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Reviews For: Byonics GPS2

Category: GPS receivers for APRS

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Review Summary For : Byonics GPS2
Reviews: 6MSRP: 69
Description:
Small, magnetic GPS receiver with a SiRFstar III chipset. Serial output and requires 5 volts.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.byonics.com/tinytrak/gps.php
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0064.8
KJ4YLO Rating: 2022-08-29
Excellent Customer Support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a unit. Worked fantastic on my Kenwood 710G. Suddenly it would not obtain a GPS lock. Byonics responded quickly to my e-mail with a suggestion. When that did not work they very quickly sent me a replacement. Excellent support.
W5LZ Rating: 2010-10-26
Good! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using one of these for a couple of years now and can't complain. It does exactly what's claimed for it. The only thing I have to compare it to is a 'Tripmate' GPS by 'Delorme'. I honestly can't tell any difference between the two.

I've used 'Byonics' equipment since starting APRS and am very happy with it (the stand-alone transmitters, and lately the 'MT-RTG'). Things are continually being 'up-graded', and there's new stuff in the waiting room, sort of. Problems (mostly my fault) have been dealt with quickly. I'm a happy camper.
Paul

Why the 4 instead of a 5? Because about the only thing I'd give a max rating to has to be female.
(that's cuz I'm chicken!)
WB6FQZ Rating: 2010-10-26
WORKS WELL BUT Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I USE THE GPS 2 WITH A TINY TRAK WITH VERY GOOD RESULTS. THE ONLY ISSUE I HAVE IS THAT IT PUTS OUT A STRONG SIGNAL ALL OVER THE 6 METER BAND.I CONTACTED BYONICS AND THEY HAD NO REAL SOLUTION. APPARANTLY THIS IS A PROBLEM UNIQUE TO MY STATION. IF YOU DON'T RUN 6 METERS THEN I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE GPS 2. BYONICS PRODUCES EXCELLENT PRODUCTS.
KE5IRD Rating: 2009-09-15
Does what it is meant to do - perfectly Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of these when I purchased a TT3+ to replace an aging Garmin unit that took forever to obtain a lock. In contrast, the GPS2 obtains a lock within 2 seconds every time. I keep the receiver/antenna inside the car at all times; it obtains a lock even on a rainy day under tree cover in spite of all the barriers.

Lastly, I highly recommend Byonics in general for such high quality products with personal attention/support.
VK6ABA Rating: 2009-07-18
Better than most other brands Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 3 of these units and am very impressed with the results. It is real value for money.

The GPS2 can also be used on a PC. This will require an adaptor cable which is very simple to make yourself. The GPS2 is supplied by Byonics for use with the TinyTrak range of products and is designed to be powered from a 5volt source with + on PIN 4 and Ground on PIN 5. Although the GPS2 use a standard male 9-PIN D-Type connector, it does not power up when plugged into a RS-232 port on a computer. The solution is to provide +5 Volt to pin 4 on the GPS2. A good 5 volt source on a computer is PIN 1 on a USB port. As most computers have several of these ports I decided to build a converter that uses 2 USB ports. The first USB port for a USB-to-Serial converter to receive the GPS2 data and the second port to power the unit.

I have all the details and photos of how to build this simple converter on my website at http://come.to/vk6aba
N8QID Rating: 2009-05-07
Great value! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a great GPS receiver! I have several other GPS products (handheld GPS, car navigation GPS, cell phone GPS) and this one locks on faster and keeps its lock better than any other GPS that I've ever owned. I had it stuck to my trunklid for a while, but realized that there was no reason to subject it to the elements, so it is now in the rear deck of my sedan. It never looses sync and will start sending good data to my TinyTrak3 almost instantly. I've never seen a GPS acquire a sync so quickly.

I have also used this GPS with an Icom marine radio for DSC and it works perfectly. If you need a small GPS receiver with serial output, this is a great one.