logo

Info

Reviewbucket.co.uk scanned the internet for GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS Receiver reviews.
You can find all GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS Receiver reviews and ratings on this page.

Read the reviews.

Analysis

For GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS Receiver, 636 customer reviews collected from 1 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.4.

Detailed seller stats;
Amazon has 636 customer reviews and the average score is 4.4. Go to this seller.

Similar Items

25.10.2014

This is by far the most pleasant surprise I've had in an electronic purchase in a long time. The unit it smaller than it appears to be on the photos, but that's a good thing.I realize this kind of device is at the mercy of whatever software is used, and I was lucky enough to borrow a few tablets, phones, and laptops with different navigation programs to test. For our vacation trip, I ended up choosing my wife's Surface as the hardware with Microsoft Streets & Trips (Not one of the programs we tested was excellent, and the MS product was the lesser of all evils). The one other thing I'll say about the Surface is, even though the screen is large, the "touch" part was maddening in a moving car,and the attached keyboard was also hard to use.Now, the GlobalSat:1. I tested it at home, first inside, away from any windows. It pulled in enough satellites to put me about 10 feet from my actual location. (I was in the middle of the room, and it placed me on a wall). I used Google Earth here, but did not choose to use it in my car later.2. In comparison with my phone GPS, the GlobalSat was always 10-20 feet better.3. The weatherproof GlobalSat has a magnet that should withstand hurricane winds, and the USB cord is plenty long. On the trip, I sometimes forgot to put it back on the roof when I got back to the car. While I drove, it was dangling near the floor. The accuracy was about the same, but I would lose the voice-directions (not the fault of the GlobalSat).4. It took the device around 30 seconds to give me a location after a cold boot.5. I dropped it several times on macadam and concrete and it never skipped a beat.6. It was recognized by all the programs I tried.My endorsement of the GlobalSat BU-353-S4 is unequivocal. If you don't want the limited real estate of a Garmin or Tom Tom screen, this is the unit to pair with a larger Android or a Windows device (Never used an Apple product). It worked with my 7" Acer notebook and my wife's new 10" notebook. The car we drove didn't have the optimal space for these, but other cars may.
Read more..

7.10.2015

I wanted a simple, inexpensive, but accurate GPS receiver to use with Google Earth's "real-time GPS" function. This GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS Receiver works perfectly for that use. It is small and unobtrusive and the long cord allows it to be placed on the dashboard of my car.With my laptop in my car and the GlobalSat BU-353-S4 plugged into its USB port my position is shown very accurately in Google Earth. I have taken a number of test drives and this GPS receiver updates my moving position with just a little delay (it may be Google Earth that is causing the delay). This GPS receiver is so accurate that if I drive one direction on a two-lane road and then drive back the other direction,the route lines in Google Earth can be seen to be separate and right over the corresponding lane used. Please note that for this setup to work - without any currently active internet connection - the satellite imagery must have been previously loaded into the Google Earth cache (do an internet search for "google earth offline" and follow links from there; it is possible to create multiple caches of different areas).The GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS Receiver comes with a small but handy application, GPS Utility, which can be used to check the functioning of the receiver. The app displays a sky map of all of the GPS satellites detected and the signal strength, as well as the raw data stream from all detected satellites. It also provides data for current longitude, latitude, heading, elevation, and speed. Please note that it appears that the computer port used by this GPS receiver cannot be used by two applications at the same time - only one app can access the GPS satellite data at a time - so if running Google Earth "real-time GPS" the GPS Utility app will not receive the GPS data at the same time.In summary, this GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS Receiver works perfectly and is exactly what I was looking for. It should work for any "GPS aware" application (such as Google Earth).
Read more..

1.12.2016

This GPS receiver works great for several of my projects: The first of which is for accurately synching a clock on a PC that isn't connected to the internet using some free software(GPSTIME.exe). Since we are in a basement, I chucked the device out the window into a window well and even then, with just a pinch of sky, it was able to lock onto satellites. I used a USB extension cord and it worked great. Then, when we needed to do some navigation in the car, I placed it onto the dash and it easily locked ten satellites: By using a freeware software called SASPlanet.exe, we were able to precisely lock our present position onto satellite imagery.We've used this software to navigate the unnamed roads and cattle trails throughout western Kazakhstan when doing field research. Interestingly, This device was sensitive enough to determine whether or not you are in the northbound or southbound lane. I like how it outputs a standard NMEA-183 & WGS-84 data format, which seems to work with pretty much any gps software. Add an inverter for your laptop charger, a good mount for your laptop, pre-load your satellite imagery for your study area with SASPLANET before you leave the hotel, and for $30 or so, you have a dandy little navigation aid for expedition work!
Read more..

