Streets & Trips Compatible GPS Receivers

• Any GPS receiver ever sold with any version of Streets & Trips, AutoRoute, or MapPoint will work just fine with any older or newer version of any of those programs. There is no need to buy a new GPS receiver if you are happy with the performance of your existing unit.

• The "with GPS Locator" version, and the "software-only" version, are both identical programs. You only need to buy the "software-only" product if you already have a compatible GPS receiver

• Most USB GPS receivers on the market today will work with Microsoft Streets & Trips. Look for "NMEA" and "4800 Baud" in the specifications.

• DeLorme Earthmate GPS devices are used by many MS Streets & Trips users. If the receiver doesn't seem to work with the program, the problem may be that the receiver is using the default device driver allowing it to work only with DeLorme software. The proper device driver for 3rd party applications can be located at the DeLorme driver disk, or at DeLorme website.

• Garmin GPS 18 USB receiver, and even some Garmin PNDs (Personal Navigation Devices) can be used as a GPS receiver with MS Streets & Trips with a 3rd party application Franson GPS Gate. Read more »

Marvin,

One note you might add, not all hardware is compatible with Windows Vista. For those of us who use Vista based machines, some older GPS units do not have drivers for Vista. I ended up getting 2008 with the GPS unit because my Magellan eXplorist is not supported on Vista (nor will it "officially" be, according to Magellan).

Brian

That's important to keep in mind, indeed! Thanks, Brian, and welcome to the forum!

I have an eXplorist 40. I downloded the Vista driver from Megellan. It seems to work fine. Just some porblems getting it to sync.

Hmmm... I'll have to check this out. Last I looked, Magellan was not going to support my 210 on Vista. There was a third party driver released that supposedly worked, but I hadn't tested it yet. I wonder if Magellan had enough complaints finally that they decided to support Vista?

Thanks for the note.

Hi Marvin,

Just got Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 with the new GPS receiver for Christmas, and I love the new receiver! I was using a Delorme USB receiver, not the LT-20 but the older version. It did work (when it felt like it) after installing the serial emulator but it would take 2-3 minutes to get a 3D lock on the satellites. It would work for a while the for no apparent reason just lose the fix it had and would take forever to acquire a fix again. Sometimes I'd have to reboot the laptop just to get the receiver to work again. So I finally got fed up with it and made some strong suggestions to the family on what I'd like for my Christmas present this year... :-)

This new receiver (the Pharos GPS-500) locks onto the satellites in a matter of seconds, and so far in the past 3 days of using it, it hasn't lost the satellites for any obvious reasons. My only compaint about it is the plastic housing for the USB interface seems to be on the flimsy side and could easily be cracked or broken if one isn't careful with it. Other than that, the GPS-500 is an excellent unit and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an upgrade from an older receiver.

Yes, rasmith1959, the new GPS receiver beats the technology that was available only few years ago. Even DeLorme is improving its hardware and software. Yesterday DeLorme announced it's new http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/222-delorme-debut-earthmate-gps-lt-40-stmicroelectronics-teseo-chipset

Well after having this new GPS-500 receiver for over a month now, I'm still impressed with the unit. I've not experienced and loss of signal, except in obvious cases like going into a tunnel or under a large overpass. Another thing I've noticed is that on average, it's seeing at least 7 satellites or more every time it starts up. My old Delorme receiver would at best see 4-6 satellites at a time.

We lost our streets and trips GPS receiver 2006.
Who can tell me where we can buy a new one or an other compatible one for Windows Vista.
bieny

Hi bieny,

:welcome: to Laptop GPS World.

1. I'd suggest you to buy USB GPS BU-353 receiver by Globalsat. It is based on the powerful SiRFstarIII chipset. It is very inexpensive, too.

2. I'd suggest also to Microsoft to include the same BU-353 in future versions of Streets & Trips. BU-353 is a reliable unit, it is a proven very good performer. Because of the larger antenna size, in comparison to both, the old Pharos GPS-500, or the new Navation GPS 168, the BU-353 unit just simply works better. Some software vendors bundle BU-353 with their laptop GPS software. MSFT could likely get BU-353 cheaper than the Pharos or Navation units.

Just an update to Marvin's excellent information. I have a Delorme LT-40 receiver installed on an Acer Asprie One Netbook. I installed MS Streets & Trips agfter installing DeLorme Street Atlas. Then ran into the problem of S&T not recognizing the LT-40 Earthmate as Marvin mentions in his original Dev 2007 post.

