ZyCast SG-289 Bluetooth GPS with LCD Display And Datalogger

Darren · Last edited by Darren on Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:43 am; edited 2 times in total

Hot on the heels of the excellent ZyCast SG-288 we have just received a new Bluetooth GPS in for review from our friends at GPSForLess.

The ZyCast SG-289 adds another excellent feature to the list available on the SG-288, a datalogger facility. And unusually this is catered for by the provision of an SD Slot meaning that you are not constrained in the quantity of data you wish to log by a small amount of onboard memory. Additionally, extracting the logged data is much simpler, simply remove the SD card and insert it into your computer using a card reader.

The SG-289 shares the same design as the SG-288 but is slightly longer to accommodate the SD Card slot. The blue backlit 4 line LCD display that displays Time, Date, Latitude, Longitude, Altitude and Speed is retained.

We will be publishing a full review in due course.
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Darren Griffin

Skippy · Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:

I was intrigued to find out what this new "Datal" feature was. Laughing

Terribly disappointed to find that it's actually a "Datalogger" - I guess your subject line got truncated! Wink

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Gone fishing!

Darren · Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 1:58 pm Post subject:

Oops, sorted now. If you have no desire to use a Datalogger than I can see it is of little interest. If however you do, this is a very good solution and much easier to extract the data than other units as well as being able to use larger cards as desired to increase memory.

Integrates with Google Earth very nicely.
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Darren Griffin

Oldie · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:

The use of a SD card for the storage of the logged data is certainly a good feature, so I am looking forward to reading the review Smile

I use RoboGEO for georeferencing digital photos; v5.0.21 can now output a GPX file that is tailored for Memory-Map.

Richard
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Various TomToms, Garmin eTrex Legend, GPSMAP 60CSx, Oregon 550t, Forerunner 405

Darren · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 10:39 am Post subject:

I've been using this to track my travels around Hong Kong over the last few days and it works superbly.

Once we'd landed and cleared the airport I switched on the receiver and it managed to acquire a fix in the car taking us to the hotel within less than a minute and that was whilst moving. Pretty impressive considering its last fix was 16 hours and 8000 miles away.

The unit logs all data in the standard NMEA format so it needs to be converted into a suitable format for Google, either.gpx or .kml. This is a simple process using a utility such as GPSBabel but I find it even easier to use the on-line converter from GPSVisualiser. Once I have the day's log in .gpx format all I have to do is drop the fil onto Google Earth to have my track displayed.

Yesterday we spent the day walking around Kowloon in and out of shoppng malls etc. The days log shows very little loss of fix and it even maintained position for part of a lengthy visit to the Ocean Mall, a huge building that occupies part of the waterfront.

I haven't actually discovered it's maximum battery life yet, it's run for 6 hours without failing but tomorrow I shall switch on when I wake up and see when the last logged position is.

I'm also still awaiting a guide price for this unit.
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Darren Griffin

Skippy · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 12:42 pm Post subject:

Darren · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 4:56 pm Post subject:

I would have done except our three seats were in the central aisle, I'm off to Taiwan Monday and might deploy it there on that flight ;)
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Darren Griffin

Darren · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:07 am Post subject:

GPSForLess have just confirmed UK pricing will be £99.99 with a 1GB card bundled with the unit. An excellent price.
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Darren Griffin

Darren · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject:

The completed review is now available here.
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Darren Griffin

fnene · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 03, 2007 Posts: 2

Any of you could tell me the Update rate ? 1Hz or more?

Darren · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:37 am Post subject: Re: Update rate

MaskellMan · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 18, 2006 Posts: 12

It appears that many dataloggers insist that there is a bluetooth connection to enable datalogging. Am I correct in assuming that with this device, that once it is switched on via the physical switch it will commence logging. I want to wander around whilst hill walking with it and track where I have been later back at base.

Darren · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:32 am Post subject: Re: on/off

Merijn · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 03, 2007 Posts: 1

Does anyone know other bluetooth GPS receivers with a datalogger? I want to buy one for my Windows Mobile phone with TomTom. So far I've found:

i-Blue 747 , which is also sold as Qstarz BT-Q1000

The ZyCast SG-289 has more storage space, but the i-Blue/Qstarz has auto on/off, record POI with a button, better chipset(?) and a better battery life.

Off course I would like to see these specs combined in one product (if possible also TMC). Can someone help me with that?

p.s. it would be nice if I could purchase it in The Netherlands

Darren · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:40 am Post subject:

Just to clarify some points here, the SG-289 can be configured for one press POI record rather than continuous datalogging and I wouldn't rate the MTK chipset as better, it's an equivalent to the SiRFStarIII.
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Darren Griffin

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