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Memory adapter

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:20 pm
by gleff
Hi All,

I'm wanting to try and use my Navman pocket PC to view photo's in the field from my D70. The problem I have is the pocket PC uses a multimedia card, and the D70 uses a CF card.

Anyone know of an adapter of sorts that I can pull the CF card out of the camera, slot it into the adapter which then plugs into the multimedia slot of the pocket PC.

I'm not sure if such a device exists.. I've had a look around, but I can't really find anything.

Thanks
Geoff

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:22 pm
by birddog114
It's only available the other way around!

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:36 pm
by Nnnnsic
What Birddog says.
MMC doesn't essentially have the necessary ability in design to accept CF in size and weight, nor the ability to be a bridge between two devices. Modern SD cards could, on devices allowing SDIO, but once again, the SD card would struggle with the CF size and weight and probably wouldn't be possible to make.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:50 pm
by gleff
Hmmm.. I don't see the issue really.. even if it's done by a small cable, there must be some way of getting photo's from a CF card to a multimedia card without a computer.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:29 pm
by lukeo
Much searching and digging finds not much. This goes the other way

http://www.flash-memory-store.com/cf4in1.html

They goes the other way as well

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/article ... pand,13639

Niether of those will help you in the slightest. What you want does not exist. Although if you bought one of these devices you might with a soldering iron and some time maybe reverse engineer something. It would mean sacrificing a MMC card or two. Personally I think the connections on the MMC card are to small to be bothered with.

What you want would look like a MMC card with a bunch of wires going into it, a cable coming out leading to a female CF type II slot.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:32 pm
by birddog114
yraen69 wrote:Much searching and digging finds not much. This goes the other way

http://www.flash-memory-store.com/cf4in1.html

They goes the other way as well

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/article ... pand,13639

Niether of those will help you in the slightest. What you want does not exist. Although if you bought one of these devices you might with a soldering iron and some time maybe reverse engineer something. It would mean sacrificing a MMC card or two. Personally I think the connections on the MMC card are to small to be bothered with.

What you want would look like a MMC card with a bunch of wires going into it, a cable coming out leading to a female CF type II slot.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.


yraen69

I first mentioned it yesterday, my dream too! but it never happens.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:58 pm
by Nnnnsic
I don't actually think it's possible with MMC. With SD it's theoretically possible, but I'm pretty sure not with MMC... of course there has to be a market for it, of course.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:20 pm
by lukeo
After searching the internet for pin out diagrams and specifications for both they are very different technology's you are trying to merge. It will be next to impossible without an intermediate form such as USB. USB means a CPU and ram as well as other communication protocols and software.

For example the MMC (card) use's 7pins, works off 1.5volts to 3volts, is driven by a 20mhz bus and works off a 1-bit serial bus (ie one bit at a time).

CF however has 50 pins, works off 5 volts, use's much higher frequency's and has a parrallel bus (like a hard drive) which transfer many bits at a time.

http://pinouts.ru/data/pin_mmcard.shtml

http://www.goblack.de/desy/digitalt/spe ... act-flash/

What i am saying is a simple wiring of pin's to pin's is not going to work, hence why backwards adaptors do not exist. The adaptors to CF have a microcontroller inbuilt that translates the MMC signal into USB and from USB a simple controller chip communicates with the CF. My guess is no one has built a microcontroller (or mass produced one anyway) that can take the required signal and convert it into the MMC required format. At least not cheaply.

There's a few things niggling me about this whole thing, esp with the MMC to CF adaptor's being available ... hmm I may have to buy one of ebay along with a couple of MMC cards so I can pull them apart and see what makes them tick.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:31 pm
by Nnnnsic
Yes, but SD can run devices like WiFi and Bluetooth, so based on the abilities of SDIO, I'd imagine that SDIO will have the necessary specifications to do what he's asking, pull in CF, it's just that someone would have to make it.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:14 pm
by gleff
Oh well.. I guess I'll just save up and buy the P-2000 :)

Thanks for your input guys.. much appreciated.

Geoff

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:17 pm
by Nnnnsic
Next time, buy a Pocket PC with either a CF or PCMCIA slot. :)

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 7:50 pm
by gstark
If the Navman supports USB host, then you can possibly read the camera directly, or else by plugging in a CF reader to the Navman.

I can do both of these quite easily on my Acer n30, which does have host USB.

I can also directly transfer files, from the D70, via USB through the n30, then wirelessly to my laptop via either bluetooth or 802.11b.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 7:55 am
by gleff
Ahhh.. but can your Acer n30 give you navigation directions ala GPS?

Seriously though.. the reason I bought the navman was for the portable GPS capabilities.. which is more important to me.. So I guess I'll just save up a bit and get the Epson P-2000 in a month or so.. I've got a PD7X to keep me going until then.

Birddog.. wouldn't mind checking your P-2000 out when I get to a mini meet soon.

Cheers
Geoff

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:08 am
by birddog114
gleff wrote:Ahhh.. but can your Acer n30 give you navigation directions ala GPS?

Seriously though.. the reason I bought the navman was for the portable GPS capabilities.. which is more important to me.. So I guess I'll just save up a bit and get the Epson P-2000 in a month or so.. I've got a PD7X to keep me going until then.

Birddog.. wouldn't mind checking your P-2000 out when I get to a mini meet soon.

Cheers
Geoff


Yes, I think so, if you buy an additional GPS software for it.
My pleasure! for you to play around with the Epson P-2000

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:53 am
by Nnnnsic
Yeah, I think the Acer supports GPS... mind you, they stick GPS units in all sorts of adapters these days... compact flash... pcmcia... sd... and I'm pretty sure the Acer will support at least one of those.