Brian,

Thanks for sending the leads and plugs.  I am happy with the power/data leads and have now had time to assemble an e-plug as a power/data lead for an e-trex.

I used a defunct mouse as a source of the db9 plug and lead.  On the one I used, the wiring was:
orange came off pin 2
green came off pin 3
blue came off pin 5
White was not used.

This made one end of the lead extremely easy once I had identified  which wire was which.  It also looks very professional as it is a sealed plug. I joined the earth leads together at the e-plug end so I did not have to chop in to the sealed DB9 plug.

To make the power source easy and take away any concern of frying the GPS, we purchased a car adapter kit from Dick Smiths for the power source (M9683).  We paid about $28 for this and it had the option of 1.5v through to 12v selectable via a switch.  At the 3v setting the current is 500mA.  We have superglued the switch permanently to 3v so to avoid an accidental knock changing the voltage. The cigarette plug has a fuse in the tip.

I must admit I cheated in assembling the plug because I copied the one I bought off you.  Even so, it was not a difficult task.  The pin trick worked very well in holding the terminals in place whilst screwing the plug together.

My only concern was the chance of the terminals shorting out on each other so I put some insulation between each terminal inside the plug before screwing the back on. Next time I will use shrink wrap on each terminal.

Next I tested, tested, tested. I did not want to fry my GPS.  Again I had my lead to compare it to.  It would be a good idea to publish the best testing procedure on your page to ensure it has been assembled correctly before connecting to the GPS i.e.: how to use a multi meter to test each connection and what readings you should get when the lead is plugged in to power and when it is plugged in to the data port of a PC.  I am sure this would ease some peoples concerns about assembling these plugs themselves.

I took about 1 hour to assemble the plug taking it very slowly and carefully to ensure it was correct.  You  obviously would take less time once you know what you are doing.  I have very little electronics skills but I was not put off from attempting this task.  All up it only cost about $35 for a full data/power lead (not having to purchase the db9 plug). In conclusion, I think these are a great little product.

Regards,

John Chatfield