14.1.2013

So I ordered this to replace my Delorme Earthmates I have used for chasing storms for years now. I needed a GPS puck like this that would work in Windows 7 64 bit because my old GPS by Delorme did not have drivers or software for their serial emulator beyond Windows XP 32 bit so that was the last piece hold me back from modernizing my OS.I ordered from Beach Audio and was at my house the next evening. I like this unit because of the Windows 7 32/64 bit support, built in magnet, and SiRF Star IV GPS chipset which allows for use in urban canyons, and in dense foliage. I bought it for being underneath supercell thunderstorms.So I tested it out and the sat signal acquisition time was fast,and it saw many (around 12) satellites from inside my house sitting on the couch. I could never do this with my Delorme Earthmates so I can already vouch for the radio being excellent. I also use Fransom GPSGate as the port emulator which has worked great so far.A word of advice is that do not confuse this unit with the BU-353-W or the original BU-353 as the S4 is the newest and best. Although the original or "W" model for weatherproof would do just fine for most people I would pay the small difference and get the S4 with the new SiRF Star IV GPS chipset.
Read more..

19.8.2017

This is the best GPS receiver out of the 6 self-contained (antenna is embedded in the device) units I have tested in total (3 Bluetooth and 3 USB). It is consistently able to lock onto 9 or 10 satellites when out in the countryside, and 6 when outside in a high-density urban environment. I have even been able to lock onto 7 satellites when in the upper floor of my house (the best I could get with any of the others was an intermittent lock onto 4).Being able to lock on 9 or more satellites means that reading 'Scatter' (constant small changes in reported position when not moving) is almost eliminated. I have been able to record the NMEA output from several transitions (in both directions)of a long straight line and when all that data was plotted on a grid ended up with a single straight line with little deviation.So long as you remember that the position reported will not be the actual position you are at (it could be up-to 3-4 Metres away), GPS is a great way to return to places with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
Read more..

12.1.2016

The GPS module looks and feels great in the hand and I feel confident that the device is water resistant (one of the reasons I chose this device rather than the Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout Board).I was amazed how fast it picked up the GPS signal, even when I was sat in my living room. My only concerns were when I managed to switch the device to SiRF mode (rather than NMEA) using a higher baud rate of 9600. There were no docs for switching this back to NMEA and it took a lot of googling, however you just need to download the demo software from GlobalSat and change this back! That being said, the documentation for the protocols the device used as well as some initial starting python boiler plate code were readily available on the GlobalSat website.I've connected this device to a Mac,Windows and Linux OS and GlobalSat have drivers for all of them. I've been working on a Raspberry Pi project and I can confirm this works just fine using the USB as a serial port to read the data from.
Read more..

21.3.2015

I purchased this for use with a Raspberry Pi being setup for a APRS digi/IGate. I spent a day and a half trying to configure a Microstack GPS without success. I had also purchased this item for use on another RasPi and decided to give it a try. After 10 minutes of reading the install instructions, downloading the proper files, and editing the necessary configuration files, it's picking up several GPS satellites inside my 2 story house with a metal roof no less! On average it's picking up at least 12 satellites at any given time. The nasty weather outside doesn't seem to hamper reception one bit. I can see why this particular product is often recommended for any Raspi projects that make use of GPS.I've had this up and running for over a week, and haven't had any hickups.I am going to jump on the bandwagon and highly recommend this particular make and model for any application that requires a GPS receiver. Next purchase will be another one of these for my other RasPi.
Read more..

8.6.2015

This is an impressive device. However, in my application it did not work as I had wanted, due to no fault of its own. I wanted to bring a GPS signal into a 7" tablet so I could run the Waze program on long distance drives. The tablet has a microUSB and this has a full size USB. I found a converter cable that let me hook this up to the Android tablet. It worked just great! Locked on quickly and maintained a great lock. Just what it is supposed to do.However, my tablet soon ran out of battery power. So I got a "Y" cable and added power to the cable- but the tablet did not charge when GPS was active. Turns out, there is software inside the Tablet that determines if the microusb port is in host mode (so it can be charged)or slave mode (where it cannot). It was not possible to have the GPS attached in any fashion so the tablet could maintain charge.If you're using this with a laptop, then I think you will be very well pleased!
Read more..

