Uniden Trax 430 Car GPS

[johnno02]

Hi Everyone,

I have a question Some of the more experienced members may know the answer to.

I have a Uniden Trax 430,
EVERYTHING resides in Internal memory.NOT,on Sd Card.

It does have an sd card slot,but this appears to be only for saving YOUR data,like Routes,Settings, etc,via a mini usb Cable.

With the cable plugged in,you get the option of "Updating software and Maps",
Or Navigation.

If you select Update,you get
DO NOT TURN OFF POWER,DO NOT UNPLUG USB CABLE,Etc

My Question,
How do I update POI,s Etc.

I have Tried "update"(Thinking it may do this Automatically off the Net)

But it Just sits there with a little Icon going round,and round,and..............Nothing.

After a couple of hours of this, I took the chance of losing everything,and turned it off.

Lucky for me it was ok,and still works well.

So how do I "Update",and add Poi,s etc.

Thanks for any Help.

John

[russhart]

Hi, I recently purchased one of these great units myself about 1 month ago.
I too had the same problem with the update. What Uniden doesn't have in any of there manuals is that you have to go onto their website and download a piece of software called Trax Central. When you installed that onto your computer, you first plug in the GPS, wait till it is recongnized, then start the software which is the update program. The program will show you if there are updates to the different parts of the GPS and give you the choice if you wish to upgrade of install additional items.
Hope that helps.

[johnno02]

Hi Russhart,

Thanks for your reply,
I found the "Trax Central" program a few days ago,it wasn,t available when I first bought my Trax 430.

Like you,
I also Like the Trax,with its TTS,giving Street Names,Instead of turn left in 300 metres,etc.
BUT,

I Prefer my Cheapie Voxson GPS 350,

With Many thanks to the Gurus,from the GPS forums,Like this one,

The Cheap Voxson.(Cost less than half the Uniden Trax 430)

Not only,gives Street Names, And Numbers,but Voice warnings,when approaching,Speed Cameras,School Zones,Public Toilets,ETC,ETC.

And A free 2008 Navteq Map Upgrade,if bought from Coles,Recently.

Couple of things noticed,

Speed warnings in Voxson(Destinator 7),are Hopeless.

Speed warnings in Maptrax (IGO8),are Great

IF,
Someone,could combine the best features,from IGO8,And Destinator 7,

To Me,
That would be the Ideal GPS Software,Bar None.

Regards.John

[Colin 2905]

The Cheap Voxson.

I bought one (a Voxson GPS350) from Coles at Jamison (ACT) last night, for $99 (clearance; they only had two left). I already have a Tevion P310 (from when COTD were selling them as "factory renewed" for $100), which is happily running TT7. I had a brief play with the supplied Destinator software, but decided that I prefer TT. So to that end......

Hooking it up to my PC, with a view to using ActiveSync, got me nowhere, as it appears to be unrecognised. So next I copied TT6 to a spare SD card, which worked! So armed with this Voxson's device ID (the device name shows as BINATONECARRERA, BTW, and it's Windows CE 5.0), I then took the necessary steps to use TT7, and it worked also.

Still feeling the need to mess with it, I then configured another SD card so that its shell.ini file pointed to \windows\explorer.exe, but that didn't work properly; Explorer would flash up briefly, and then it'd continue to load Destinator. A bit of a Google search found me GSFinder.exe, and putting that on an SD card and pointing shell.ini to it did the trick. Now I could poke around a bit, and get into the Control Panel, etc. That allowed me to enable the screen tapping click, something that I'd become accustomed to on my other unit.

[johnno02]

I bought one (a Voxson GPS350) from Coles at Jamison (ACT) last night, for $99 (clearance; they only had two left). I already have a Tevion P310 (from when COTD were selling them as "factory renewed" for $100), which is happily running TT7. I had a brief play with the supplied Destinator software, but decided that I prefer TT. So to that end......

Hooking it up to my PC, with a view to using ActiveSync, got me nowhere, as it appears to be unrecognised. So next I copied TT6 to a spare SD card, which worked! So armed with this Voxson's device ID (the device name shows as BINATONECARRERA, BTW, and it's Windows CE 5.0), I then took the necessary steps to use TT7, and it worked also.

Still feeling the need to mess with it, I then configured another SD card so that its shell.ini file pointed to \windows\explorer.exe, but that didn't work properly; Explorer would flash up briefly, and then it'd continue to load Destinator. A bit of a Google search found me GSFinder.exe, and putting that on an SD card and pointing shell.ini to it did the trick. Now I could poke around a bit, and get into the Control Panel, etc. That allowed me to enable the screen tapping click, something that I'd become accustomed to on my other unit.

Thanks for the interesting post.

Could you tell me how to get the device id info,and how to change the "Shell.ini" file to point to windows explorer,

I,m not as Tech Savvy,as I would like.(Not as young as I would like either)

Interesting, it runs wince 5.0,I thought it might have been the earlier 4.2,as I dont think the Processor speed it very fast.

