Support forum (English): New 10Hz GPS! QStarz BT-Q818XT

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- CommentAuthorDavid Lundin
- CommentTimeJul 22nd 2010
Just read about this on a track day forum! Looks ideal for RaceChrono, and it's not that expensive either. http://www.qstarz.com/Products/GPS%20Products/BT-Q818XT-F.htm
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeJul 22nd 2010 edited
Yep, I have one. I will let you know about the test results soon.
- CommentAuthorDavid Lundin
- CommentTimeJul 22nd 2010
Antti, always one step ahead :-)
- CommentAuthorhugos
- CommentTimeJul 29th 2010
No log fonction on this native (non interpolated) 10hz gps ?
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeJul 29th 2010 edited
It has no logging function. It seems to be native 10 Hz, but the high throughput (2x compared to 5 Hz) is probably causing some Bluetooth problems. I'm still investigating and trying to sort it out.
- CommentAuthorrx8dorifto
- CommentTimeJul 30th 2010
keep us posted how this 10hz gps performs :) btw, HTC HD2 is not working well in 5hz mode. Tried many times.
- CommentAuthorDavid Lundin
- CommentTimeAug 3rd 2010
But haven't you used other 10Hz products like the Blackline Fuel GPS? What's different with the QStarz?
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 3rd 2010 edited
Blackline Fuel outputs different sentences and uses much less bandwidth. It's so frugal that it uses even less bandwidth than 5 Hz qstarz. The QStarz comes with an application that you can modify which sentences are outputted. So I'll run next tests with reduced bandwidth usage.
- CommentAuthorgamerfou
- CommentTimeAug 4th 2010
according to their "specifications" page, it's still based on an MTK II chipset... Does it mean we could imagine to "overclock" our actual qstarz/iblue/etc... receivers using the MTK II to 10Hz?
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 4th 2010
I have no idea. This 10hz is probably so cheap that it doesn't matter :)
- CommentAuthorMotocrosser85
- CommentTimeAug 6th 2010
I tested this 10hz GPS receiver yesterday, and what I can tell it works fine. Next week i will take it to the track for some serious laptiming :)
- CommentAuthorgamerfou
- CommentTimeAug 6th 2010
it's still twice the price of an iblue 747a+ , but yes it's not that much expensive ;)
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 6th 2010
Does the iblue 747a+ has the same MTK II chipset? I've ordered a BT-Q818XT and I will have it by Monday. I'm planning to do some tests and upload the results.
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 6th 2010
Motocrosser85: good to hear!
- CommentAuthorAspaceman
- CommentTimeAug 7th 2010
Where can you pick up a Q818XT? I can't seem to find it anywhere on the web.
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 7th 2010 edited
aol I am confirming the problems you mentioned in 10Hz mode when using bluetooth.
The Hz rate jumps between 1.4-2-3.3-5-10 all the time. After some tests I made with my Windows Mobile Phone (LG KS20, I'm using WIDCOMM version of Racechrono), I found that the problems start at rates greater than 2Hz* (3Hz, 4Hz, 5Hz, 10Hz).

I think that it's my phone's bluetooth problem which is horrid tbh.
When I connect Q818XT to my pc via usb I get the 10Hz easily. At the moment I don't have a bluetooth dongle for the pc or another more stable Windows Mobile Phone to see if I can achieve 10Hz there... When I do, I will inform you about the result.

And one question: Can you suggest me a cheap phone with wm and a reliable bluetooth? I don't care about the resolution. 320x240 is fine. Maybe some HTC?? Any feedback would be great!

*You can easily change the refresh rate of Q818XT with "QstarzGpsView v1.2.20" (win xp/vista/7 32-64)
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 7th 2010
Aspaceman where are you from? I too couldn't find it on the web, so I contacted QSTARZ and they gave me information about my local reseller.
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 7th 2010
I reply to my previous post. Bluetooth in general has some issues over 2 Hz... Waiting for advice from qstarz. I'm sticking to usb till a solution comes.
- CommentAuthorAspaceman
- CommentTimeAug 8th 2010
akiskev, I'm from the Bay Area, CA
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 8th 2010
akiskev: You could try to disable GSV and GSA sentences with the GpsView program, to see if it helps the refresh rate over Bluetooth.
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 8th 2010 edited
aol i figured what the problem was. It is a bug of the widcomm stack when using SPP. I' m saying this because I had the same problem when I was connecting my OBD-ii bluetooth reader (SPP) to my phone. After some hours of testing I figured out a workaround for this.. It's annoying but simple. Take a look... Might give you some ideas... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AUz8a3maNo I did the same thing with same sucess in my desktop pc (windows 7 64bit, belkin bluetooth adapter which has widcomm too). widcomm stack is just horrible in SPP connections. Stay away from widcomm devices!!!
- CommentAuthorrx8dorifto
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2010
thx akiskev for the workaround. tested and works! have tried using serial port and all baud rate but none of them work with my HTC Touch HD2 widcomm Bluetooth. luckily the workaround works!
- CommentAuthorJustinHoMi
- CommentTimeAug 13th 2010
aol, have you had a chance to test this unit yet?
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 16th 2010 edited
Justin I've just uploaded a short incar clip in my youtube account. Data is taken from q818xt at 10hz. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzXH3ZR65ZA . rx8dorifto I'm glad the workaround worked for you too :D
- CommentAuthormark944
- CommentTimeAug 17th 2010
I've just ordered a q818xt to work with a Nokia 5800. The Nokia is running Symbian S60 rather than Windows Mobile, so it will be interesting to see the results. If it doesn't work, I can always drop the frequency back to 5Hz if necessary. The price difference between the q818x (5Hz) and q818xt (10Hz) is negligible now anyway, so I don't think it is a big deal if it doesnt work from a financial point of view. It would be a pity from a technical perspective, however. Anyone else tried the q818xt with a Symbian phone yet?
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010 edited
It seems to work alright with my 5800. Haven't tested it on the track, but looks good on simulated runs. I'm actually working on some settings to bring the bandwidth usage down, less or similar to the 5 Hz, so I don't think there will be big problems. I will post the new GPS settings here when I have perfected and tested them.
- CommentAuthorxdnbc
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010 edited
I just tried out my new Q818xt with my 5800. I don't understand something. The pairing went easily but when I tried it out around my block- I created a track called my block; I got no times even though the software said 6-9 satellites and the route showed me driving around the block 3 times. While I was doing this there is a big blue screen saying "Waiting..". What does this mean? What is it waiting for? I need to get this sorted out by Thursday since I will be racing this weekend. Please reply quickly. Thanks, Tim BTW: How do I delete sessions that did not operate properly. When I look at the list the delete is dim; and 1 press on a session brings me into it and it seems too late to delete it.
- CommentAuthorAdamw
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
Xdnbc, have you added a start/finish trap and is it in the right direction?
- CommentAuthorxdnbc
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
Thank you Adam- my start/finish line was 180* out. The 5 other traps were facing the correct way. I changed the s/f line and got my 5 laps and times- best lap 1.06.31 and top speed 19.8kph. BTW: Re: the BTW I added to the previous question, how do I delete sessions from my 5800?
- CommentAuthorJustinHoMi
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
I was just looking at the Q818xt manual, and noticed this:

"Note3: Under 10Hz fix update rate, DGPS function will be disabled"

I guess that means DGPS/SBAS is disabled while running @ 10hz. I wonder how much this is going to degrade the positional accuracy.
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
JustinHoMi: Wow good find. I did not know that as I don't own a manual.
- CommentAuthorDavid Lundin
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
xndbc: To delete a session on the 5800, go to Previous sessions. To select a session without bringing it up click and hold the session title for a sec. That will select it but stay in "Previous sessions". Then just click "Delete session".

I had some trouble with this simple thing myself :-)
- CommentAuthormark944
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
A link to the .pdf version of the manual: http://www.qstarz.com/download/BT-Q818XT-Users%20Manual.pdf
- CommentAuthorJustinHoMi
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
Found the manual on their website last night: http://www.qstarz.com/download.php?t=4&m=BT-Q818XT
- CommentAuthorzoop
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
is there any reasons why it shouldn't work using a laptop and a usb cable ? thanks
- CommentAuthorracerX
- CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
I got Q818XT today and tested with laptop and USB. RaceChrono does NOT recognize it! It works with QstarzGpsView v1.2 and VisualGPS v4.1b225, but NO RACECHRONO! What am I doing wrong? COM port is 11 and I've set baud to 115200 from drivers like told on manual. Racechrono recommends "Default" on baud rate and I'm using it. From settings-GPS type ,there are only "Serial port GPS" and "Input File". RaceChrono version 1.40 for Windows computers. I have not tried with Bluetooth. Please help.
- CommentAuthorxdnbc
- CommentTimeAug 19th 2010
David- Thanks for your info- it works. Now I have Racechrono on my 5800 working perfectly with the Q818XT in 10hz. This weekend we have a 2 day solo2 event at Pitt Meadows airport in BC, and on Aug 26 I have a track day at Mission Raceway. When I finish at Mission I will want to enter the track in your library. Not sure about how to do that. aol (Antti?)- great software. It works great at 30kph with the 10hz gps. Will see how it works at speeds up to 180kph soon.
- CommentAuthorracerX
- CommentTimeAug 19th 2010 edited
Well, tried now couple hours on the road with BT and works perfectly, 10Hz too. Actually works so fine that I don't need USB anymore =). Already made permanent assemble to car. Nice feature to "HotSwap" from 1Hz (set to 5Hz) to 10Hz. Works on 200kph speeds..
- CommentAuthorzoop
- CommentTimeAug 19th 2010
racerX, have you used a common BT key on your laptop?
- CommentAuthorracerX
- CommentTimeAug 19th 2010
zoop, Yes.
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 21st 2010
akiskev: You could try to disable GSV and GSA sentences with the GpsView program, to see if it helps the refresh rate over Bluetooth.

