Royaltek Bluetooth GPS (Datalogger)

Royaltek Bluetooth GPS (Datalogger)

For the uninitiated I'll quickly give a brief description of what purpose this item serves.

There are several choices for running Satellite Navigation software, the main two are either buy a standalone product (such as Tom-Tom, Garmin etc) or buy a PDA (See my other review on Dell Axim) using a GPS satellite receiver (this is what the Royaltek Bluetooth GPS receiver is)

...in the case of the RoyalTek Bluetooth GPS (Datalogger) this is done as the name suggests via Bluetooth.

What happens (once the setup has been navigated , navigated, geddit ? ) is that the GPS receives a position via a number of satellites (up to 12, though I have only ever seen 9 at once, and even then briefly) and reports the position to the PDA via the wireless bluetooth link. The PDA then converts this information and puts it onto ... more

Royaltek Bluetooth GPS (Datalogger)

For the uninitiated I'll quickly give a brief description of what purpose this item serves.

There are several choices for running Satellite Navigation software, the main two are either buy a standalone product (such as Tom-Tom, Garmin etc) or buy a PDA (See my other review on Dell Axim) using a GPS satellite receiver (this is what the Royaltek Bluetooth GPS receiver is)

If you have decided to choose the PDA route, you will need at least three things, the PDA, the GPS (Royaltek in this case) and software to run (I have chosen TomTom Navigtor 5 as it seems to be one of the market leaders.

There are now two options for your GPS receiver, wired (which just means that the gps must be somehow connected directly to the PDA , this can either be via a wire or SD Card via the slot on the PDA OR via a wireless connection method, in the case of the RoyalTek Bluetooth GPS (Datalogger) this is done as the name suggests via Bluetooth.

What happens (once the setup has been navigated , navigated, geddit ? ) is that the GPS receives a position via a number of satellites (up to 12, though I have only ever seen 9 at once, and even then briefly) and reports the position to the PDA via the wireless bluetooth link. The PDA then converts this information and puts it onto the map (this is where the TomTom software comes in)

So, what you have is basically Sat Nav, but using a PDA instead of a dedicated device.

Pros and Cons

The obvious downside to having a separate device for receiving your gps signal is just that, it is separate and will be easier to lose, have stolen, break etc etc. Secondly the cost, a TomTom (average specification) will cost approx £250, whereas going down the PDA,GPS and Software separate route will cost anything from about £375 upwards (I paid £325 for the PDA, £100 for the GPS being reviewed here, and £105 for the software)

There are however some good things to come out of this. This GPS, above most others has one function that impressed me enough to choose it, its called the Datalogger function.

Datalogger

The Datalogger function is something that can be switched on and off to save battery life but performs the function of recording information for future download.

The information that the Datalogger can record and store are as follows

Position
Speed
Altitude
Time

There are several benefits to this I'll list a few though to be honest some are really stretching the imagination.

The first benefit is that if your going on a long journey the Datalogger will record your speed and position for playback on a map at a later time. Imagine that your claiming business miles, for some reason your boss does not believe you and asks you to prove it, well , if your datalogger was switched on you can do just that ! showing where you were at a certain time (obviously if the company you work for has installed one on your vehicle it can have the reverse effect and be used to prove, yes, you guessed it, where you were ! )

Secondly, say you were pulled over by the police for speeding, and im no legal expert so please don't take this as gospel but, if you were absolutely sure that you weren't speeding and the datalogger recorded this , then this MAY be admissible as evidence (you cant fix the position of the satellite and its correct to a few meters, so why not ? )

What about this one, hide the datalogger somewhere in your car (preferably where it can gain a signal, certain conditions alter the quality of signal that the GPS Datalogger receives and therefore putting it under the car probably wont work) , then, if your car is stolen then recovered within the life of the battery , you simply download the information, transfer it to an additional compliant piece of software, ring the police and tell them where your car was held\stored etc before they found it !

This all sounds quite pie-in-the-sky but with the right setup this actually will work !

Now for the last usage, say your partner has been out to drop off the car for maintenance, or been somewhere to get some groceries etc etc and you want to know how to get there. Simply hand the GPS Datalogger (switched on of course) over to the person, be it your partner or someone else and the Datalog will record it and you can play back where they have been. Now, im not going to go into the privacy debate, and checking on partners or spouses cheating etc etc, but you will know if you need to use it for this purpose, either way, get this little gizmo to work and it can do so much for you !

This brings me to one of the slightly disappointing bits. If your not particularly technically minded you could possible struggle in the setup. First you have to "pair" your device with your PDA (or laptop for that matter) , then you have to connect, set up your software and set up the Datalogger to run. This can be tad onerous, but once done its very easy to use as it's a switch on and off thing.

I hope you have found this review helpful , I certainly believe in this product as I have had one for a few months now and it really does work. As usual I've included a few specifications at the bottom to let you compare with other devices.

TIP : Like all GPS systems, give it a chance to acquire a signal before you set off, Ive driven across town once and the GPS still hadnt gained a signal when I got to where I was going !!

Specifications

12 channels wireless GPS receiver

Support 2D/ 3D information

RF MCX connector for external GPS antenna

On/ Off power switch

Support standard NMEA-0183 at 57600 bps baud rate
Compatible with Bluetooth devices with Serial Port Profile (SPP)

Three LEDs of the device show the status of Bluetooth, GPS and battery

Minimum 10 hours continuous operation Lithium-ion battery

Mobile Data-logger

In the standard package you receive ..

RBT3000 (GPS Datalogger)

Car Charger

CD

Skidproof Pad
 

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