First post, so go easy folks...
The Holox BT-541 Bluetooth GPS receiver is waiting for me to collect from the Post Office in the morning. I plan to test it out and then post my findings.
First off, it was £25 including delivery from ebay and I am fully aware that the makers have ripped off the "Holux" brand name. Not particularly bothered by that and am more interested in testing the little bugger out.
I don't however, have any other GPS system (other than Nokia N95) to compare it to, so do you guys have any particular information requests? I will do my best to answer your queries.
I'll be using it with Memory Map PDA software on HTC Universal in the UK using OS 1-25,000 maps. I'll probably try it out in conjunction with Nokia Maps also.
I've got a Holox, very nice little thing! Picks up GPS signals very quickly (under 30 seconds i think it was ... i didnt count too well...), and my HTC Touch picks it up via BT almost instantly!
Hmm.
First impressions not good. The instruction manual is delivered on a cd which none of my three drives will read.
I can't get any further than pairing the device with my Universal. After that I just get "Could not open COM port" errors. Any clues on how to set it up?
OK.
The problems with connecting were caused by the stupid GPS Connection program in WM6. The unit connected first time with my Nokia and gave an indoor accuracy of 18m. Cold start - 21s
Got it working on universal like this:
Device Paired
Select Serial Port service
Create COM port (I could only get it working with COM8)
In the External GPS Settings program select Hardware Com port as COM8
Baud Rate 38400
Select Software Com port as NONE
Deselect "Manage GPS Automatically" in the Access tab.
Now it works very well and the little blob on my Memory Map screen is able to follow me everywhere I go. There doesn't seem to be any lag at all and it happily follows me around while driving.
I took the Holox unit into the forest today for a workout. It's a 50 year old Scots/Corsican pine forest.
Cold start in 45s under the tree cover. I walked 2km and then drove a further 5km in a Land Rover. The GPS only lost its bearings once, for a distance of about 50m, putting me about 100m to the south of where I actually was. Not bad for being under constant tree cover.
The unit uses the same battery as my Nokia N70 and therefore getting a replacement battery when it dies should not be a problem. It'd be nice if it had a hole to attach a lanyard, but I guess something could be improvised.
Just wanted to say thanks for the review, I've really been wanting to get one of these but was a little put-off by the website, made me doubt it would actually work. Anyway based on this I think i will get one, thanks!
How is it charged? USB or normal plug
Got two of these off ebay. (1 Duplicate sent by mistake).
Great little device.
Flown a Cessna 172 with it using XDA2i , Memory-map navigator and Pocket FMS http://www.pocketfms.com .
Driven with it using Tom-Tom and HP rx3715, HP Hx2750, XDA2i and Palm Tungsten T3.
No problems pairing. Manual covers basic setting up, and LED indicators etc.
Mains charger supplied, but can be charged using standard USB A to Mini B from a USB port on PC, or via a USB adapter from a Car 12v source.
rontorbay said:
Got two of these off ebay. (1 Duplicate sent by mistake).
Great little device.
Flown a Cessna 172 with it using XDA2i , Memory-map navigator and Pocket FMS http://www.pocketfms.com .
Driven with it using Tom-Tom and HP rx3715, HP Hx2750, XDA2i and Palm Tungsten T3.
No problems pairing. Manual covers basic setting up, and LED indicators etc.
Mains charger supplied, but can be charged using standard USB A to Mini B from a USB port on PC, or via a USB adapter from a Car 12v source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of buying one of these, but I hate having wires and chargers and stuff around my car - does this thing work while plugged into a charger? And once it's over-charged, do you need to disconnect it before it will start charging again etc? I'd like to get one and leave it permanently connected to a power supply, and just park it on my rear parcel-shelf or something?
thecellartroll said:
OK.
The problems with connecting were caused by the stupid GPS Connection program in WM6. The unit connected first time with my Nokia and gave an indoor accuracy of 18m. Cold start - 21s
Got it working on universal like this:
Device Paired
Select Serial Port service
Create COM port (I could only get it working with COM8)
In the External GPS Settings program select Hardware Com port as COM8
Baud Rate 38400
Select Software Com port as NONE
Deselect "Manage GPS Automatically" in the Access tab.
