Good morning!

   This is Mike Fahrion from B&B Electronics, and you can do some 
pretty cool things with a PDA these days. Today's e-connections 
is about using your PDA to do data collection, diagnostics and 
field testing.  

   As you'll see in a minute, you can use your PDA to collect 
engine diagnostic data from your car... you can collect level 
or temperature measurements.  You can send and receive
engineering-level data from a serial port and track down
a pesky problem.

   I've included a whole bunch of links to information about 
the various cables for each type of PDA, free software, programming 
books, and accessories.  Enjoy this issue.

   Is there a PDA data collection application you'd like to see 
that's not available in the marketplace?  Or is there some other kind 
of question I can answer?  Reply back and let me know your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Mr. Mike Fahrion
Applications Engineer
B&B Electronics

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See below for an arsenal of cool tools for PDA data collection...
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***Tools & Gadgets for Connecting your PDA to a smart device***

   These links give you the lowdown on the synchronization cables 
and signals for Palm, Sony and Handspring PDA's.

-How to connect the PalmPilot family of products to serial networks
http://www.bb-elec.com/tech_articles/palm_network.asp?src=e021103

-How to connect the Sony Clie family to serial networks
http://www.bb-elec.com/tech_articles/sony_network.asp?src=e021103

-How to connect Handspring Visor and Treo products to serial networks
http://www.bb-elec.com/tech_articles/handspring_network.asp?src=e021103

-How to collect engine diagnostic data from your car or truck
http://www.autotap.com/autotap_for_palm.html?src=e021103

-Comprehensive chart showing cable compatibility, TD, RD, RTS, CTS 
and DTR data; also TTL and CMOS levels
http://www.bb-elec.com/tech_articles/pda_chart.asp?src=e021103

   Syphon Freeware Turns Your PDA into a Measure and Control 
Instrument.  Install Syphon freeware from B&B Electronics onto 
your Palm PDA to turn it into a measurement and control instrument with 
graphical capabilities.  For example, you can use Syphon to monitor
changing voltage values that represent temperature or level in a tank.

Download Syphon Software 
http://www.bb-elec.com/palm?src=e021103

   Products that will help you exploit the full capabilities of Syphon: 

-RS-232 Data Acquisition Module w/11 12 bit A/D 
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=232SDA12&src=e021103

-Power Supply, 12VDC @ 100mA, Wall transformer 
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=232PS&src=e021103

-DB25 Male to DB9 Female 6 inch Adapter Cable  
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=232CAMS&src=e021103

-Palm IIIx, VII to DB9 Male Cable, 40 Inch Length  
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=9M3C&src=e021103

-Palm M100, M105 to DB9 Male Cable, 40 Inch Length  
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=9MM100C&src=e021103

-Palm M125, M500, M50x to DB9 Male Cable, 40 Inch Length  
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=9MPUC&src=e021103

PalmTerm is a clever little program (free download)
that lets you send and receive strings via serial
port.  This is extremely helpful when troubleshooing
serial networks.
Download it at http://www.bb-elec.com/palm?src=e021103

"Teach Yourself Palm Programming" - a book for Do-It-Yourself 
people: http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=TYPP&src=e021103

Link the J1708 or CAN network for heavy duty vehicles to your PDA:
http://www.bb-elec.com/product.asp?sku=HDV100A1&src=e021103

~~~

Questions?  Comments?  Products you'd like to see?  
Email: mailto:support@bb-elec.com.   We always love to hear from you!

(C)2003 B&B Electronics.