"Al" wrote in message
...
(Kevin Christner) wrote in
om:

It sounds to me like this problem is caused by a COM port issue. When
you run Winpilot, it "hogs" the wireless COM prot. Try resetting the
unit and running WinPilot First.

Also, you don't need to reset the unit. Goto Settings - Memory and
click "Stop all running programs" This is 90% of what a reset does.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Even with soft resets it doesn't work more than about one time in twenty.

GPS on first.... wait for it to aquire..... Reset PDA.... Select WinPilot
VFR... Loads, loads maps, then "Waiting for GPS...".

WinPilot is set for Com 8 (same as TomTom). I've tried all of the Baud
rates up to 38400.

I'd then need to soft-reset before TomTom would work. Killing all active
programs isn't enough.

I'm not sure that I care what hoops I have to jump thru to get it to work,
so long as its consistent, but right now its not possible to take my PDA
and GPS flying.

Thanks for your input though.

Alan

From what I've seen so far, Bluetooth enabled devices create interesting
issues. For example, one of our 'gadget' folks in my local computer users
group gave a Bluetooth demo at the last meeting using a Bluetooth enabled
cell phone, headset, and PDA.

The cell phone and headset must be placed on the same side of the body (he
prefers left), since the signal is blocked by body mass. The signal to the
headset is also more reliable if the cell phone is oriented horizontally,
rather than vertically, at the beltline, so he bought a special case for
this. The best placement of the phone in the case, for quick and easy
access, is with the keypad toward the inside. But if inserted this way, the
magnetic clasp on the case causes the phone to shut off intermittently.
With the keypad placed outwards the phone is okay, but when he picks up the
phone and must rotate 180degs for use, which he considers an awkward
movement. Placement of the PDA in relation to the phone is similarly
important, but since he writes left-handed, it works most of the time.

Personally I find the blue flashes very annoying, like walking through
K-Mart. I was working with a Bluetooth enabled laptop the other day at a
clinic. They own twelve, are not using the Bluetooth feature, but haven't
disabled it on any of them. I can't believe the nurses enjoy that
distracting flash every few seconds at the top of the display and it must
make them really productive.

Now that a Bluetooth 'standard' has been settled upon, I'm sure I'm about to
be annoyed just about everywhere.

Frank Whiteley