topic Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver in ArcGIS Collector Questions

External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

mpboyle — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 13:56:46 GMT

Has anyone tried using an external bluetooth GPS receiver with Collector? If so, how has it performed and what model/make is the receiver? We're looking to get sub-meter accuracy using Collector and am curious if anyone has had success doing this.

Thanks in advance!

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

RussRoberts — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 15:19:41 GMT

This blog post could help you out: http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2013/07/15/smartphones-tablets-and-gps-accuracy/

Russ

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

mpboyle — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 18:32:15 GMT

It doesn't seem to mention the specific GPS devices used during testing...

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

MiaogengZhang — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:13:37 GMT

For iOS device, you can try Dual (http://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-product/xgps150a/ ). I heard people used http://bad-elf.com/. Or you can use GPS cable to connect other high end receivers (http://amanenterprises.com/gpscable/ ).

For Android device, any external GPS with Bluetooth module should be able to work.

As a note, all those gadgets will help smartphone to provide better location and our collector app just leverage it. We don�??t have control on it.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

RobertKnight — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 10:33:00 GMT

In conjunction with one of our clients, we hope very soon to be testing out the Geneq iSXBlue II which has just gained Apple approvaland should deliver 30cm real-time accuracy. Goes on sale in the UK next month apparently. This along with the next release of Collector enabling off-line recording could be an interesting combination.

http://sxbluegps.com/home/geneq-introduces-sub-meter-gnss-receiver-for-the-apple-ipad-and-iphone/

Will let you know how we get on.

Rob Knight
www.salford-gis.co.uk

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

Thomas_JKukitz — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 15:30:56 GMT

Has anyone tried using an external bluetooth GPS receiver with Collector? If so, how has it performed and what model/make is the receiver? We're looking to get sub-meter accuracy using Collector and am curious if anyone has had success doing this.

Thanks in advance!

We just purchased a GENEQ SXBLUE II. I just received it yesterday. We are in the process of installing the app on our iPads. My email is tkukitz@cityftmyers.com. I will post info here when I find out how it works.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

MiaogengZhang — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 19:51:37 GMT

We just purchased a GENEQ SXBLUE II. I just received it yesterday. We are in the process of installing the app on our iPads. My email is tkukitz@cityftmyers.com. I will post info here when I find out how it works.

Look forward to your result. I just met one customer during this week Developer Summit. He compared the result with their pre-surveyed points. They mentioned at least 3 feet accuracy.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

CraigClouet — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 01:12:18 GMT

I have been testing a few of the Geneq blue, both the GNSS and II-B beacon model. Both are excellent and greatly increase the accuracy of the data collection. They also make repeat positioning a reality. I found that I could get meter - sub meter collections on a regular basis. I encourage people to give it a try.

Craig

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

GarrettMcKinney — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:08:48 GMT

I have a Bad Elf, but am unable to use it with the Collector App. Can anyone provide a step by step? I'm using an iPhone 4S running iOS 7.1. I'm able to pair the GPS via bluetooth. When I open the Collector App it still seems to be using my phone's Location Services and not the GPS. If I turn off Location Services and maintain my bluetooth connection to the Bad Elf, Collector tells me it requires Location Services to be turned on.

Thanks in advance.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

PeterTimmers — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 00:21:45 GMT

I have been testing a few of the Geneq blue, both the GNSS and II-B beacon model. Both are excellent and greatly increase the accuracy of the data collection. They also make repeat positioning a reality. I found that I could get meter - sub meter collections on a regular basis. I encourage people to give it a try.

Craig

Are you saying the Geneq blue worked with Collector?
Has anyone tried the Garmin GLO Bluetooth?

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

JohnMcLellan — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 19:59:44 GMT

I have a Bad Elf, but am unable to use it with the Collector App. Can anyone provide a step by step? I'm using an iPhone 4S running iOS 7.1. I'm able to pair the GPS via bluetooth. When I open the Collector App it still seems to be using my phone's Location Services and not the GPS. If I turn off Location Services and maintain my bluetooth connection to the Bad Elf, Collector tells me it requires Location Services to be turned on.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Garrett,

This is John over at Bad Elf Support; I was pointed to the issue you were having earlier today by another user and I wanted to drop you a note. In short - You shouldn't be having any problem, Collector works great with our line of products.

