- Feb 14, 2005
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I recently bought and have received a Royaltek RBT-2300 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger from Buy.com for just under $60 shipped. Can be used as a GPS unit when synced up via Bluetooth for devices such as phones and computers. You'll need additional software for your devices though.
I also bought a charger and spare batteries for it from Eastmaze.com which is a Hong Kong outfit. The batteries The RBT-2300 uses are the same as the Nokia BL-4C. On Eastmaze the 950mhz BL-4C compatible batteries cost $7 and the charger cost $4.50. Cheaply made so I wasn't expecting much but the batteries were pretty flimsy looking though the charger is about standard generic fare. The battery endcaps, not on the side with the connectors, is not properly sealed due to the type of glue used. With my fingernails I can lightly pry the two ends of the batteries out a bit. Using force, I'm sure I can completely pry it off. Of note is that the charger still requires you to use a Nokia charger with the smaller 2mm power plugs. Can take up to two weeks to hit the US since they're shipping it from Hong Kong.
The RBT-2300 unit is unfortunately not waterproof. While it isn't built like a tank it also doesn't feel so flimsy that it'll break if you drop it once or twice. I'd still try not to get it knocked around though.
Unfortunately from a usability standpoint you can't change your settings at all from the unit. You have to sync it and use the included PC software (also downloadable from Royaltek's web site) to change your settings. The software is fairly simple and you should be able to use it without issues once you properly sync the unit up. There are no controls besides the on/off switch on the unit at all. On the plus it's idiot proof as far as operating the unit. On the negative side any time you want to make changes in the logging interval or what info to log, you need to sync the unit up. One issue is setting the clock to local time when taking pictures...though one could just edit the logs with a script that will offset the time to correct it. Nevertheless that can be a pain since you will need to sync the unit to set the time and sometimes that is not convenient.
Battery life is suppose to be about 8 hours on the included battery but since I have spares (bought 2), I should be able to go roughly 24 hours without worrying about batteries. One review on the web got almost 9 hours on one charge. Assuming you keep it on all day long, with a couple of spare batteries you should be able to go two to three days without needing to locate a socket for charging.
You can log data in 1 second intervals to 60 seconds. You can also set what type of date you want to log. Options are to record only Time, Logitude, Latitude, which will allow 650,000 points. Time, Longitude, Latitude, Altitude which will allow 500,000 points. Time, Longitude, Latitude, Altitude, Velocity which will allow 400,000 points. Again these changes need to be made when you sync the unit up to a PC. There are two settings that can be made as well to overwrite date or stop once the RBT-2300 is full.
The unit should have enough memory to record any data you need. At the fastest interval setting of 1 second and logging the most data, it'll still be able to take 4.6 days worth of data provided you have enough juice. Realistically you should be able to offload your data in 5 days and it's highly unlikely you will have the unit on nonstop for 4+ days. I have it set to record only Time, Longitude, Latitude and Altitude. This will allow me to record non stop for 5.7 days.
Still waiting on my Canon 50D with a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens which has an estimated ship date of June 16. I plan to use Geosetter with the GPS logs from the RBT-2300 to geotag my photos. So I'm waiting on my Canon 50D before I try to test this out for geotagging purposes though I have run a few test logs on it's data logging capabilites.
I'll update this when I do have a better impression of this unit and how well it works for geotagging but for that I need my Canon 50D.
I also bought a charger and spare batteries for it from Eastmaze.com which is a Hong Kong outfit. The batteries The RBT-2300 uses are the same as the Nokia BL-4C. On Eastmaze the 950mhz BL-4C compatible batteries cost $7 and the charger cost $4.50. Cheaply made so I wasn't expecting much but the batteries were pretty flimsy looking though the charger is about standard generic fare. The battery endcaps, not on the side with the connectors, is not properly sealed due to the type of glue used. With my fingernails I can lightly pry the two ends of the batteries out a bit. Using force, I'm sure I can completely pry it off. Of note is that the charger still requires you to use a Nokia charger with the smaller 2mm power plugs. Can take up to two weeks to hit the US since they're shipping it from Hong Kong.
The RBT-2300 unit is unfortunately not waterproof. While it isn't built like a tank it also doesn't feel so flimsy that it'll break if you drop it once or twice. I'd still try not to get it knocked around though.
Unfortunately from a usability standpoint you can't change your settings at all from the unit. You have to sync it and use the included PC software (also downloadable from Royaltek's web site) to change your settings. The software is fairly simple and you should be able to use it without issues once you properly sync the unit up. There are no controls besides the on/off switch on the unit at all. On the plus it's idiot proof as far as operating the unit. On the negative side any time you want to make changes in the logging interval or what info to log, you need to sync the unit up. One issue is setting the clock to local time when taking pictures...though one could just edit the logs with a script that will offset the time to correct it. Nevertheless that can be a pain since you will need to sync the unit to set the time and sometimes that is not convenient.
Battery life is suppose to be about 8 hours on the included battery but since I have spares (bought 2), I should be able to go roughly 24 hours without worrying about batteries. One review on the web got almost 9 hours on one charge. Assuming you keep it on all day long, with a couple of spare batteries you should be able to go two to three days without needing to locate a socket for charging.
You can log data in 1 second intervals to 60 seconds. You can also set what type of date you want to log. Options are to record only Time, Logitude, Latitude, which will allow 650,000 points. Time, Longitude, Latitude, Altitude which will allow 500,000 points. Time, Longitude, Latitude, Altitude, Velocity which will allow 400,000 points. Again these changes need to be made when you sync the unit up to a PC. There are two settings that can be made as well to overwrite date or stop once the RBT-2300 is full.
The unit should have enough memory to record any data you need. At the fastest interval setting of 1 second and logging the most data, it'll still be able to take 4.6 days worth of data provided you have enough juice. Realistically you should be able to offload your data in 5 days and it's highly unlikely you will have the unit on nonstop for 4+ days. I have it set to record only Time, Longitude, Latitude and Altitude. This will allow me to record non stop for 5.7 days.
Still waiting on my Canon 50D with a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens which has an estimated ship date of June 16. I plan to use Geosetter with the GPS logs from the RBT-2300 to geotag my photos. So I'm waiting on my Canon 50D before I try to test this out for geotagging purposes though I have run a few test logs on it's data logging capabilites.
I'll update this when I do have a better impression of this unit and how well it works for geotagging but for that I need my Canon 50D.
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