The MS Knowledge Base link no longer exists. However the DeLorme software to make the LT-40 work with S&T is a Serial Emulation Driver for Earthmate® GPS Receivers at this link.
http://www.delorme.com/support/supporttemplate.aspx?id=319
Updated 11/11/2008
Article ID: 319

However, this driver is not supported when coming out of sleep or hibernation mode. This means you have to restart to get the driver to continue working. This can be a significant limitation. If you leave the LT-40 connected during sleep it will stay powered on the Asprie One and will be ready to go when you wake it up.

Enjoy,
- - Mike
Seattle, WA

I will add that the GPS 500 does not experience the return from Sleep problem. However the Garmin 20x certainly does and I have had mixed results with the Navation 168.

Terry

"Navation 168"?? That's the one that comes with the Canadian version of Streets&Trips 2009 .. the thing Microsoft calls the uBlox-5?

...ken...

Ken, u-Blox, and u-Blox 5, are chipsets used in GPS units, just like SirfStarII or SiRFstarIII. Terry is correct, the name of the new Microsoft GPS "Locator" is indeed Navation 168 (and I think I will rename the review thread accordingly).

Yes, I think Marvin thought we should refer to it by its part name rather than manufacturer.

Terry

Actually, the first time I read about it (in some private e-mails, and later on this and other forums), everyone referred to the unit by the chipset used: u-Blox 5.

The first time I read the actual part name, Navation 168, was when I finally held the unit in my hands, and I noticed the units name on the small sticker on the back of it.

I have just recently purchased a U Blox 5 USB stick along with Ms Streets and Trips 2009.
Is there anyone that has used this kit, my laptop is Vista.----Mobiling.

I want to use this next week in fringe areas of Big River saskatchewan and the area Cold Lake Alberta.
Would my dongles antenna be sufficient to lock in on any satellittes in those areas. or would I need possibly say a Bu 353 Globalsat.
I am new to this area of Gps. and have only used the Calgary GPS tracking
on Tom Tom non BlueTooth.
Would appreciate any feedback you can supply.
Thank You

Hi 0987U,

Welcome to Laptop GPS World.

For the past couple of years I've been using GlobalSat BU-353, but recently it intermittently stopped working. Rather than trying to identify the cause of the issue, I just replaced it with the new Microsoft USB GPS stick, which was included in Streets & Trips 2009. I have had the new GPS receiver ever since S&T 2009 was first released, but I only used it to test it at first.

I have been using it on a regular bases every day for the past several weeks. It works just fine. The only thing to keep in mind is that most likely the performance will be greatly degraded if you plug the GPS stick straight into a USB port of your laptop. That's likely because of some interference. But if you use even a short USB extension, and thus keep the GPS unit a bit further away from your laptop, then it will perform very well. (A short USB extension is included with the USB GPS stick.)

You wouldn't think NMEA compatibility would be an issue these days but apparently it can be.

I bought the new ultra micro PC Viliv S5 which supposedly has a GPS receiver built in. Streets & Trips worked for a few days but then stopped. I wasted all kinds of time trying to revive it, including 2 full-system restores, but without result. I have written the importer, MSFT, and even NMEA with very little satisfaction. MSFT concludes, based on the little information I could provide, that the receiver is not NMEA 0183 2.0 compliant. The importer doesn't know if that is the case or not and the manufacturer in Korea isn't telling. I understand that I am not alone in having this problem with S&T and the Viliv.

This is quite frustrating as the potential for this little computer as a dash-top navigator is impressive. I have used it quite successfully with the Pharos GPS-500 tethered on a short USB cable (you can also just plug it in directly) but somehow this misses the point.

P. S. Reviews of the Viliv S5 are quite laudatory about battery life; people talking about 5 and 6 hours. However, I find that it is more like 3 hours running the GPS-500. In a way, this is understandable because the receiver draws power and the CPU never gets to take a nap what with data coming in every second or so. Perhaps the built-in GPS is more efficient, if one can get it to work.

Yes, it will work. Your reception of GPS satellite signals is no different in Big River, Cold Lake or Calgary. Well, actually you can expect it to be better in Big River and Cold Lake areas than in downtown Calgary.

As Marvin pointed out, the best way to use the uBlox stick is to use the included extension cable. Put the GPS stick on the dash as close to the windshield as possible. You want two things: to get it away from the computer's electronic interference and to give it as good a view of the sky as you can.

