Meet Earl... The Next Gen GPS?

Nope, doesn't have to be. Now, are you thinking of a micro-USB or HDMI?

Earl comes with a USB cable that I think plugs into the TRRS. HDMI is only needed to stream HiDef to a TV.

It'll be used for charging too via the USB. It's the only way to ensure waterproofness without having a rubber plug in the ports.

TRRS can be programmed any way you want. You just need the accessory to either use it directly or with the adapter.

Have you actually seen one of these devices or are you speculating? Using a TRRS jack for anything other than Audio would not be a very good design point in my opinion as an EE/ME. The TRS/TRRS jacks were not designed for any type of Power use or high-speed data (USB). And from a mechanical perspective, it's not much better than a USB connector - whether the socket is sealed from internals or not.

I went from e-Trex (screen too small) to Samsung Rugby Smart ("mil-spec") running DSM (can't see in direct sunlight/poor charging options) to Montana, returned that after few weeks (still too small and Monterra coming!), was impatiently waiting for Monterra, then ordered Earl yesterday. On account of the screen size alone. You did say discussion re ADV Riding, so not worried about knocking it off on some nasty ST. I read most every post on Meet Earl forum and bunch of other speculation on many sites and forums, including very esoteric ones like the SW radio guys. My google-fu got a workout.

I need a tablet-sized gps unless I wear cheater glasses and I'm tired of wearing them under helmet. Plus I would like to wear goggles on some FS roads while following tracks (I don't think the stick-on magnifiers will work well on goggles).

For DS riding (plated dirtbike in my case) I'll probably end up with a Monterra too.

Will likely keep running DSM on both.

And I'll still need to carry my smartphone, a DeLorme InReach SE, and a real camera.

I'm resigned to the fact that there will never be one do-it-all device. If there was, I would still need two for redundancy anyway. ;-)
cheers

If you thought the Montana screen size was to small, why would you go for the Monterra?

Good question. Cuz I can run DSM on Monterra and other apps, WiFi, etc. Bought Montana from easy return store, so when I heard of new model, I wanted it of course.

Monterra will be for DS (busting trail, dropping the bike in the river, falling over logs, tumbling down rock gardens and the like). Much easier (and advisable!) for me to stop and pull out the cheaters and take a look at it when riding offroad then when "ADV Riding."

BTW, I appreciate your comments/questions on the connectors and such, with your EE background. I saw much about connectors on the Earl forum. The Earl really has been "discussed" quite widely; ham guys, hangglider/pilot guys, geocache guys, hikers, moto, kayakers, couch surfing geeks, etc. Lots of speculating and wishing going on. With no reports of FCC approval even being submitted yet, it likely will be a Christmas present at best.

By that time my Monterra will be nice and scuffed up.

I'm also an E-ME, and having past music studio experience, and develop sensors for a living, I think the TRRS connectors are much better suited to handle high power and clear signal with low impedance than the much smaller micro-USB connectors.

1. Ring design allows for rotation/uni-directional, easy insertion and large surface contact area for low impedance
2. Retention device built into tapered tip
3. Both are 4-Pin designs
4. Designed for balanced signals
5. Allows for better strain relief and retention under stress
6. More proven design, used on telephony switchboards and musical instruments for 100+ years

Downsides:

Size - takes up a lot of board space
Cost - big = $
Wear is on the expensive device instead of the cheap connector/cable

Data transfer is not a function of the connector, it's in the architecture of the bus on both xmit and receiver ends, which includes many details even I'm not familiar with...

USB cables are universal for example, and work with all current and future versions of USB.....

Your statements are a bit confusing...Never the less, I'm skeptical that the TRRS will do anything more than Mic/AudioOut.

That's at least my reasoning. That connector type has been used in the past for all sorts of things, but mainly for analog signals. Remember the old TI graphing calculators from school? Those used the same connector.

The bus architecture I mentioned that gives the speed to the interconnect is also the fuzzy area here. I have no clue how the design is managed on a circuit level and how it's all being done. My point is simple, the connector and cable should be chosen for robustness as is the rest of the Earl design. The devil is in the details of how to make it work well. Is he using standard USB architecture and then adding a different connector? My guess, but it gets real fuzzy.

I'm not an expert in this stuff, but know most of the basics. If interested, I could try to fill in some details, but I'm not the one designing it... The Earl Forum is probably a better place as those homebrew radio guys are smarter than me in this field.

The real question is, what's a better option???

I couldn't find any in Newark or Digikey. Only option was for a big panel mount connector with o-ring.

BTW, can I have your job Dan?! :)

We have very similar backgrounds. But you're much older... Maybe when my daughter graduates college... She's almost 2!

TRRS for Mic/AudioOut, for everything else (other than ext-Antenna) pay Apple for their No-Insertion-Force Magnetically-coupled connector design: MagSafe is one example.

No. You have to wait...

I find this pretty interesting but agree with a previous poster, expect to see similar from the big boys. I currently use a Samsung Tab 2 7" for my GPS plus wi-fi, camera, etc. No two way radio but I still have my phone.

Also, I use a SPOT tracker with SPOTWalla software for emergency comm (never used that feature) and to track my tracks all over the world. I have 4 years of maps, all thanks to Google. (Not cheap, the SPOT contract runs about $140/yr.)

On the Samsung, I currently use OSMAnd+ which does a pretty good job. There is another, more expensive, called SYGIC, which looks very interesting too. Either will work with any of these Android devices.

I like the idea of the rugged nature but too early in the game. I'll replace my Samsung when I can get an E-Ink color screen in at least 7" in a tidier package. I've been waiting on such since I first heard about E-Ink about 20 years ago.

Magnets, compasses and weather stations don't mix....

The speaker in the unit has no magnet for that reason

Nice design though. I like Apple's flexible TRS connector that uses NiTi. That would be a good addition.

Well placed shielding around the magnets can handle that problem. That's one of the reasons Displays are shielded in GPS's. They create electromagnetic fields.

Anyway, EARL will be what it can be based upon buyer numbers.

I suspect the compass is GPS linked, not magnetic. Maybe I'm wrong, did'nt read all the particulars.

My experience is that most manufacturers will not list "Compass" unless they have included an Electronic Compass (chip) in the unit. But...

I would bet it's a real electronic compass given the rest of the specs, and because they selected a non-magnetic speaker, probably isn't just for bragging rights. Seems most things were done with intent and purpose on the device from what I can gather. It would surprise me otherwise.

Just think of the impact of all these enthusiasts for whom this product is being developed to hear it doesn't have an accurate compass. When you're trying to replace a compass and a map, I would sure as heck put a compass and a map on it!

It's been over a month since 'earl' posted an update. Now this morning the website is down.
How may of us with pending purchases are worried?

cromagYea, my thoughts exactly....

1) no update on their site for over a month, despite many requests for same
2) forum went down days ago with no explanation
3) no answer to any of the posted questions, including how to get refund
4) no answer to direct email
5) website down

Perhaps they are very busy developing the product, as several forum posts preferred that the Earl guys "spend their time on the product, not wasting it on posting updates." huh?

I'm wondering if that preference was posted by the Earl guys, from their vacation spot?

In any case, who wants to do business with such shoddy customer service this early in the lifecycle? An intern could have been hired to tweet updates for the cost of a burger a day.

I had my cc co. reverse the charge yesterday. I gave up on trying to actually Meet Earl.