BU-353 sucks?

jkiang · 03-08-2007, 12:39 AM

So I recently bought a new BU-353 to replace my DeLorm Earthmate USB. The DeLorm one was very good once it gets satalites, but it takes like half an hour if I'm lucky to get any at all.

So after I receive the Bu-353, I installed it on my CarPC. OMFG sat. pickup was super fast. From cold start I picked up 8 sats in my garage in like 20 seconds. Sweet, so go for a drive. Jesus I started moving out of my garage, out of my drive way. IGuidance shows speed = 0mph and position stayed in my garage. WTF? So I stopped and check, and suddenly it caught up, and got ahead.

Then I kept driving, it just keeps trailing me about one block behind, and the speed update is bad. For example I hard accelerate from 20 --> 60mph, iGuidance shows about 20 for more than 5 seconds, then slowly picks up to 60mph.

I also realized that when I stop, the heading tends to spin around, making iGuidance tell me to make a uturn all the time.

Does anyone have the same problem, or did I just get a bad unit?

NiSlo · 03-08-2007, 12:57 AM

Try using the GPSinfo application that comes with the receiver.

That gives you a speed and co-ordinates etc. See if that updates ok. If it does, then perhaps you might need to do some tweaking in IG. If not, then perhaps some settings on your pc may need some adjustment.

Doing this will help to narrow down the possibilities of where the problem is. From there it may become clear what you need to do.

jkiang · 03-08-2007, 01:11 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo

Try using the GPSinfo application that comes with the receiver.

That gives you a speed and co-ordinates etc. See if that updates ok. If it does, then perhaps you might need to do some tweaking in IG. If not, then perhaps some settings on your pc may need some adjustment.

Doing this will help to narrow down the possibilities of where the problem is. From there it may become clear what you need to do.

GPSinfo also shows undesirale data. Like direction is all over the place when stationary, velocity was showing the speed 5 seconds ago. Good satalite counts though, which doesn't mean anything if it's not accurate.

NiSlo · 03-08-2007, 01:51 AM

What baud rate do you have it set to. 4800 is optimal I beleive
Have you tried changing switching ports?

seanz0rz · 03-08-2007, 02:08 AM

mine has been going for a year and a half flawlessly, best piece of hardware ive ever owned.

you need to figure out whats happening on your computer, something is bogging it down.

jkiang · 03-08-2007, 02:58 AM

The baud rate is set to 4800 in iGuidance, GPSinfo, and even the windows hardware property.

I also pluged the 353 into my laptop, and results are the same.

Do you guys have any idea what went wrong? Maybe I'll try to mess with SiRFtest a bit to see the settings in the BU353 itself.

Thank you anyways for your prompt reply though.

Nomader · 03-08-2007, 03:47 AM

mine also works nice.. no problems at all.. my advice try to put it out of the car and check that.. or maybe it is a faulty unit..

Mr_Civic · 03-08-2007, 08:39 AM

Try reinstalling the drivers as well and xPort if your using it; I had this issue and the reinstall cleared it up.

jkiang · 03-09-2007, 10:20 PM

I kinda fixed it. I changed the baud rate of the GPS in SiRFdemo to 9600, and it lags a lot less.

Kurack · 03-18-2007, 09:11 AM

Just got my BU-353 and worked perfect out of box...Installed driver, util program picked it up at COM8 , configured iGuidance for COM8, very accurate. Running at 4800bps

swift_gti · 03-18-2007, 09:40 AM

Where do you have the unit positioned ?
I know that heated vehicle windows etc can sometimes screw with te signal.