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Alltrax Monitor - Palm V
I have an Alltrax controller in the Citicar. In order to monitor amps, volts and the like, you can connect it to a laptop computer. Problem is, they are generally a bit awkward to look at when driving.
Another Citicar owner told me he used a Palm PDA to monitor his Alltrax. I got an old Palm from a member of the local EV club (they're usually on eBay for about $10) and uploaded the Alltrax app to the Palm. There were some trials and tribulations in getting it to work, but ultimately I managed to work it out.
Parts Needed -
In order to connect the Palm to the Alltrax, you'll need a serial cable (9-pin) and a null modem. The null modem is a small cube-like device that crosses the input pin on one side to the output pin on the other. Nothing fancy, but they cost about $9 at Radio shack. The cable is another issue, and may not be as easy to find. Since the Palm serial port adapter and the Alltrax are computer peripherals, they have 9-pin female connectors (pin sockets). A regular serial cable has pins on one end and pin sockets on the other (male-female) In order to make things work, you need a cable with pins on both ends (male-male). These can be hard to find.
There are other issues with the Palm (screen alignment is a big problem) but can be managed. I'll post additional details if anyone is interested.
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