BT-308 + HP2210

woodbar · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 24

Hi - just thought I would share my experience.

Up until recently I was waiting to upgrade from my emap to the new Garmin iQue 3600 - then I decided not to put all my eggs in one basket and purchased the 2210, Haicom 303E CF, TT2 and Brodit powered mount etc. I was very pleased with the results (apart from the TT2 bugs and map errors - I know there will be some - but NOT THAT MANY!)

Unfortunately the hinge on the 303, which I thought was a bit stiff, decided to crack so that has been returned to globalpositioningsystems and having thought out my requirements a bit more I have paid the extra and changed it for the BT-308 - yes I will get to the thread - don't be so impatient.

The BT-308 arrived this morning, paired with the HP first go and talked to TT2 first attempt using settings of nmea 38400 and com 8 it then very quickly got a fix with 7 sats. OK, so nothing unusual there EXCEPT it was in my office at home, on my desk, above my PC and 6ft from a window! I was impressed. (The Haicom 303 only ever eventually managed 4 and the emap 3 on a good day)

I have used it on a few local test trips in the Rover 75 today and boy has this thing got a "hot" receiver - it works on the passenger seat average 5 sats, it works IN the GLOVE BOX - average 3-4 sats and on the top of the dash 7,8 or 9 even in urban conditions. I stopped at one point to make a phone call - when I looked at the TT2 screen it said I had 11 sats locked in - I quickly selected GPS status and found that the BT-308 did indeed have 11 red bars showing with the twelfth one in grey, aquiring! I have never seen this before, best ever with the emap was 9.

The next thing that impressed me was that after switching the GPS off several times when leaving the vehicle for anything between 2 minutes and an hour, every time I powered it back on it had got a fix by the time Checkpoint and TT2 had started - with the Haicom 303 I had to sit and wait for a minute or so.

I have read somewhere of several people having problems with lockups etc and I did have to do a soft reset on the HP once - I think because I forgot to turn BT on? Apart from that one time if you follow a logical sequence then it all seems very reliable - so far! It's also easy to start TT2 without the gps on - just remember to activate BT on the HP and when TT2 asks you to select theGPS do so as normal - there is then a slight delay and the HP reports being unable to locate any serial ports for the BT GPS - just tap OK and TT2 then starts up and has conveniently taken the tick out of the GPS enable box for you - you can then play with the maps without a problem.

In case your in any doubt, if your still undecided, your daft if you don't get one!

Blimey, this is turning into a novel - that's all for now folks.

ps I am using TT2 v 2.24 with GPS driver 2.08

pps Anyone make me an offer for the emap - loads of accessories!

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