Now it works very well and the little blob on my Memory Map screen is able to follow me everywhere I go. There doesn't seem to be any lag at all and it happily follows me around while driving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm perfect. I've tried for two days to get a motorola t815/805 working, installing motonav (still not working) and I couldn't get any help at all through the motorola site or software. Your com port settings worked perfect, it finally paired up and google maps mobile found it.
I may not even try to get motonav workng, I'm so frustrated with that.
Related
I have used the Fortuna GPSmart on xda1 using combo cable charger/data, and it is brilliant, extremely accurate, fast to lock on and very tenacious once it gets a lock, I have also tested it with xda2 on bluetooth, in fact I tested it side by side, I had the data cable connected to xda1 and the bluetooth transmitting to xda2 at the same time. I think it is a superb piece of kit, bearing in mind it can also be used standalone as well and can be had on ebay very cheaply, I paid £75 for mine and its one piece of kit that I will be keeping.
flippin hell lol how come you get these bargains mate lol. my dad paid £152 for his one works like god knows what.
picks up signal within a minute and bluetooth connection isnt one bit slow between that and his ipaq.
downside is battery life is crap but i have modified an ipaq car charger to power both things
signal is very powerful and accurate go in a tunnel and signal gone..... as soon as your out "blip" goes tomtom and abck upto 7/8 signal locks
great value gps receiver even has nice lil case and backlight
can be used on pc too via its built in usb port
worth getting imho
When working as a cabled nmea gps it runs at 38400 speed not the normal 4800 so data transfer is rapid, I bought a lead that powers both xda1 and the gps, if I am using the blutooth the cable can be used to just power the gps.
Hi
Can someone tell me where i can get a cable to power both my xda ii & the gpsmart at the same time.
Also which setting do you have your gps receiver on, it takes me a while to pick up a signal but when it kicks in it's great.
Thanks
jase
Got mine from here.
www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk
I havent tried it with xda2 but if an xda1 charger works with xda2 then so will this.
Their product code A770
Manufacture code fort-xda-cab.
Costs £18.46 including vat and delivery.
I am not sure about the implications of having a cable system and the bluetooth connected at the same time on xda2 but as they use different com ports I dont foresee any clash.
If you are using it as a cabled system choose nmea output at 38400, if using blutooth in tomtom just choose bluetooth in the tomtom gps settings using the wizard as supplied with gps 2.09, there is no need for any bluetooth patch when using that gps version.
Hi
Sorry i don't think i explained myself. I was looking for a car charger cable that enabled me to power both my xda2 & the gpsmart at the same time.
Cheers
jase
Yes, it does exactly that, with the added bonus that you can also use it as a cable for gps connection for xda1/xda2 and the fortuna. It powers both.
if you have a look i think youll find it does poer both at the same time :|
yup
lol posting at the same time
cheers guys. I didn't see the product code at first. It's exactly what i want.
Thanks
err no looking closely at it, it won't power the GPS it uses a USB style connector for it.
I have the ClipOn Fortuna GPS Device.
Damn!
we are on about the GPS smart not the clip on thats different all together (cant be used for camping ect...)
yeah that was my fault, for some reason i thought it was the gps smart but it isn't.
Do you know of a car charger out there that can charge both my xda ii and the gps device?
JRD, the charger cable I have does in fact have a mini usb cable connecter at the gps end.
I am thinking of purchasing a TOM-TOM3 GPS system has anyone got any experience using the BT ?. Is it as Temperamental as the headset. Would it be better to use a wired GPS.
Thanks
I have wired and bluetooth GPS and would say that most of the time I use the wired GPS because I use it mainly in the car and it charges my MDAIII at the same time.
tomtom 3 and BT is fine on my MDAIII
No problems here with the bluetooth connection to tomtom's own GPS.
Never lost the connection.
Left the MDA's BT on one night and woke up to an empty battery and no data though!
I am using BT TomTom no problems at all with staying connected.. you can get them for under £100 on ebay now, best gadget i've got, except the IIs of course.
Richard
Anonymous said:
I am thinking of purchasing a TOM-TOM3 GPS system has anyone got any experience using the BT ?. Is it as Temperamental as the headset. Would it be better to use a wired GPS.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using a TOMTOM BT GPS for a few weeks now and had no problems at all infact as with another post its my best purchase so far.
I have just got my XDA IIs, I have Tomtom 2 (Wired version), is there a cable kit that will allow me to use my existing Tomtom with the XDA IIs?
If so can someone tell me what the part number is and who stocks it?
