Globalsat BT-338 review

SteveRogers · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 1

My Globalsat GPS Bluetooth BT-318 came with no documentation, just a car charger..no box even. As it is to be used in a plane (higher than 12 volts DC) I needed to charge from house supply (240 volt AC in Australia)main so chose a 12 volt 1amp DC power supply (such as run toys, etc) as the car charger presumed to run on 12 volt DC as that is what the power socket delivers. Guy in electrical shop set polarity (as is reversible). Later found that GPS, according to Internet, has battery that is 5v!
Now dead. Supplier says my fault.
Has anyone else had a similar experience or been supplied without documentation?
Any ideas on a workaround?

EasyD2 · Regular Visitor Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 137

I think your main problem is not the lack of documentation but rather that you didn't get a mains charger with the device.

We ship the BT318 with car charger and mains charger which is the standard.

You really should have had a mains charger in the package.. .unless of course the mains charger wasn't included in the reseller's price.

Always make sure you know what's in the package when something looks too cheap.
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www.easydevices.co.uk

Tel: 0871 7000 156
Globalsat UK Distributor

AlanK · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject:

Need to buy a new GPS and its either one of these of the new TT MkII

Having used the TT I liked the size of it but as I posed on the main forum can anyone actually compare the two as its hard to tell from the pics here.

I assume that they will both work the same (time etc)

Cheers

iankb · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 10:12 am Post subject:

I used a Rikaline 6030 GPS with CoPilot on an iPaq and had loads of problems with it. It could take 10 minutes to get its first fix, and sometimes never. It didn't like having no external aerial, and seemed to be very choosy about when it would accept a Bluetooth connection. I could waste 5 minutes at the start of each trip, rebooting the iPaq, etc, until I got a guaranteed Bluetooth connection.

I threw out the Rikaline and bought a BT338. I now have 100% reliability, with very fast connection, and more satellites used that can handle overhead trees, etc. I have never been happier with a purchase.

Having only had two GPS units, I can't say whether this a recommendation for the Globalsat, or a warning against the Rikaline. But you can't argue with 100% reliability.

I don't know what the TT uses, but I think that the reason that the Globalsat is so much better is its use of the Sirf III chipset. It is a major improvement.
_________________
Ian

iPaq 2210
Globalsat BT-338
Seidio G2500 Amplified Vent Mount
CoPilot 6, GPS Tuner 4.2, Navio 3.01
BMW 330ci Sport

ckenway · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 30, 2005 Posts: 10

lbendlin · Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:10 am Post subject:

The firmware 3.1.1 is now supporting SBAS. I'll have to place my BT-338 in a favorable position (facing south) and check if it gets a differential fix.

Anyhow you shouldn't base your purchasing decision on that - SBAS is useless for street navigation.
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

ckenway · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 30, 2005 Posts: 10

lbendlin · Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:49 pm Post subject:

Because you are driving all the time, and cannot position the receiver to point south (where the SBAS sats are) while driving.

SBAS only makes sense for clear sky view (planes for example) or for stationary geolocation (geocaching etc)
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

ckenway · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 30, 2005 Posts: 10

Hang on a minute this does not make sense. If what you said about pointing south is true then that means aircraft can only travel north to south or south to north or does somebody go and turn the arial round depending which direct they want to fly?

The way I understand it is there RIMS (Range and Integraty Monitoring Stations) that are at fixed locations around Europe, in fact there are 34 of them. They then send the signals to MCC's (Master Control Centres) that calculate the error and then uploaded to the EGNOS sats that then broadcast it. So all that is broadcast is the actual error and nothing else. Without the GPS satellites nothing would work. This will then give a garanteed error of only 2M. If I have misunderstood or got any of this wrong then please correct me.

iankb · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:12 pm Post subject:

It's not the ability to point south that's important. It's the ability to see satellites to the south that is important. As your car turns, you are likely to lose satellites to the south and gain ones to the north. The direction of the aerial, and it's placement within the car, means that you are unlikely to be able to see all GPS satellites at the same time. Also, because the EGNOS satellites are relatively low in the sky, they are far more likely to be obscured by buildings, etc.

You may be able to see EGNOS satellites for part of the time, but you may well lose that ability while you are driving for long periods in the 'wrong' direction, and in between buildings. What's the point of using it if you can't depend on it.
_________________
Ian

iPaq 2210
Globalsat BT-338
Seidio G2500 Amplified Vent Mount
CoPilot 6, GPS Tuner 4.2, Navio 3.01
BMW 330ci Sport

ckenway · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 30, 2005 Posts: 10

Actually the more I ask questions the more I answer them myself by looking through the web. What you have just said is utter and total rubbish, I would strongly recommend that you look at http://www.esa.int/esaNA/index.html and http://www.essp.be/ before you start making these comments. My question has been answered in as much as I will buy a receiver that works with this system and if anyone wants accuracy I would recommend that they do the same. The more I read the more I realise that some people here just don't know what they are talking about when it comes to state of the art technology.

lbendlin · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:27 am Post subject:

iankb · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:46 am Post subject:

ckenway · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 30, 2005 Posts: 10

nfh · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:49 pm Post subject:

Does this unit feature an external antena connector, as the Holux 236?

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