am not affiliated, do not work for or own stock, etc. in ony of the companies providing any part of this system.
Oh yeah, DON\'T BE STUPID! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PROGRAM THE SYSTEM WHILE THE CAR IS MOVING OR NOT SAFELY PARKED OUT OF THE WAY OF OTHER TRAFFIC!