Technology - Royaltek BT-GPS RBT-2001 SiRF Star III

The relatively new Royaltek BT-GPS RBT-2001 SiRF Star III Bluetooth GPS receiver   is based on the same chipset as the Holux slim 236 but with newer firmware.   It appears to be a little beauty in  combination with the Trekker and also Braillenote GPS.  After extensive but unscientific tests on Friday I’m glad to report similar performance to the above Holux receiver, a favourite of mine since getting hold of one last summer.  Maybe the satellite acquisition time is even a little faster.  Independent reviews also tend to favour the Royaltek for accuracy over others in the same class.    I think that one pays a little precision price for the better sensitivity over older generation chips with the relatively new SiRFstar III based receivers but for my requirements the trade off is more than worth it.

It has an on off switch and can also use standard Nokia batteries, a good job really as autonomy is poorer than similar specked systems.  The package we received didn’t contain a case or manes charger, but this won’t be a problem for Trekker users as the critter fits on the charger shipped with our system, and because the profile is the same you can use the 1000sT case.  I guess the lack of a pluggin charger could be a problem for some users.  Maybe we received an incomplete package.

Note:  I don’t recommend the Holux Slim 236 with Trekker yet as we have found some problems with the combination.
The Royaltek 2001 costs just under £80 when purchased online and it rocks!