Connect a Bluetooth GPS unit?

[Laney]

Hi,

Has anyone tried to connect a bluetooth GPS unit to the SGS in order to boost the signal, has it worked?

I used to have a bluetooth GPS unit back in the day when windows mobile was in its infancy and tomtom had just released a sat nav for mobiles. It worked okay back then, after hearing of everyones GPS issues I wondered if anyone has tried connecting a bluetooth unit, is it compatible? If it was it would be a good solution much like the tomtom cradle for the iPhone.

[fcpiek]

Hi,

Yes, just yesterday I connected my Blumax bluetooth GPS receiver. But only after I found a small bluetooth GPS program. It works super! Quick respons and strong signal reception. So yesterday I have asked the tec. sup. of Sygic to tell me how to connect a GPS receiver to their program. No answer yet.

[Laney]

Hi fcpiek,

Thanks for the re:

Sounds promising that you can connect the BT receiver to the phone, which 'bluetooth GPS program' did you download and why did you need this inconjunction?

In the windows mobile edition of copilot/tomtom I remember that you can select within the program which GPS source to use either bluetooth or otherwise, maybe Sygic has the same in settings?

I'm looking to buy a good SatNav program for the SGS which can use the bluetooth GPS data. I would be interested to know if Sygic say that it's possible with their software

[fcpiek]

Hi Laney,

Unfortunately Sygic10 has no way of setting the GPS to external. It finds the internal GPS and uses that. Normallly it even does not show the satelite reciever "radarscreen" like Mcguider did. This option is completely blocked in he Android version. I have asked Sygic it it is possible to activate this part of the menu so you can set your external GPS. No answer yet. To test I used "bluetooth GPS" from the Android app market ( I found only one).

[Laney]

Thats a shame, I did a search the other day and I found an old forum post from over a year ago (A general android OS forum) and someone mentioned that changes need to be made in Android OS itself for apps to use a bluetooth GPS signal not sure how true that is. Surely this is a known, I hope Froyo 2.2 addresses this particular issue, as it would boost Androids status against iphone for sure.

[fcpiek]

Hi Laney,

someone mentioned that changes need to be made in Android OS itself for apps to use a bluetooth GPS signal
If that were true, the Andoid app "Bluetooth GPS" would not work either, but it does!

[Laney]

yeah, that's true, perhaps then its up to the SatNav developers to take advantage of that option. I mean copilot for iphone can take advantage of the tomtom cradle? So why not copilot or Sygic give an option for other GPS sources other than the poor aGPS on the SGS.

[dunc2907]

Hi
I to have been having problems with my gps with a very inaqurate signal on my copilot, I have an old bluetooth gps from my old nokia n95, I am still trialing it but i may have found a solution on how to conect the gps and use with copilot and other map software
I downloaded Bluetooth GPS Mouse from the android market the free demo which works as full version but automaticallly disconnects after 10 minutes
I paired the bluetooth gps with my phone on bluetooth settings it was paired but not connected
I turned off the Use GPS Satellites and Use Wireless networks in the location and security menu
I then ran the gps mouse app started it up and connected to my bt gps, I left it running and pressed the home key and started copilot
on startup the gps icon lit up in the notifications bar and copilot asked if i wanted to activate gps which i pressed cancel as the copilot must have detected my bluetooth gps so didnt need internal one , i placed gps outside and within a minute had 8 satellites on copilot gps which is the most I have had
I must stress i have not tried the copilot with bluetooth on a trip yet but so far it as detected the external bluetooth gps so will I update when i have tried it on a trip in the car , if it works then u can pruchase the full version of gps mouse for $1.99 from the android market
hope this is of some help

cheers dunc

[Laney]

Hi Dunc,

Sounds like you might have found a way, I guess if Copilot is picking up satellites when inetrnal aGPS is disabled, it must mean its getting them from the BT unit. I will have to try this also.

Would be interesting to know how it performs during a journey and if it's any improvement. Look fwd to your results

[beto_nl]

Hi Dunc,

Sounds like you might have found a way, I guess if Copilot is picking up satellites when inetrnal aGPS is disabled, it must mean its getting them from the BT unit. I will have to try this also.

Would be interesting to know how it performs during a journey and if it's any improvement. Look fwd to your results

Well, I will try copilot tomorrow, but if it doesnt have a specific setting to connect a external BT gps, I think that our friend just got lucky with the internal one....cause it does get fixes sometimes....

iGo my way and motonav wont work with BT either.... Can't wait for Garmin Mobile for android....
I dont use a-GPS, dont have data account and don't even have APN configured (on purpose)

And indeed, that small, free app. from the market: "Bluetooth Gps" works like a charm....