Holux GR 230 Bluetooth GPS on XDA2

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I have just been following all the developments with the Bluetoth Stack Problems etc, after actually I had Ordered the Holux BT GPS Receiver.

I am still awaiting delivery, but after reading the last thread under GPS/Bluetooth got a bot dissappointed as a lot of people seem to have problems with the Reception.

I actually did some research before ordering and the reviews were promising. So in real life, what are the problems with the actual GPS itsself and how is the reception?

Even though I haven't tried Towas BT Fix, but I must congratulate as it seems very impressive the job he has done. I have downloaded all is required in terms of software fixes.

Please share your experiences with the Holux BT GPS and if anyone likes to do a preview perhaps?

I've already posted my comments in another thread but to summarise - it doesn't work ver well at all. I've used a Navman/iPaq combo - worked quite well, a Nokia LAM1/9210 - worked surprisingly well too, then a CF GPS in an Axim - worked extremely well, then this Holux device with an XDA II - the worst so far, by far. I'm assuming that the problem isn't with the XDA II as it uses a 400 mhz xScale 263 cpu which should be more than sufficient. I had read that these things would pick up a decent signal from within a rucksack or pocket, and indoors from a few feet from a window, but not in my case.

I can't wait to see what other peoples experiences are.

Ged.

How did you get the holux to work with xda2, I am having no luck with it.

I just installed towas patch, when I chose the holux it allowed me to assign a serial port "com4 chosen" this then appeared under gps in tomtom, works great and the headset works at same time, it did prevent me synching via bluetooth which was working fine before, but that is no hardship as I am unlikely to be synching by bluetooth while running tomtom.


P.s. I tried changing com ports for the gps but it didnt help so I removed my bluetooth desktop pc bluetooth profile, went to settings/bluetooth, told it to sync by bluetooth, it searched for and found my pc bluetooth dongle, when I click finish Towas patch pops up, I selected activesync and it now all works, the guys a genius with programming.

Got my Holux working too

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Even though I was very nervous about the Holux, it has proved for me working very well, but it did take a bit to get things working.

At first, I removed all bluetooth devices, then installed Towas' Patch and then added the BT Devices (Holux + HBH-65). The HBH-65 worked well all the time, but once I loaded the Holux supplied software GPSviewer, it kept crashing and froze or it automatically kept rebooting. Tried all different ports but no success.

Finally, I had to Hard-Reset the XDA2 and then first install Towas's BT Patch before pairing any devices or installing any applications. Then I tried some third party software and finally Mapopolis and saw it working perfectly (COM 5, 9600). For some reason, GPSviewer is not compatible with either the XDA2 or Towas's Patch at any setting.

The Positioning is very good and usually have 8 sats locked out of 10 visible. I saw the device to be very accurate, perhaps to about 1-2 metres on Mapopolis. I even get around 3-4 Sats locked when I am indoors (thats either on the top floor or near a window. First time to fix is always around 30secs and hotstart seems immediate to me. The only matter which has got to me was that while driving, the positioning seemed to be lagging behind and Mapopolis came up with streets which just passed. I am also quite pissed off with the male voice of mapopolis as it sounds awful. I have now ordered TomTom V.2 and will keep u guys posted how that goes.

PS: The BT Handset works well at the same time as the GPS, but still missing the Handsfree BT Profile.

Anyone any update about O2 (UK) ROM Update?

I found no lag with Tomtom2, it was on the button and extremely accurate, does anybody know if the battery can be swapped out of this unit in the event of a failure once warrany is out?

I would think so. I took mine apart to see what was inside and it's very similar to one that you'd find in a cordless phone. Nothing special really and there are lots of companies out there that supply custom or specialist batteries.

Re: Holux GR 230 Bluetooth GPS on XDA2

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Originally Posted by Analyst

I have just been following all the developments with the Bluetoth Stack Problems etc

i take it ur talking about the prolems "when you change the baud rate on the GR-230, it would lose communication via Bluetooth"?

if so the review on pocketgps.co.uk for the unit is quite good. its available @

http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/holuxgr230.php

but it explains that its a firmware prob with units shipped B4 Dec 03, which can B fixed.

Hope this helps. ive just ordered 1 myself, £95 off ebay, will do nicely if it works, i shall let ya'll know.

Smiley :)