My Ideal unit would have IGO8,with Navteq Maps,

I would love to be able to make that happen.

Thanks for your help.
Regards.
John

[Colin 2905]

Thanks for the interesting post.

Most of what I know about fiddling with GPS's was gleaned either directly or indirectly via this forum, so I'm just sharing.

Could you tell me how to get the device id info,

As chance would have it, my parents are in town today and had to drive past Jamison a few hours ago. So I called them and said, "Hey, if you want a cheap GPS unit, there's probably still one there." So now they have the one that I bought last night, and I've just been playing with the other one. I was expecting to have to rekey it, but the device ID is the same, so your's probably is, too: AAEALBMWTA. Otherwise, look in "ttnavigator.bif" at the appropriate point in the procedure. I assume that you already have the necessary TT7 files???

and how to change the "Shell.ini" file to point to windows explorer,

On a spare SD card, create a file (using a simple text editor, eg; Notepad) called shell.ini that contains the following:

\sdmmc\utils\gsfinder.exe

The directory name isn't important; I've used "utils". Google GSFinder.exe, create a utils folder on your SD card, and place a copy of GSFinder.exe in it. Whilst you're at it, do the same with MoveWindow.exe - it can be handy on a small display such as these. If you now insert that SD card into the Voxson and press the reset button, it should boot into GSFinder, which looks like Explorer. From there you can browse to the Control Panel, etc.

Interesting, it runs wince 5.0,I thought it might have been the earlier 4.2,as I dont think the Processor speed it very fast.

Unlike my Tevion which has a CE 5 sticker on the back, the Voxson has no such external clues. But if you look in "ttnavigator.bif" (once created) or look in Control Panel > System, it definitely says 5.

As for speed, I was getting some screwy directions with the COM port set to 57600, but it seems OK at 9600. I'll re-visit that aspect of it another time.

My Ideal unit would have IGO8,with Navteq Maps,
I would love to be able to make that happen.

Maybe it can, I don't know. Besides TT6 and 7, I've only ever played with what came with the Tevion and Voxson out-of-the-box. I like TT7, and Mrs 2905 likes TT7, so I've never bothered going any further.

[johnno02]

Thanks again for your help,

It is very much appreciated,At least I have enough info now to have a play around,

Regards.
John

[Colin 2905]

At least I have enough info now to have a play around,

Here's a potential trap.....

Neither of these two Voxson units came with an SD card. When I started playing with the first one, I just used a spare 512MB that I had. I left that card in the unit that my parents now have, and just used a 2GB card that I had on hand when I started playing with the second one. Everything was OK until I tried to store a favourite, and then I got a write-protect error. At first I thought it might be a FAT vs. FAT32 thing, so I reformatted the card as FAT; made no difference. I then tried a 1GB microSD card in an adaptor (already formatted as FAT), and it works OK.

So either there's something wrong with my 2GB SD card (works OK on a PC, though), or the Voxson can't write to cards over a certain size.

[johnno02]

There are apparently 2 different Voxson gps 350 devices,
One of the members on gps australia,told me about this,he also bought one,
that did not have the card,ie everything is internal.

Mine,is the version,that has everything on the sd card.

You may be interested to know,that Voxson will provide a free 2008 map upgrade,for units bought from Coles.

If you ring customer support,(Number is on the box)and they will provide you with the details.

Regards.
John

[Colin 2905]

You may be interested to know,that Voxson will provide a free 2008 map upgrade,for units bought from Coles.

Yes, I saw that thread when I did a Google search on the model after buying one. I've since e-mailed Voxson with a copy of my receipt attached, and I'll see what happens.

[johnno02]

I got an email from them on 22/09 which said cards should be mailed in about 2 weeks.

Mine hasn't arrived yet,hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks to your help,

I managed to get gsfinder working,and can now access wince.

I tried just putting the complete igo8 files on the sd card,and running the igo8 exe from within gsfinder,the screen started,and went back to wince.

Looks like i have some more fiddling ahead.

Cheers.
John

[Colin 2905]

So either there's something wrong with my 2GB SD card (works OK on a PC, though), or the Voxson can't write to cards over a certain size.

Further to....

I tried another 2GB SD card (same brand), and it works OK with TT7. And the 2GB card that TT7 can't write to works OK with TT6.... beats me!

EDIT: The second 2GB SD card has since given me the same error message when I tried to write something else, so it's back to the 1GB microSD for now.

But I have a more serious issue with this second Voxson unit; the damn thing doesn't seem to receive very well, and is far from accurate most of the time. I wish I had an external antenna that I could try, to see if it improves things. So this unit may end up going back, or maybe I can get it repaired or replaced under warranty.

[johnno02]

That seems strange behaviour for the SD cards,The only thing I have read,that can cause some problems is if the card is formatted to Fat32,and not FAT.