One thing I noted in your post that needs to be cleared up is what Location Services actually does. You should think of this as a valve allowing any positional data regardless of source to flow between the operating system and an app. If this is set to OFF either globally or specifically to an individual app ... the data stream is turned off. This needs to be set ON in both places ...in iOS7 it's found under SETTINGS > PRIVACY > LOCATION SERVICES

If you want to localize the data stream from the PRO we can do this:
- Under SETTINGS turn Airplane Mode ON - this turns off the internal GPS antennae, WIFI, BlueTooth, and 3/4G connection (if available
- Now Toggle Bluetooth back to an ON position ... the PRO is the only source for positional data.
(for non-elfers out there - this will work for any BT GPS receiver, we're just minimizing data sources).

Garrett, if you still need help - Please drop us a line at support@bad-elf.com it's what we are here for.

Best,
John Mc.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

GarethMorgan — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 14:31:49 GMT

We have been using the Geneq iSX Blue II for around a month now, paired via Bluetooth to iPads running the Collector app. The GPS receiver works really well with collector, giving the sub-meter accuracy we were hoping for.

One issue we're having is that the accuracy indicator when collecting features through the app shows the value for the internal GPS, rather than the external receiver we're using, so there's not currently an indication of how accurate the points plotted are. The UK distributor for Geneq tells me that Geneq are in the process of releasing an app which compares the accuracy of an external receiver with that of the internal receiver, and so flicking back and forth between the two apps might give more of an indication of accuracy. Having the external GPS receiver accuracy displayed through the app would be the ideal situation.

Gareth

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

DominickCisson — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:44:56 GMT

Are you saying the Geneq blue worked with Collector?
Has anyone tried the Garmin GLO Bluetooth?

We just recently got a GLO unit in for testing. So far, it does seem to improve accuracy a bit, though I'm not certain it's markedly better than what an iPhone 5S provides. One positive is that is does have much a much quicker refresh rate than the phone's GPS, and it also, like any external GPS, can be put on a pole or hat to reduce satellite interference from trying to hold an integrated GPS such as a phone. Like I said, initial testing (walking some trails with and without the GLO active) seems to indicate that accuracy is improved, but we've not done any precise calculations to quantify those results.

Of course with iOS location data is largely obfuscated, so there's no way to see specifics from the unit such as satellite signal strength, PDOP, and other raw data. We don't have Android units for testing, which could uncover more of that info with specialized apps.

Another limitation of the unit is that is appears to be bluetooth-only. It has a USB cable, but only for charging. So using it as an old school USB connected GPS for an older laptop will not work. Not a big deal for an app like ArcGIS Collector, but still nice functionality to have for older hardware.

For $99 though if it even improves our accuracy by 25% I'd say it's worth it. As we continue testing the unit I'll post any updates if they are worth mentioning.

Dominick

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

AndrewMoffitt — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 20:25:52 GMT

We just purchased a GENEQ SXBLUE II. I just received it yesterday. We are in the process of installing the app on our iPads. My email is tkukitz@cityftmyers.com. I will post info here when I find out how it works.

Can you provide your experience? I'm interested in it getting one (or a bunch) for my organization.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

BradySmith — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:55:11 GMT

We had done some testing comparing a GLO on a known fixed locations using the collector application on a iphone 5c in an urban environment. The GLO was between 1-4 feet and iphone without the GLO was 2-10 feet. We have found the combination of a 7 inch tablet running collector in disconnected mode, and using the GLO, a very cheep way to collect high quality GPS points in the field.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

KenanMcGuffey — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 22:12:19 GMT

We are about to get an SX Blue II demo. Very interested in this subject!

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

CraigClouet — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:21:02 GMT

Kenan,

I was able to use a SX blue with great results. I could Bluetooth it to my android phone, and to an older Trimble Juno for use in ArcPad. I have a friend who uses it with a large Samsung device with collector, and he really is happy with it. Good luck to you. Craig

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

GaryMorris1 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:44:23 GMT

We did test Collector (iOS) with Bad Elf and it does work. We connected it using a 30-pin to Lightning adaptor, not Bluetooth, because we didn't have the BT version. I don't have one right now so I can't give you the setup steps.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

GaryMorris1 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:46:42 GMT

BTW, we were testing the Bad Elf on a WiFi only iPad (which has no GPS chip) and the iPad was reporting 5m accuracy.

Re: External Bluetooth GPS Receiver

KenanMcGuffey — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 12:19:38 GMT

Awesome! What model did you use and what accuracy were you getting?