I've got a powered holder in my car, powers the XDAIIs and the GPS antenna (Holux 210 I think!). The holder also feeds Tx & Rx to the XDA on serial port 1.
I've also used the holder to just power the XDA and BT antenna and it also works fine.
Got it from www.nemesisgb.com - they are the importers
The actual product can be found here
www.brodit.com and type in 970612 into the quicksearch box on the right hand side
...Spence
I have used ToTom 3 with their branded BT GPS for ages now and it works a treat, best accessory I had for my XDA II and it works just as well with my XDA IIs
s93ncer said:
I've got a powered holder in my car, powers the XDAIIs and the GPS antenna (Holux 210 I think!). The holder also feeds Tx & Rx to the XDA on serial port 1.
I've also used the holder to just power the XDA and BT antenna and it also works fine.
Got it from www.nemesisgb.com - they are the importers
The actual product can be found here
www.brodit.com and type in 970612 into the quicksearch box on the right hand side
...Spence
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, sorry been a long time before I got a chance to read it, busy christmas. That sounds like just what I need, I have a couple of further questions though.
1. The connections it talks about is a PS2-cable with RX, TX, 5V is this the connection that looks like an RJ11 modem cable or is this the same as a PS2 connection for a PC keyboard/mouse? My cable looks like a modem style RJ11 connector.
2. Does is come with a windscreen suction mount, I couldn't see it in the description and there were no specific pictures?
1. The connections it talks about is a PS2-cable with RX, TX, 5V is this the connection that looks like an RJ11 modem cable or is this the same as a PS2 connection for a PC keyboard/mouse? My cable looks like a modem style RJ11 connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The connection I've got is a PS2 like a Mouse/keyboard.
The antenna you have sounds like a Leadtek which is branded as TomTom - looks like a flat silver square?
As it happens I now work for Nemesis and we are working on a connector to connect your antenna to the holder we supply.
2. Does is come with a windscreen suction mount, I couldn't see it in the description and there were no specific pictures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get a bracket that fits your vehicle and then you screw the holder to the bracket.
There is another option though.
If you have a lead that plugs into the cigar lighter, powers the antenna and the XDA (I found one at www.handnav.co.uk ) then you can do something different.
Get a bracket for your car
Get holder number 849612 from Brodit
Use the lead to power the holder and the antenna
I have attached pictures of the above config for a XDAII as I had to use the IIs to take the pictures!!!
Hope this helps
..Spence
Thanks again, how soon do you think Nemesis will have a compatible cradle or adapter ready to market?
It might be worth waiting depending on time scales involved?
Or maybe the Tomtom cable, the 1 at the bottom of the pics laid out like a W is already ok, I have one like this to fit my HP Jornada 545 (an old relic from Aug 2000). This cable looks a lot like the cable shown in your pic except for the PDA end, which splits into 2, 1 is for data the other for power. The power part looks similar to a Sony Ericsson telephone charger cable, so again I'm not sure if this will suffice.
I wish there was a shop I could just go into with these things, as it all seems harder to explain when I don't know what all the bits are called. I can't really expect ppl to find a peg for a hole if I can't tell them what shape the hole is, and with hole on my PDA and my GPS receiver it gets doubly confusing!!!!
I'm using Navman 4100 BT GPS, the singal is great and never drop BT connection. It comes with a Y cable that can charge both the IIs and Navman.
But check out the all-in-one solution from Brando... Cheapest alternative I've ever seen.... http://shop.brando.com.hk/universalgpscarholder.php
CL55 said:
I'm using Navman 4100 BT GPS, the singal is great and never drop BT connection. It comes with a Y cable that can charge both the IIs and Navman.
But check out the all-in-one solution from Brando... Cheapest alternative I've ever seen.... http://shop.brando.com.hk/universalgpscarholder.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know where I can get one of these in the UK?
Can anybody recommend what I would need in order to use my XDA-II as a satellite navigation system for my car? I believe I would need a GPS receiver, but unsure of which are the better options. I would be hoping to do this for under £100 if possible. Can anybody recommend anything or give me a link to some reviews?
Thanks,
Allan
PLEASE do a search around this forum before asking such a question.
YES we're ere to help each other
BUT
YES there is load of info allready available.
I have had a search through the forum but all the relevant posts are over 6 months old, and there are no indication of price.
Does anybody have any advice?
Thanks
Allan
I dont think last months discusions on carkits are > 6 months old.