I have the opposite experience of Marvin with the uBlox stick versus the Globalsat BU-353. My BU-353 works fine but my uBlox stick only lasted a few days before it quit working. While it was working, the uBlox stick worked fine as long as I used an extension cable to keep it away from the laptop.

...ken...

I had problems with the UBlox (Navation 168) not surviving a Sleep cycle whereas the BU-353 does. However, I rarely use either favouring a Bluetooth GPS instead.

Spades Flush,
You mentioned in another thread that a driver update for the Viliv internal GPS allowed it to output 4800 bps and work with S&T. Perhaps a reload of that driver would resolve your problems.

Terry

Thanks, Terry, but even with the mini-app that Viliv makes available shifting the baud rate to 4800, no result. It is not really a driver, just a tool to halve the baud rate.

I understand I am not the only afflicted consumer; I think it is up to the vendor to produce a solution.

Then dump the mini app and use xport or GPS Gate instead. If you have to load another program anyway, why not use one that is proven effective.

Terry

I've done those, too. So far as I know, Xport and GPSGate don't distinguish as to what version is being received. I can see code being received. MSFT says it ain't NMEA 0183 2.0 compatible. I don't know what is special about the NMEA flavor MSFT wants, but apparently what the Viliv delivers ain't it.

There are a number of possibilities that could be messing up S&T.

- the Viliv internal GPS is sending NMEA sentences that S&T is not expecting.

- the Viliv internal GPS is sending NMEA sentences with data that is not laid out the way S&T expects it (too few fields, wrong field order, too many fields, data fields in the wrong format).

- the Viliv internal GPS is not sending one or more NMEA sentences that S&T expects.

If S&T follows exactly the NMEA 0183 2.0 spec, it's not hugely difficult to compare what's being sent from the internal Viliv receiver and the specification. Basic protocol analysis. There's no excuse for Viliv not to be able to sort this out quite easily.

SpadesFlush is correct, I think, that neither GPSGate nor Xport will fix the problem. GPSGate will insert some of the Garmin protocol stuff when producing the Garmin protocol virtual port from incoming NMEA. But I'm pretty sure that on the NMEA virtual ports GPSGate and Xport will just pass the data through, unfiltered.

...ken...

The more I experience and read about built-in GPS devices, the less confidence I have in such approaches. Whereas USB and BT GPS units just work with everything, I don't understand why manufacturers seem to have problems designing built-ins the same way. Must be cheap components.

Anyway, this discussion is off topic.

Terry

You are right, Terry, we have digressed way off topic, as sometimes happens. Should we start a new thread or just bury the issue?

Hi Terry,

The topic is GPS receivers that are compatible with Streets&Trips, so I would think your comments are still right on the topic. And you're right that it shouldn't be rocket science to include an internal receiver that adheres properly to the most commonly used NMEA spec.

One thing people need to be careful of when looking for certain specifications like NMEA 0183 2.0. Sometimes you will see products that say they are "compliant" and some will say they are "compatible".

"Compliant" means they comply fully with the spec.

"Compatible" means they will probably work with a lot of stuff but is a virtual guarantee that they deviate from the spec in some way(s).

...ken...

SpadesFlush,
From your original comments, you said S&T worked for a few days. I guess you need to find out what changed between then and now. If S&T doesn't like the Viliv NMEA, why would it have worked at all. Was there an update to the hardware which may have affected the NMEA structure in that time frame?

terry

If it has worked before, albeit for only a few days, there should be a way of getting it to work again.

Any ideas on the ROUTE 66 USB Bluetooth SiRF III GPS will not work with streets & Trips 2009?

I have a bluetooth dongle plugged into my usb port and that discovered and setup my bluetooth device fine its jst that I cant figure out how to get Streets & Trips 2009 to see the device? I remember seeing somthing about a com port being used.

Can anyone assist me please...
Thanks

Did you try Tools-GPS-Configure GPS receiver and choose the Scan button?

Otherwise, right click on the Bluetooth icon in the notification area of your desktop and choose 'Show Bluetooth Devices'. Turn on your GPS device and click on the icon for that device. Choose the Properties button and Services tab. After a moment a COM port will be listed. Set S&T to that COM port.

Terry

I've found Streets & Trips to be very finicky about Bluetooth receivers. Having it say that the COM port is in use is a common occurrence. If you play around with the port settings, you can usually get S&T to see it once, but this won't stick. After a couple of runs, it'll go back to complaining that the port is in use.

