Setting up an external Bluetooth GPS on a ToughBook
As I have written in a previous blog, I am not very pleased with the integrated GPS on the new Toughbooks. However, the Bluetooth is very stable and opens up a variety of GPS options. The following goes through the steps of setting up an external GPS on a Toughbook 19 running Windows XP Tablet. Other models should be similar; Vista has not been tested.
1) Turn on the GPS. As always, make sure the battery is charged!
2) On the Toughbook, open the SD card slot and flip on the Wireless toggle switch, Then, click on the Bluetooth logo on the bottom bar. A box will appear. Click “New Connection”. Here is an important step: use “Custom Mode” or else the computer will assign a COM port that may not work with some software! Click “Next.”
3) The computer will recognize the GPS. Highlight the name and click “Next.”
4) The computer will assign the GPS to a serial port. Click “Next.”
5) On the next screen, uncheck “Use default COM port.” Now, you can choose your own COM port. Many software packages only go up to COM 9 for GPS, so I recommend choosing COM 8 and “Auto Connect.” Click “Next.”
6) On the next screen you can select an icon if you wish. Click “Next” and you are done! The COM port you have chosen will be the same for all software you use. This also means that you cannot run two different software programs at the same time.
To save battery life in the field, you can turn off the WiFi while you are running Bluetooth. In the lower right corner of the bottom tool bar is an icon of a lightning bolt with a circle. Click it to bring up wireless options. Choose Wireless LAN OFF and Bluetooth ON. The 802.11a doesn’t matter.
Tags: Bluetooth, Communication, field computer, GPS, Toughbook
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May 15, 2008 at 4:39 am
agree,the Bluetooth is very stable and opens up a variety of GPS options.