bt-20 connection

[sawdust46]

I just returned from vacation with my bt-20 and laptop. For the life of me I could not get it to connect via bluetooth when I needed it. I played around the day before and got it to connect, then when I went to leave I sat in the driveway trying to get it working and finally gave up and cabled it. When we returned two weeks later I sat at 4:30 in the morning trying to get it to connect and again failed. Cabled it up and hit the road. I checked the options and selected the com9 port like I had done before, but it would not recognize the gps. I just read where it makes a difference which "on" position the switch is in. I think I had it in #2. Could this have been my problem? Is there an easy way to get this to connect?

I have a dell inspiron laptop with Windows XP.

Thanks

[Sanaghan]

I know my USGlobalSat changes what comm port it's on. I just check on startup and set Street Atlas (or whatever other program I'm using) accordingly.

In my case, it's because it's not a hardwired port, it's a virtual (simulated) port.

There's a post in Tips and Tricks on connection issues that might help.
http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=8467

[Chuck S]

I have been trying to get my BT20 to connect with my HP iPAQ 2495. When I try to connect it tells me I need a network key. Where do I get a network key?? I would like to use it for hunting and driving.

Thanks
Chuck S
Carlisle, IA
cstonex@msn.com

[sawdust46]

I have been trying to get my BT20 to connect with my HP iPAQ 2495. When I try to connect it tells me I need a network key. Where do I get a network key??

If you are talking about the Pin number you would use the default of 0000 (four zeros). This was taken out of the BT-20 booklet. Network keys are usually used for wireless communication and not Bluetooth. Network keys are set up in the router and then used by a PC to communicate.

[TheShew]

I am exhausted, I have been tring for 4 days to find a fix for this and everyone says its someone elses problem. I have a palm treo 680 cingular, earthmate gps bt-20, sa2008+, palm is running ver. 5.4.9

and according to everyone its should be working and if it isn't then its the others issue. here is what happens. I can pair with the gps unit through the bluetooth menu. but when I go to SAHH2008+ and try to connect to gps. it sees the paired bt-20, but when I select it it tries for 3 minutes to connect and then gives this message:

An error occured when trying to initiate to the gps. reset your pda and try again.

well doing a hard reset does nothing. have attempted this for 5 times.

Other things I have tried, setting the gps reciever to generic, returning it to earthmate, changing the comm port to 1, bluetooth, and to anything higher than comm 4. downloading updates from palm and delorme. and still won't frigging connect. I am almost through with this and ready to return it to store.

[drumtrucker]

me too, same problem,

IT WILL NOT WORK for me either.

[jkeefe1]

I had the same messages and issues you are reporting on my Treo 680 with SA2009+ and BT-20.

Start by pairing the BT-20 with your Treo as described in the startup guide.

Once that is done, turn off the BT-20.

The "trick" to getting it to connect is to remove the battery for 5 seconds, then reinstall and power up the Earthmate again. When you attempt to connect from the mapping software on the Treo wait for the blue LED to start flashing, then connect.

If yours works like mine it will connect and work wonderfully well. At least until you turn the BT-20 off or disconnect by exiting the mapping software. Then you'll have to drop the battery again to get the device to reconnect again.

You will have to remove the battery every time you want to connect to the mapping software.

I'm not sure why, but this works 100% of the time for me.

/john

[rfgraham]

I have a Treo 680 and I had the same problem, even when I took the battery out. I could connect maybe 5% of the time.

Then I discovered by accident that I had to have my Treo side by side with the BT-20, in the same hand. With Bluetooth, the two devices should not have to be that close, but that was the trick. I can now take the battery out for a few seconds, and connect every time.

[jkeefe1]

I finally sent a complaint off to DeLorme about my connectivity problem and they replaced the unit. It is now MUCH better but not yet perfect.

I'll give the side-by-side a test and see.

Unfortunately, one of the applications I want to use the BT-20 for is IntelliGolf which allows GPS mapping of golf courses and then provides distances to objects like bunkers, water hazards, green front/middle/back and helps to record all sorts of statistics while you play the round. It appears to not keep the BT connection active enough to maintain the link. The whole removed-and-replace-the-battery-and-reconnect strategy is just too frustrating on the course.

I'm starting to look at other GPS receivers... I wish there was a try-before-you-buy guarantee on these things.

/john

[rkinney]

this might sound weird, I noticed no one mentioned if they had other blue tooth devices in use at the same time, I have the bt20 and a plantronics headset on a Verizon vz6800, periodically my pda would come up 'looking for gps device', I found the problem to be the blue tooth headset.

[jkeefe1]

Yes, I am aware that only one Bluetooth device can be paired with my Treo at a time.

Thanks though, I probably should have mentioned this earier.

/john

[Paulbo]

So basically the point of all these messages is: if you want a GPS that will work more that 30% of the time, go out and buy a standalone unit.

Am I reading this right? Or to put more precisely: should I just send back the BT-20 that arrived in today's post and quick f**king around with trying to make it work with my Treo 680?

[hawkeyeredhammer]

Not able to get my 6800 to recognize the BT-20. I have done everything suggested on forum. All other features are working.

What is next step???

Thanks for the help!!!

Hawkeyeredhammer

[smccurdy]

Seem like we are all having a similar trouble, just got SA2009+ with the BT20. I have a vista home primium and also a windows 2K and wanted to use this on a Palm TX os5 soooo they are having the same trouble (@!%&#$) they all can see the BT20 (solid blue light) but i cant seem to get any satilites to lock on, i have tryied both the blue tooth and the cord with the same frustrating results. the software is registered, updated ..... but still no lock and yes i did try not in the car sat it out side for 20 min and the best i could get was 2 hits. there was no other BT units near ie headsets phones palms. I just don't get why i cant get a lock?

Anyone with some other suggestions?
Thak you in advance!

[SpeelayPady]

Hi Nige

you shortened my name too......

I still supsect the azerty keyboard is likley the issue. Do try running notepad which is usually language independant and copy the password into your network connection...