Newbie to GPS - Navman 3000

573310 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 5

ok, so i have an Ipaq 3870, recently a friend donated his old Navman 3000 kit to me,

having upgraded himself. So i have the following kit:

compaq 3870 running Pocket PC Version 3.0.11171 and 64MB RAM

I have the following Navman GPS 3000 kit with SmartPath Mapping software.
The GPS reciever itself has 'CoPilot NavMan Edition' stamped on the inside sticker,

and NAVMAN written on the right edge.

Now i've tried the following and have had abysmal results with the device - i think it

may be the hardware is old, and deprecated, and hence not very sensitive, so before i

spend money on a new BT GPS unit, i thought i'd ask your comments and opinions on the

setup.

So i start with a freshly hard reset Ipaq, attach the sync cable and install

SmartPath City,
Smartpath GPS Support
and a map to the device.

I then power off, reset and at whilst the Ipaq is off, attach the GPS Sleeve.

What I then get, when I power on, is the device takes absolutely ages to establish its first fix. Overall, the fix is very flaky, and seems to come and go very easily. Its nt a particularly strong fix at all. If i'm driving, its more or less useless. I'm wondering, is this a charactoristic of this hardware receiver, or simply consumer gps at the moment.

What would you reccomend? I'm going to try the same hardware with my said friends TOM TOM 3 over the weekend, to see if this is any more reliable.

What do you think?

thanks for your input.

573310

lbendlin · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 6:37 pm Post subject:

I would recommend that you
a) look for a better receiver (something serial for example)

and

b) not try to install your friend's TomTom 3 on the device because that eats up his (your friend's) activation keys.
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

573310 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 5

ibendlin,

thanks for the quick response. So is it fair to say that the Navman 3000 GPS is typically unreliable? - I guess as a result of the fact that it is quite early technology.

So if i now need to look for a new GPS receiver, what would you reccomend. I'm thinking bluetooth would be best. I can see that the EMTEC / Socket BT GPS is one of the more reverred devices according to the reviews on this site - true?

None of those on ebay at the moment - What do you make of something like the Xtrac 2 GPS reciever? :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=69928&item=5152519205&rd=1

or the ANYCOM BLUE GP-600

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5741000961&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

are these newer receivers able to pick up signals indoor?

As a complete newbie to this arena, can you suggest what i should be looking for when purchasing a 'good' gps receiver?

Many thanks

573310

Tim Buxton · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:00 pm Post subject:

It's true that the old Navman 3000 was a little slow to acquire a fix and also lost its fix more easily than most. Some people have found that placing a couple of pieces of suitably trimmed sheets of anti-static material, from an old anti-static bag, improves this.

When you look at the GPS properties in the iPAQ software, what settings are in use? I used a 3000 sleeve with a 3850 for a year or two, until I upgraded both and, although the COM port won't be the same, you should have the baud setting at 57600.

Which Navman serial driver are you using, by the way, and what car do you use it in? Do you get a (much) stronger fix out in the open?

When you say you are going to try your friend's Tomtom 3, do you mean load his software onto your iPAQ, which would be illegal unless you hold a licence, or are you going to use your sleeve on his device?
_________________
Tim

573310 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 5

Hi Tim,

I guess that i'll get him to test the sleeve on his device, he has the same IPAQ as me.

In smartpath GPS, it doesnt give any settings information; all it says is NavMan GPS receiver / Sensor for iPaq.
The serial driver is the one thats on the Smartpath CD. Is there a later driver i should test?

I use this in a Volvo C70. To be fair, i've had a poor signal both in and out of a car, only slightly better outside !

Thanks
573310

Tim Buxton · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:43 pm Post subject:

The latest serial driver is available from our 'Downloads' section under Navman GPS Software and Updates. It is V3.1.6. I don't know what driver came with the original SmartPath City and Trip CDs; I gave mine away last month.

I'm surprised that you don't get any options in the GPS section as it's essentially the Tomtom GPS driver. I'll see if I have any old .zip files on my desktop later. I know I had some which were proper Smartpath updates. I'll let you know via email or PM.
_________________
Tim

Tim Buxton · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 7:47 pm Post subject:

Oops, apparently if you have a Co-Pilot sleeve then you need a different driver which you can get here.
_________________
Tim

573310 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 5

Thanks Tim,
i've downloaded that driver, but can you tell me - what does it list as in the gps software? Is it the Pocket CoPilot GPS Jacket / NavMan GPS?

Also, anyone care to comment on the above two BT GPS receivers? I'm thinking of bidding on the Xtrac 2.

Thanks
573310

DavidW · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:47 pm Post subject:

The Rikaline GPS has closed - it went for the equivalent of £76 all in, which is not that great a price really. Some Rikaline GPSes have proved very unreliable, and you may not have a warranty on a unit bought from eBay.

You can by a new Fortuna Clip On for £115 including free shipping from globalpositioningsystems.co.uk. Not only is this switchable between standard SiRF firmware and XTrac 2 (choose whichever is appropriate to the task at hand), but you have a warranty and a comprehensive set of accessories - two cases, one with a belt clip; a neck lanyard; a magnetic mount; a car charger; a mains charger; screwdriver and screw to secure the battery door.

I'm afraid I can't help with the Navman sleeve questions.

David

Tim Buxton · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:25 pm Post subject:

Sorry, I never had a Copilot/iNS sleeve, just Navman ones.
_________________
Tim

573310 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 5

Tim, David,

thanks for all the help. I think i'm going to give the sleeve a shot on my mates Ipaq with TT3 this weekend, failing which i think i'll be posting this on ebay, and getting myself a BT receiver. Thanks for all the help and advice.

573310

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