I am using a Verbatim 2 gig card on mime with no problems (so far)

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your unit,I think I would try and get it replaced,rather than repaired.

I did read somewhere, someone with a Binatone 350?? had a loose antenna connection inside,and fixed it himself by taking the back off,and tightening the little plug.

Must admit these are not the fastest things to aquire the satellites,when in the car,and a lot slower when inside.

I checked the processor from within the control panel in wince,and they run
a Centrality arm926t processor,cant find much info on them either.

Hope you get yours sorted.
Cheers

[Colin 2905]

That seems strange behaviour for the SD cards,The only thing I have read,that can cause some problems is if the card is formatted to Fat32,and not FAT.

I'd already tried FAT, and it didn't help. Anyway, the issue that I have with my 2GB SD cards is the least of my problems at the moment. Next time I'm at a computer market I'll buy some more cards, but until then I'll just use the 1GB microSD in an adapter. (It came out of my mobile 'phone, but I rarely use it these days.)

I did read somewhere, someone with a Binatone 350?? had a loose antenna connection inside,and fixed it himself by taking the back off,and tightening the little plug.

My Tevion P310 arrived with no sound from the internal speaker, but I fixed that myself; it was just a loose speaker connector. The screws are obvious on the Tevion, but I can't see any obvious way of opening the Voxson, so I haven't looked inside.

[johnno02]

My Tevion P310 arrived with no sound from the internal speaker, but I fixed that myself; it was just a loose speaker connector. The screws are obvious on the Tevion, but I can't see any obvious way of opening the Voxson, so I haven't looked inside.

Your right about opening the Voxson,I cant see a way either,and not game to poke around too much,until i have to.

I,m pretty happy tonight,one of the members on another forum provided a link to IGO8 with Israel maps fully working,I deleted the Israel stuff,and loaded the map,and poi,s from my trax 430,wrote a shell.ini file,and it all works well,TTS too.

So now I can run Destinator7,with Navteq maps and TTS,and by changing SD cards,I can run IGO8 with Sensis maps.

I just cant work out how to put several operating systems on the one SD card yet.

I didn't even know what a "Shell.ini"file was,let alone how to create one,until today.
Cheers.
John

[Colin 2905]

I just cant work out how to put several operating systems on the one SD card yet.

When I went looking for information when I "upgraded" my Tevion, I'm sure I saw something on creating a menu system. But I wanted to keep mine plain and simple (or Mrs 2905 will complain), so I didn't take much notice. If you plug the right words into Google you can probably find something that'll give you some ideas.

I've managed to get more sense out the second Voxson by dropping the serial port back to 4800, so maybe that's all it was. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly put it through its paces, but the brief tests that I've done since changing it look encouraging.

[johnno02]

Just couldn't help myself,
After reading your post about the Voxson's clearance price of $99.00,

I rang our local Coles,and confirmed they had several at the $99.00 price,so
I went and bought another for a "spare" to play with..........

Geez,these things are addictive

I assumed,it would be exactly the same as my other unit,as the box said "SD"
card.

Wrong.
It is the same as yours,but works ok with other cards plugged in.

It Definately,does not acquire the Satellites,as fast as my original,but still runs IGO8,with TTS,etc,etc,as well as Destinator 7,built in,or a fuller version on an Sd card.

Glad you have got yours working ok now.

As I have said before,these are not the best GPS units,But they are Very good value for $99.00,considering they can be "Upgraded"

Cheers.
John

[dogsbreath]

Hello John and Colin.
If either of you gentlemen happen to get the 2008 update, would it be possible to upload the files so that I may try them on the Binatone X350.?
Regards Craig

[Colin 2905]

If either of you gentlemen happen to get the 2008 update, would it be possible to upload the files so that I may try them on the Binatone X350.?

I haven't heard from Voxson, so maybe I should actually call them (I only e-mailed them). I won't be too worried if I don't get anything, as I doubt that I'd ever use their software anyway. I'd probably have more use for the card, once reformatted, but SD cards are so cheap these days that that hardly matters as well.

Have you tried TT7 on your Binatone?

[johnno02]

I haven't heard from Voxson, so maybe I should actually call them (I only e-mailed them). I won't be too worried if I don't get anything, as I doubt that I'd ever use their software anyway. I'd probably have more use for the card, once reformatted, but SD cards are so cheap these days that that hardly matters as well.

I haven't heard fron Voxson either,
I tried emailing them,after no response,I phoned the Contact number for the Guy handling the map updates,and got an answering machine..........No response from that method too.

No Matter,
I bought a Tevion PWM-3501 from Aldi today,with the latest Route66 Mobile 8,and 2008 Q3 Navteq maps,everything internal,I,m afraid.

One very knowledgable forum member gave it the thumbs up.

Haven't had it on the road yet,but looks good so far.