The pricing info is still valid.
Carkits were introduced between may and july this year.
Good carkits are from Expansys (iMate / XDAII carkit), T-Mobile (MDA II carkit), Qtek (Qtek2020 carkit), Yeti.
All have specific (dis)advantages.
Decent cradle is from Carcomm and maybe Seidio.
If i say more, I can just as weel copy the other threads in.
allanmb
I'm new to this too, so I researched the subject as well as I could and this is what I've found since I unwrapped my 'surprise' (!) GPS package at Christmas...
First of all, the package itself. I (sorry, Santa) went for a PDAMods bundle (sixth one down on http://www.pdamods.com/products.asp?cat=104) of Rikaline X7 Bluetooth GPS, TomTom 3 and the Silver Shield powered mount with built-in speaker. Let's look at these one at a time.
Rikaline X7 I was attracted to this model by its replaceable battery, long battery life and no on/off switch. I upgraded my O2 XdaII to the 1.72 ROM from the O2 website before trying to bond it (so cannot comment on different brands or earlier ROMs), but when I did so it bonded immediately. You simply hold a button down for 5 seconds + to activate Bluetooth discoverable mode, pair with the XdaII in the normal manner and that's it. I also use a Jabra BT250 headset in the car, and have tested it with an incoming call whilst in TomTom nav mode - whilst admittedly I don't yet know whether the voice prompts still work during a call (because I was on a straight when the call came in), all that was necessary after hanging up was to close the phone app and there was the map again, bang on as usual. Accuracy is - well, phenomenal, I would guess within 5 metres most of the time, and I see little or no lag, except (slightly) on the heading in turns at junctions. All that is necessary to activate the Rikaline is to start TomTom on the XdaII; likewise, it reverts to 'sleep' mode when you exit TomTom at the end of the journey. There is really no need to turn off Bluetooth on the XdaII, so no chance of you missing calls on your headset because you forgot to turn it back on later.
TomTom 3 My software is v.3.03. I have downloaded the upgrade to v 3.07 to my home PC, but I have not yet installed it on the XdaII because I haven't yet encountered any problems - call it 'on-condition maintenance', or 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. There are some new roads in my area that are not shown, and some of the TomTom-provided POIs are slightly misplaced - although if you were really in the middle of nowhere and looking to fill up a petrol can I can't see you going too far wrong! Personally I find the 3D map presentation very useful - tried the 2D version today and didn't find it anywhere near as intuitive.
Silver Shield Mount The XdaII really needs to be powered whilst you nav. Obviously, the Rikaline looks after itself (I'm already convinced that only on really long runs or stints away from home would the in-car charging lead need to be taken along), but you'll flatten the battery on the XdaII much earlier then your GPS dies if you set it to keep the screen backlight on all the time on the internal battery. The Silver Shield mount also includes a built-in speaker, but as you will know from your searches on these fora the XdaII can only pump out phone audio through the bottom connector - so this enhanced audio facility requires a silly little coiled lead to be connected from the XdaII's headphone socket (bottom right) to the appropriate socket on the mount (top left). I have found that the right-angled jack plug on the provided lead prevents a snug fit on the mount and can cause an intermittent connection which can lose you your backlighting/charging at critical moments. For the mean time, I have stopped using the external speaker, and have found the volume on the XdaII speaker to be adequate for speeds up to 60mph; I will be trying motorway speeds tomorrow on a long run (Oxford - Kent). I think that the problem might well be solved anyway by shaving the offending corner off the moulded jack plug.
All in all, I'm very impressed and enjoying using my new system. I recommend it.
Cheers
Gadget :roll:
I would suggest going to www.ebay.co.uk and search either xda or navigation. There are many low priced systems on offer.
Silly little coiled lead
Hi all
Did Oxfordshire - Bluewater and back yesterday, including a full circuit of the M25, and found the Xda II's built-in speaker quite adequate in my convertible (roof up). Have now decided that I don't really need the silly little coiled lead, although I'm still going to trim the corner off for use in the summer when the roof is down.
Still b****y impressed.
Gadget :roll:
Allanmb
I have gps working on my Jam. If you need further help please E mail me.
Feel free to ask what you like if you can't find what you want in SEARCH, I don't mind helping out!!!
