New Globalstar BT GPS BT-338 and setup on a Toshiba e830 or other PDA?

[stoker]

I am going nuts trying to get this COM Port business to stick. The bluetooth on the PDA has discovered the receiver, however it says at that it is not connected. I entered the 0000 Pincode, so it is paired,and automatically the PDA designated COM Port 6. I cannot get a signal at all. Has anyone bought this new receiver that was advertised on this site. I just bought it new, and would appreciate any help .
Thx

[Paladin27]

I bought the BT-338 from buygpsnow and have had it for a couple weeks. I paried it with my Thinkpad T40 and my Ipaq h6315 successfully. Works great with TomTom Navigator.

Everything you described sounds correct. A couple things I noticed:

You have to use the Outbound COM Port instead of the Inbound COM Port, which I thought was very odd. My h6315 uses COM4 for Inbound bluetooth and COM7 for Outbound and the BT-338 only works when I set TomTom to COM7.

The BT-338 has AWESOME GPS signal reception, however the bluetooth reception kinda sucks. If the device is more than about two or three feet away it can't pair anymore, or it pairs but it sends garbage through the COM port. Use GPS Dash since it's free to test with since it has a live COM data log.

[Phillip Dyson]

I have the 338 and was shocked at how easy it was to set up. I'm currently running Mapopolis demo maps.

I did a search for wireless devices. It found the receiver no problem and listed its one service.
I then did a click-hold on the service and selected Register ...

In then looked at the registration properties to see what com port it was set up on. It as 6.
In mapopolis, it had a com port setting that allowed you to set the port or leave it on auto. I selected 6 and everything worked fine.

I have found that it does at times take awhile to aquire a GPS signal at startup.

[Phillip Dyson]

How is your setup with the BT-338 going?

I've had pretty good success with Mapopolis. But I've been trying for weeks to get OnCourseNavigator to work.

[lkawamot]

I've had the BT338 for about 2 weeks now, and it's working great with my 2215 and Mapopolis. The only problem I had was initially setting the com port in mapopolis -- I didn't know what port the GPS was connected to and AUTO seemed to lockup or timeout. Through trial and error I finally got it working on com 8. Sounds like I might've missed some easy way to check what com port it was connected on though...

BTW, this GPS rocks! I borrowed my co-worker's Pharos SD GPS for about a week back in January and I wasn't impressed with the whole PDA-GPS navigation solution, but this GPS is awesome.

[Swede12]

Hi Stoker
It is now May 5th and I see that you posted your BT-338 query on April 1st. So, I hope that you have sorted things out by now. It is by far the greatest GPS receiver on the market and no other receiver even comes close. I have an Ipaq 2210 and run Tom-tom 3. The original Tom-tom receiver was good but the BT-338 is in a different league altogether. Getting the BT-338 to connect on the Ipaq was straightforward and quick and I was up and running in no time at all. So, have you got yours sorted yet? or are you still having problems.

[Phillip Dyson]

Thats great news Stoker.
I've also had great success with Mapopolis, but decided to move over to OncourseNavigator4. I've had it for weeks and just can't get it to pickup my receiver. No matter what I do.

Perhaps Mapopolis may be my solution. I just wish their never-ending beta cycle had an end in sight.

[Phillip Dyson]

I think this compatibility chart (http://www.oncoursenavigator.com/support/issue_view.asp?ID=39#) explains my issues with OCN. Doh!

[billpool]

I've had the BT338 for about 2 weeks now, and it's working great with my 2215 and Mapopolis. The only problem I had was initially setting the com port in mapopolis -- I didn't know what port the GPS was connected to and AUTO seemed to lockup or timeout. Through trial and error I finally got it working on com 8. Sounds like I might've missed some easy way to check what com port it was connected on though...

BTW, this GPS rocks! I borrowed my co-worker's Pharos SD GPS for about a week back in January and I wasn't impressed with the whole PDA-GPS navigation solution, but this GPS is awesome.

Skuze me for interrupting. Just thought I'd let folks know that here's another VERY well pleased user of the BT338 now that I solved some of my problems and concerns. Anyone here have opinions of the recievers powerdown on loss of the BT signal? I really didn't care for it but can see how it'd be handy. The receiver locks up fast and fine on the IPAQ hx2750 I'm using BUT I'm not happy with the software I've installed, but I probably haven't gotten used to it. That's probably better in a whole 'nuther post but I'll ask it her anyway. How do you folks cope with the screen size and do any serious route planning? I got Destinator 3.07 andhave more than enough room on my CF to store all of NA and Canada data maps but try to make a trip plan that goes from Colorado to Wisconsin, which involves using 2 different map areas, I can't figure out how to move gracefully from one to the other. On the Laptop with CoPilot Live 8 or Delorme's Street Atlas 2005 or even Streets & Trips, that's not a problem. You just zoom in or out as needed and drag the map. I can't get Destinator to do that???

Anyway, Happy with the 338 but not the small screens and map splits. THOUGHTS anyone?

:devilboy: