Ahrr! Just tell me what to buy! (click on image)

There are many GPS receivers available on the market. You may already have one that you use in your business or at home. You may be able to use your receiver to collect travel time data. There are three important features that a GPS receiver must have to work with our software:

1) External antenna that mounts on the roof of your car
GPS receivers need a clean, unobstructed view of the sky. The inside of your car is not the ideal place for the receiver. Many receivers either have an external antenna that mounts magnetically to the top of the vehicle, or the receiver itself is a module that mounts on the roof.

2) Serial port to connect to the laptop or PDA (or at least some way to connect to the laptop or PDA)
The signals from the GPS receiver have to get to the laptop running GPS2LT or the PDA running GPS2PDA. Current GPS receivers use serial ports to output the data. All but the least expensive GPS receivers have serial ports so this is rarely an issue.

3) NMEA format output at 1 sec intervals.
Although almost all GPS receiver output data to a serial port, the format of the data can vary considerably. There is a standard format called NMEA which most receivers support, even if it isn’t the standard default output format. Check the specs on your receiver carefully and make sure it supports the NMEA output format.

The receiver must also send the data once per second. Some receivers output data every two seconds, or even every 5 seconds (usually small units trying to save battery life). Travel time studies need data once per second to ensure the accuracy of the statistics.

These three requirements aren’t that difficult to meet, especially newer receivers built in the last few years. However, if you have an older unit, check the specs carefully to see if it will work with our software. If you are not sure, email us (support@gps2traveltime.com) and we’ll check it out for you.

 Modular GPS Receivers

These receivers are combine the antenna and receiver into one unit that typically sticks to the roof of your car with a magnetic mount. (more)

 Compact Flash GPS Receivers

These GPS receivers plug into a Compact Flash (CF) socket on Pocket-PC PDAs. There are several companies that sell them, but some of them look so much alike they probably all are manufactured by one company. No matter, they work well. (more)

 SDIO GPS Receiver

This type of receiver plugs into the SDIO slot on Pocket-PC PDAs. Many of the latest PDAs only have this type of socket, so we expect to see several GPS receivers in this form factor. At the moment, we only know of one company who makes one. (more)

 Bluetooth GPS Receivers

This is a relatively new type of GPS receiver that we are just starting to test. (more)

 Handheld GPS Receivers with Displays

These GPS receivers a self-contained GPS instruments complete with displays, maps that you can download from your computer or the internet, and other features that are designed to help you when you are out sailing, or camping, or driving, or whatever. (more).

Re-Radiator Kits

In order to get the best possible reception, the GPS receiver antenna should be outside your car, preferably on the roof. What if you have a nice GPS receiver now but it doesn’t have an external antenna? The answer is a reradiator kit (more).

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