Tim,
Thanks for your information. I'm using a panasonic toughbook cf-30 running on Windows XP SP3. The strange part of this problem is that I also use another GIS system (EOD IS) on this machine. This program runs normal and indicates that the com port which is in use by the bluetooth rangefinder is com port 9. I would expect that the rangefinder uses the same com port in ArcPad, but that's not true. I also tested if there is a conflict in using both GIS, but that doesn't change the situation.
Responding to your remark : If you're connecting to a laptop, most machines automatically provide you with an outgoing com port to use.. If so where can I find the information about the com port?
Cheers,
Cris