aol: I did it, it helps a bit but it does not solve completely the problem.
I bought a HTC TOUCH HD and it too can't lock to 10HZ with all the sentences enabled. It's not as bad as my old LG, but the average refresh rate is about 8Hz (jumps 1 or 2 tenths every second). If I disable the GSV and GSA sentences, things get better and I can achieve 10 Hz (I checked the nmea txts. It's 10Hz all the time).
So... my old LG with widcomm bluetooth can achieve 10hz with all the sentences enabled IF I do the trick I uploaded in my youtube channel. HTC TOUCH HD can only achieve 10Hz if I disable GSA and GSV sentences... Weird... The funniest thing is that refresh rate does not drop further when i connect my OBDII reader (bluetooth), which shows that the problem is not the bandwidth of the mobile phone's bluetooth. If I had a bluetooth packet sniffer or sth, maybe I could find what happens and things slow down...
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 21st 2010
akiskev: I think this is not Bluetooth radio problem, but rather something in the software that I do not completely understand. I think the RFCOMM port is set to wrong baudrate and I'm unable to re-set it to something else.
- CommentAuthoraol
- CommentTimeAug 22nd 2010
I've noticed Nokia N95 has same problem with BT-Q818XT bandwidth, meaning the update rate changes between 3.3-10 Hz. To fix this set the GPS baudrate to 115200. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to fix same issue with Windows. I'm working on automatic solution, but all Symbian users can use this as intermediate solution.
- CommentAuthorakiskev
- CommentTimeAug 22nd 2010
I'm sure you'll find a solution to this! Keep up the good work!!!
- CommentAuthorxdnbc
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2010
Just came back from a day at Mission Riverside Raceway. Started off raining and 2 people slid off the track (only cosmetic damage)the first session. During the afternoon the weather and the track dried off and lap times came down. Racechrono using my Nokia 5800 and the BT-Q818XT at 10Hz worked perfectly. How do I export this track to your library? Thanks again for great software.
- CommentAuthorandylaurence
- CommentTimeAug 27th 2010
Details of how to submit a track are here.
- CommentAuthormark944
- CommentTimeAug 30th 2010 edited
Also noticed that in the Quick Guide, on page 5 there is slight discrepancy with the User Manual. On page 5, Note3 reads: "Under 10Hz fix update rate, DGPS function and A-GPS update will be disabled".

http://www.qstarz.com/download/BT-Q818XT-Quick%20Guide-print.pdf

In the User Guide, there is no mention of the A-GPS update being disabled as well. I wonder which is accurate?
- CommentAuthormark944
- CommentTimeAug 30th 2010
Received my BT-Q818XT today, and have been playing with it. I have a Nokia 5800 (with the latest version of S60 from the Nokia website). Definitely need to do the "set baud rate explicitly to 115200" trick to get the connection showing solidly at 10Hz (or even 5Hz).

Interestingly, a second time I connected, even with the baud rate settings in Racechrono already at 115200 rather than "default", I still had to select the 115200 option again to get the connection to solidify. Strange... but it works for now if you know the trick.
- CommentAuthormark944
- CommentTimeAug 30th 2010
BTW, just out of interest, how are people securing these units inside the car? No obvious method that doesn't involve glue or tape(!) seem to suggest itself. I saw this windscreen suction cup mount on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350271628645 but it's still not clear how to attach the GPS unit to the mount??? So what is everyone else doing?
- CommentAuthorDavid Lundin
- CommentTimeAug 30th 2010
I have made a place for my GPS (not a QStarz) on the dash using self adhesive velcro, the stiffer part of the velcro on the dash and the softer part on the GPS unit. Very simple to place and remove.

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