GPS receiver

[ler329]

I'm using TomTom Navigator 6 on my Treo 755P with a generic NMEA 0183 Bluetooth receiver and it doesn't really work that well. (ie: time to fix on satellites, connecting with the Treo, etc).

So what is the reccomended gps I should use? Should I try and get a Palm or TomTom brand receiver? What about the SiRF Star 3?

Any suggestions, advice would be great!!!



Thanks Lee

 

[zerimar]

SiRF Star 3 is a type of gps chip and not a brand. I had a TT bt gps receiver and it worked well on my Qtek S100. I think TT is more expensive so may go for other brands like Holux. I've read good reviews about this brand.

 

[ChillyCat]

I'm using TomTom Navigator 6 on my Treo 755P with a generic NMEA 0183 Bluetooth receiver and it doesn't really work that well. (ie: time to fix on satellites, connecting with the Treo, etc).

So what is the reccomended gps I should use? Should I try and get a Palm or TomTom brand receiver? What about the SiRF Star 3?

Any suggestions, advice would be great!!!



Thanks Lee

Holux 236 Slim

2 years of use with not one negative issue. TTF is minimal.

review: http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/gr236.php

Got mine off Ebay, but since it's 2 years old, you'll probably be able to locate one in the $50ish price range. They do have newer models but the newness comes with a higher price

 

[dasbcjoker]

I have the 755p as well, and my tomtom 6 doesn't work. it says it's incompatable. does anyone have any luck getting this to work yet?

 

[Targonis]

The Palm GPS Navigator 3 package(Tomtom 6.030, Bluetooth GPS receiver, car mount kit, and car power adapter that powers both GPS and Palm Treo) is a decent package(got it over the holidays). The GPS is a SiRF Star 3 based GPS, and even though it does not come with an external antenna, it has decent reception in outdoor areas, though underground areas get poor reception. There is a connector for an external antenna on the GPS, but there is no documentation on what type is would accept, and Palm support has no information either.

Of course, since the GPS comes bundled with the Tomtom 6.030 software, it is fully supported, but I have run into the occasional glitch where the software doesn't talk to the GPS, and a soft-reset is needed to allow the software to talk to the GPS unit. That could be caused by my Treo 680, or something else, but it's fairly minor(I am sure there are times you just need to reset your Treo, just because an app misbehaves).

ler329: In the Tomtom software, do you have a problem establishing a connection to the GPS, or do you have a problem waiting for the GPS to get a "valid" signal? In the version 6 software, if you click on the 5 bars(lower right corner), you should get your route summary screen. On the right side of that screen you should see a summary of what the GPS itself has found, how many sats, your location, etc. If you tap on that summary, you should see the full GPS status, the circle showing which sats are around, and the signal strength to them(which will fluctuate every few seconds). This will show if the problem is your GPS reception to the sats.

dasbcjoker: what version of the application are you running? 6.030 is the latest app for the Palm. Check in Tomtom Home 1.5 and see which version you have, "check for updates" when you have your SD card plugged into your computer.

 

[Oxyacetylene]

I am having a LOT of problems using Navigator 6 with a 3rd party bluetooth GPS receiver. I have a holux GPSlim 240. My phone is a Treo 700p with software version 1.10 (Verizon). My phone won't even connect to this device anymore. The Navigator software is version 6.010 I think. When I run the update option on TomTom Home it says there are no updates. I know the problem is Navigator because I can use another GPS application (cotoGPS) on my phone and it always works flawlessly. The GPS receiver also works perfectly with my laptop via bluetooth.

 

[Oxyacetylene]

*Update*

I started browsing through all of the menu options in the Navigator software and came across the option to Reset factory settings. I did that, and after going back through the setup it instantly connected to my bluetooth GPS receiver. I also verified I am running version 6.010 of Navigator. FYI I also tried calling TomTom support and they were reluctant to help me at all with using the 3rd party GPS receiver. They told me that more than 90% of people using Navigator buy it as a bundle with the TomTom branded bluetooth receiver. That receiver uses proprietary connection parameters that the tech would not give me. Supposedly they never have problems with their own bluetooth GPS receiver but sometimes do get complaints about 3rd party receivers. Out of the 3rd party receivers, Holux is said to be one of the better ones.

I am out on the road for a couple days so I will report back on whether this fixed my problems.

 

[Oxyacetylene]

Well it looks like this may be a mixed bag. Resetting the software to factory defaults seems to make it much more likely that the phone will connect to the bluetooth GPS, but it doesn't work every single time. I was able to reset the software several times and have it connect pretty much every time. The last time I tried it was when I was actually getting ready for a long drive and that was the one time that it didn't seem to stay connected to the GPS. I also have problems where it will connect and suddenly stop communicating with the GPS even though it thinks it is still connected.

 

[Targonis]

*Update*

I started browsing through all of the menu options in the Navigator software and came across the option to Reset factory settings. I did that, and after going back through the setup it instantly connected to my bluetooth GPS receiver. I also verified I am running version 6.010 of Navigator. FYI I also tried calling TomTom support and they were reluctant to help me at all with using the 3rd party GPS receiver. They told me that more than 90% of people using Navigator buy it as a bundle with the TomTom branded bluetooth receiver. That receiver uses proprietary connection parameters that the tech would not give me. Supposedly they never have problems with their own bluetooth GPS receiver but sometimes do get complaints about 3rd party receivers. Out of the 3rd party receivers, Holux is said to be one of the better ones.

I am out on the road for a couple days so I will report back on whether this fixed my problems.

Put your Tomtom SD card into a card reader in your computer and then run Tomtom Home 1.5. When you check for updates, you may get an updated version of Navigator(Palm version is up to 6.030)

 

[Oxyacetylene]

Put your Tomtom SD card into a card reader in your computer and then run Tomtom Home 1.5. When you check for updates, you may get an updated version of Navigator(Palm version is up to 6.030)

I've done that multiple times and it always says No Updates available. Is there a way to force the update?

 

[Targonis]

I've done that multiple times and it always says No Updates available. Is there a way to force the update?

Try the following URL:
http://www.tomtom.com/support/solution.php?GID=3&PID=1401&SID=0&CID=215&Language=4&FID=6814

And the URL for the actual download:
tomtomhome:///TomTom?Install%3fhttp%3a%2f%2fwww.tomtom.com%2fupdates%2fttn.ppc.6.030.8320.toc&k33FSw

Note that the version is 6.030.8320 from that URL.

Now, you should be able to just follow the instructions in the first URL. I hope that helps.

 

[Oxyacetylene]

That update is for Pocket PC, not Palm

 

[Targonis]

That update is for Pocket PC, not Palm

Sorry about that, I have the file but don't want to violate copyright by uploading it. Have you contacted Tomtom support and seeing if they will push down the update for you?