15.1.2015

I purchased this receiver to replace a previous generation BU-353 that wasn't compatible with current Windows USB driver software. I use the receiver in conjunction with Microsoft Streets and Trips (now discontinued) and laptop when we make our annual pilgrimage from upstate NY to Orlando FL to find hotels, Starbucks and hotels en-route. This new receiver performs admirably in being able to pick up satellites more quickly, reliably and with more satellite fixes than the older version. For example, it was able to find satellites from my den deep inside my home that the older BU-353 was not able to do. And similar to the previous version, it is thoroughly weather-proofed and has held up in rain,sleet, snow and sub-zero temperatures. (Also in my role as chief navigator, now I can continue to relinquish most of our long-distance driving to my wife!). A quality product.
Read more..

22.6.2019

This is perfect for my Raspberry Pi mobile project. It didn't acquire lock as quickly or keep lock as reliably as some units I've used, but hey, the price is right and the form factor is convenient.Zero configuration or drivers needed to get started on Raspbian; I plugged it in, it registered as a serial device, and NMEA sentences started coming in at 4800 baud. I'm getting GPRMC, GPGGA, and GPGSA at 1 Hz, plus GPGSV every 5 seconds. GPSD hot-plugging was a little harder because the udev rule in /lib/udev/rules.d/60-gpsd.rules for this unit is commented out, saying "it matches too many other devices." Uncommenting the udev line fixed gpsd plug-and-play.This should work with any application that can read NMEA format through a serial/COM port.This unit does not seem to output 1PPS, but most people don't need that.
Read more..

21.5.2019

My husband and I have used Microsoft Streets & Trips (2006) for years to plan our vacations (multiple stops every time that you just can't do on a phone with Google maps). The GPS receiver that came with it still worked, but the Windows 10 anniversary update last year killed the driver and I couldn't get an updated one from the company that made it (lots of online searches for a fix & nothing worked). We were about to go on another big 11 day trip when I ordered this GlobalSat BU-353-S4, hoping that it would work with S&T. I installed the driver, plugged in the receiver and S&T recognized it immediately. This receiver worked like a charm and I can't begin to say how thrilled I am with it!Excellent purchase value, as I "spent" a lot more in time looking for a fix for the other one than this receiver cost!!
Read more..

20.7.2017

I did some research and took recommendations before buying this to use with the Windows version of MemoryMaps, the mapping system I use for walking and on the rivers and canals. It's almost perfect; small, decent length USB lead, magnetic (so stays in place on the boat roof) locks on very quickly, has no bad behaviour with Windows etc.2 minor negatives - there are no printed instructions and the software drivers ( which are minimal) is on a mini CD - since my Surface doesn't have a CD drive I had to hunt down the software online which was harder than it could have been. Secondly, although it works brilliantly with MemoryMaps (use the generic driver), Windows 10 doesn't use it for location services,so you don't get pinpoint accuracy in Google Maps, Bing Maps etc. That's Windows thing, but still a shame.
Read more..

28.1.2015

This item works as advertised. I use it to bring GPS into Nobeltec Navigation software on my new laptop running Windows 8.1. My old receiver would not work with Windows 8 so I had to purchase a new one. This item was 1/3 the cost of my old one and works just as well!Install was a breeze. I followed the instructions on the disc included in the box, which had a link to their website with the most current drivers. Once the drivers installed, I rebooted and loaded the included GPS Info program to test the receiver and see what port it was being assigned. All worked as it should. One thing to note, you must close GPS Info before bringing data into another app/program.Of course this is in the instructions as well.Nobeltec's setup wizard picked it up right away and it is working great!
Read more..

27.11.2014

Excellent for a "good enough" time source for NTP. I needed a non-network source for accurate time, and the BU-353 is an easy drop-in for a low accuracy network time server (about 1-2ms when tuned.) Purists and time geeks will insist on something like a Garmin GPS-18 LVC with pulse-per-second output, and while systems using that can be 1,000 times more accurate than the BU-353-S4, there's a lot of configuration and setup work to be done. The BU-353 will work out of the box, and doesn't require a serial port, level convertors or power sources other than the computer itself, and is perfect as a time source for systems that would normally get lower-accuracy time via the internet. (And as a bonus,the BU-353 is actually more accurate than my GPS-18 when PPS isn't used.)
Read more..

12.12.2014

The item itself works great. To get the most out of this product you need to make sure that your .Net framework is updated (vista). I tried the GSPinfo tool that comes with the receiver before and after installing updates for the .net framework. Before updating anything, I received a weak signal, and a signal was hard to even find. After updating, The signal came in immediately and stayed! My garmin GPS cant even get signals where this unit did on my laptop. Works great with Microsoft Streets & trips and also with google earth (with the goops plugin).. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a GPS reciever for a laptop or Ultra Mobile PC.If you can't get this unit to perform like it should....more than likely its a software/windows service issue.
Read more..
Terms and ConditionsPrivacy Policy