USB is more reliable.

Thanks guys... I went into control panel then bluetooth and selected my device, under the com ports tab I added a comp port for the device, it added com port 5 out going for whatever reason and now it works.

Thanks again.

Hello

Just a question asking if anyone has had any opinion about the "Ambicom" product?

It is a gps reciever, with the Sirf StarIII chipset. It has a magnetic back with a 6.5' usb cable. I believe this unit is also weatherproof, as it can be mounted on the top of your cab or roof of the vehicle or whatever? with clear sight of the sky & all the sattelites up there.

I saw it at Fry's as I was pricing units, looking to see if they may have had the GlobalSat unit.

Any opinions?

The GPS specifications are the same but it is only listed as water resistant (IPX1). I don't think it could be mounted outside.

Terry

Terry is right that it might not be suitable to mount outside. Here's the definition for IPX1 rating:

Here's Wikipedia on IP ratings. See the second digit for water resistance. It looks like you want something rated 5 or 6.

...ken...

Folks,
If you want to upgrade your magnetic USB GPS to a more modern chipset, I have found Navibe GM720 unit to be an excellent performer for $30.

Cheers,
Bruce Freeburger

I just installed S & T 2008 and am using it with a CanMore GT-730F 68 channel USB GPS dongle. I have yet to take it outside, but typically connects with 6 to 8 sats and starts from cold in less than 20 seconds. Itr should perform even better with unobstructed sky view. It also works fine with SeaClear II sea going software, although needed to be slowed to 4800 baud to work with that app (38400 baud with Streets). I haven't needed to use the dongle extension .... it's plugged directly into the side USB port on a Dell D610 laptop. Best part is the price ... it was under $30 from buygpsnow.com.

Jim

I would suggest you change the bit rate to 4800 bps and leave it there to prevent problems with S&T. Higher bit rates provide no advantage with a refresh rate of 1 Hz which is all S&T supports.

We recommend using an extension with a GPS dongle rather than plugging it directly into the laptop. Some laptops are electrically more noisy than others and may mask the very small GPS signal. Also this allows better placement of the GPS to provide a good sky view.

Terry

Jim (a.k.a. WildOne),

Welcome to Laptop GPS World,

As Terry says, you will most likely get better performance if you move the GPS dongle further away from the laptop, and place it on the dash board close to window. But you seem to be happy with the performance so far, so I'd say keep using it any way you wish, but have a USB extension with you just in case. And if you ever feel there is something wrong with Streets and Trips, the first thing you do before anything else is to use the USB extension to determine if the problem you are experiencing is the fault of S&T or the GPS dongle's location.

It is also safer to put it on a USB cord. That way, when the laptop goes flying off the passenger seat in a sudden stop, the dongle doesn't get mangled. I speak from personal experience.

I don't know how many honda civics this applies to, mine's a 2000, but...

I noticed a knockout in the center of the dash forward where it meets the glass. It's about 1.5 x 2.5 inches. Lifts right out. I was about to mount some velcro there to hold my Navibe gm720 when I noticed it. I popped it out and it's apparently an access to a large bolt fastening the middle of the dash. The little Navibe fit inside the space like it was made for it! I threaded the cable down through the passenger side, nestled the antenna into the slot, and popped the knockout back in. Very clean.

Does anyone know if the bluetooth has been updated for the 2010 version? I've been using S&T for years, and am thinking about upgrading to a bluetooth receiver, but I don't wanna drop 100 bones on one unless I know its going to work as well as the usb one. TIA!

Most modern Bluetooth GPS devices work with the Bluetooth stack in the computer to provide GPS data on a COM port. This data will support a 4800 bps navigation program such as S&T. It has always been this way and is not a function of the navigation software.

What issue did you have in the past?

Terry

I've never had any issues with bluetooth in general, I just saw on this thread that someone didn't think the bluetooth was as reliable as the USB gps.

Does it have to be exactly 4800bps or does it have to be at least 4800bps?

Has anyone tried the Tele Type 2551? 2551

It is not clear from the datasheet on the Teletype 2551 as to whether it would scale to work with S&T. Bluetooth should allow it to but I wouldn't guarantee it. Couldn't you consider something a little newer?

Terry

I would love something newer... any suggestions? I've googled bluetooth gps receivers and the best article i get is from 2005

Instead of searching the web, try to search this site only. You may find current Bluetooth units users like.