from the sci.geo.satellite-nav newgroup
There is a more detailed review of this unit that can be found at:
http://www.gpspassion.com/Hardware/Reviews/BluetoothGPS.htm
I've had a Emtac CRUX II / BTGPS unit for a bit now....and have been
testing it's functionality and compatibility with the Chaeron open
source GPS Java Access Library code base, on a Palm M505 PDA equipped
with a SDIO Bluetooth card.
Totally compatible, I am happy to report (which means it generates
NMEA standard sentences properly), though I had to rewrite the low
level serial port code to use Palm's new Serial Manager functions (the
old manager does not support Bluetooth).
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the unit will get a lock
indoors (in my office). My eTrex Summit has never managed to do that.
The CRUX II / BTGPS must be much more sensitive. It does take a while
to get a lock....but that would be expected indoors.
I've used the GPSAtlas program on my Palm to do real time position
display on topo maps...unfortunately, this program does not seem to
recognize bluetooth-connected GPS units....(it probably uses the older
serial manager library which does not support bluetooth). I've
contacted the GPSPilot folks to see when/if they might be able to
patch their code to use a Bluetooth SPP (Serial Port Profile)
connection to a GPS receiver...but as yet, no answer.
I am now waiting on some other bluetooth hardware that we will use to
integrate everything into the Mobile GPS Demonstration Platform (MGDP
= integration of embedded Java, GPS, wireless and web services end to
end...details on this project are available at
http://www.chaeron.com/gps.html). I expect that to start in a week or
two, once I receive the hardware I need to do the integration.
I'll be posting an updated version of the Chaeron GPS Java Access
Library sometime fairly soon, which will include the new Serial
Manager (and hence bluetooth) capability, along with assorted and
sundry bug fixes and enhancements. Current version can be found at
the usual place (http://www.chaeron.com/gps.html)) if anyone is
interested in writing their own GPS-enabled applications in Java.
Can't wait to get started on bluetooth-enabling the MGDP project in
the next few weeks! We'll be demo'ing the bt-enabled Phase 2 MGDP
project at the XML conference in Baltimore early December, if anyone
is interested.
Andrzej Jan Taramina
http://www.codestuds.com
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