[MLB-WIRELESS] GPS and GSM transciever

[Rowan 2006]

On Fri, 24 Nov 2006, vak wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> This device has a lot of nice features (Albeit the GPS receiver is only
> SIRF2 and not the SIRF3, but at $99 it is a steal !!) The SIRF3 and 3G
> is available on the Mobile Gateway 4000 unit.
>
> The GPRS modem on board is currently programmed to take a Telstra SIM (I
> am not sure how exactly), but this can be reprogrammed with MCGview and
> the serial cable (via COM2 I believe). The standard DB9 should spit out
> NMEA and various other protocols to make your mobile terminal (IPAQ,
> etc) work. The device also has dispatch features on board. Toll and
> various courier/taxi companies use these... they are quite a robust unit.
>
> Apparently these devices came from a project where a large Telco was
> involved with an (alleged) faudster  and  that  that consignment wasn't
> actually paid for...... at $99, these are a well below cost and won't last.

Hmmm, where did you get all this info from? :)

This MCGview software seems to be the key to getting started;
unfortunately I cannot figure out whether it's included (perhaps if, for
example, you buy a programming cable from Transcom) or it's an additional
cost. portal.transcom.com looks interesting but the only additional
information available for the VTS3000X is the extended installation guide.

I'm keen to order another one of these units for my wife's car but I want
to be sure I can actually make use of them. If you have any other
information, like protocols etc then it would certainly be appreciated! :)
I am hoping that the reason they're going cheap is simply to shed excess
stock (with a newer version now available), rather than them being
customised for a specific purpose.

BTW I took a couple of pics of the PCB, images are here:

http://www.gadgetguts.com/transcom-vts3000x-mobile-communications-gateway/

Cheers.