Bluetooth GPS Tracker

This is a quickie installation of the guts of an old Delorme Tripmate
RS232 GPS receiver connected to an RS232/Bluetooth adapter with a
12 db external 2.4 GHz antenna and a 5 volt regulator board, all stuffed
inside a weatherproof PVC enclosure, and mounted on the roll bar of
a Gator ATV.

The GPS sends position frames to the RS232/Bluetooth adapter at 4800
baud, and both are powered by a 5 volt regulator from vehicle power.
The whole thing is weatherproof, but could be implemented a bit more
elegantly given more time. Power dissipation is low enough to not worry
about self-heating.

The works of a 12 db 2.4GHz Wifi mag mount antenna are inside the 1/2"
PVC pipe. The antenna coax has been shortened to about 6 inches. The
Wifi 2.4 GHz mag mount antenna originally had 6 feet of RG-174 coax
and the right RP-SMA connector to fit the bluetooth adapter, but 6 feet of
RG-174 has more loss at 2.4 GHz than the antenna has gain! Shortening
the coax kills two birds, but requires creative soldering and destroying
the mag mount base.

While the FCC probably doesn't intend Bluetooth to be used this way,
about 1 kilometer range is achieved line-of-sight, linked to a similar unit
mounted 30 feet up a pole. The receiving unit is configured as master
mode, the mobile unit is slave mode, both 4800 baud.

We don't sell this configuration, but it's an example of a possible use
of the RS232-Bluetooth adapter.






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