I'm loving destinator 3 on the xda II never crashes and has been updated some 50 times since it had an algorithm problem,
you can take calls and flick back to another screen with no problem. I got the Destinator whole of europe a XDA2 power supply / serial GPS 256MB Ram all for 160 + VAT and very happy since I got badly lost just before it arrived.
have fun
Hi, i have a question for y'all that have GPS working on your xdaII. I have a Bluetooth GPS receiver that does not "communicate" the position to my Qtek 2020 (it seems like it does not find any satellite)! Could it be because of the software i use (Mapsonic)? The receiver uses the NMEA standard 2.2, while the software requires a receiver that requires 2.0 (it's more advanced the one of the receiver...so why should i have problems...?)! Do you think i should find another software? Which one? My receiver is this:
http://www.acte.no/techstuff/gps/BT-R500.htm
In case anybody has this receiver, plesae tell me what software you are using.
thanks in advance
Can anyone tell me which GPS receiver I should get to plug into my o2/XDA1 car kit?
Thanks in advance.
Any serial gps will wire to the kit as far as I know, I dont think you can "plug" a gps into it, it will use com 1 so make sure under settings/connections that the beams box is unchecked.
Does that mean I'll have to butcher an existing receiver in order to make it connect? I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that... :?
It seems strange that the car kit has a connector for GPS and yet there doesn't seem to be a dedicated receiver that just plugs straight in.
OK, next question then - in the absence of a dedicated receiver, what receiver would you recommend, bearing in mind I have to hack it to make it fit?
Thanks.
Get a cheap haicom SERIAL gps or any other serial gps that has the wiring diagram, here is a link for Haicom gps to xda car kit.
http://www.vanhemert.biz/Car_Kit_GPS_Connection.htm
http://www.vanhemert.biz/XDA.htm
Okey dokey, I bought a Haicom 204 and wired it as per that diagram - so far so good.
I've plugged it all in and nothing seems to work. I won't have any SatNav software installed until 2moro, but I was expecting the LEDs to light up on the receiver...?
Is there any way I can tell if the receiver is connected right?
I've unchecked the 'receive all incoming beams' box under Connections, do I have to do anything else for the XDA to see the receiver?
Thanks in advance, and for your help so far.
The light may not come on until it is initialised by a program, why dont you download gps dash or another freebie just to see if everything is ok. You can get it here.
http://gpsdash.com/files.php
Great, thanks. I'll let you know what happens...
Nope, nada.
Do I have to make any speacial settings in GPSDash? What about withinn the XDA itself?
Remember, you're talking to a complete novice here...
Thanks.
settings would be nmea 4800 and com 1 in gps dash
Still nothing.
I presume the receiver takes it's power directly from the carkit, right?
Yes it takes the 5 volt feed as per the diagram, I have heard that sometimes you need 5 volts on the tx line to wake up the gps, I wouldnt do that yet though until you check the wiring. Also a common error is getting the rx tx reversed, try reversing these.
It's funny you should mention the TX/RX. I noticed on that diagram you linked that those connections were labelled the opposite to what's in the 204S manual.
In the manual the pin labelled TX (Pin 5) is labelled XDARXD on the diagram. I figured what's RX to the XDA is TX to the receiver so I went with the diagram wire for wire.
Will I do any harm by swapping them and trying it that way?
No harm at all
IT WORKS!!!
I finally got it to work - turns out I had a faulty receiver. Put a new 204S in and it worked straight away.
Thanks again for your help.
D.
Nice one Deke, isnt it great when things go so smoothly
Does anyone know if I could get a USB GPS receiver (such as the GlobalSat BU-353) to work with my elf if I connect using a female-mini usb converter?
I'm thinking that this would draw less power than using a bluetooth GPS receiver - would this actually be the case?
Cheers
K
i would say yes bluetooth draw more power but gps's are normaly used in cars where one can charge ones pda at the same time
Yes, but with a bluetooth receiver I'd end up using two chargers rather than one and I'd also like to use away from a vehicle. Would the usb connection charge as well as 'talk'. I'm not entirely sure how standard USB maps to mini USB to be honest ...
i dont believe that a wired gps device can charge the pda
also with htc devices (with 1 exception) cant use other usb devices
as they cant usb host
Thanks, it sounds like I'd be better going for a bluetooth GPS
Spend a few pennys more and get the entire gps unit. Are you realy going to be able to operate your phone as a gps interface while driving? Sounds like a great way to get a ticket ot me state side.