GlobalSat BU-353 Waterproof USB GPS Receiver

by GlobalSat

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 58 x 2.1 x 0.8 inches ; 7.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000PKX2KA
• Item model number: BU-353
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (208 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #1 in Electronics > GPS & Navigation > GPS Trackers
  • #14 in Electronics > GPS & Navigation > Vehicle GPS
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The BU-353 GPS Receiver can be utilized in a variety of applications which require GPS signals to be received and decoded in your Windows laptop or tablet PC, and for Mac users, their iBooks or Powerbooks. Compatible with most all NMEA compliant third-party software, the BU-353 is suitable for use in vehicle, marine and aviation navigation, as well as commercial and municipality applications such as fire trucks, police cars, buses, GIS data collection and much more!The BU-353's slim profile housing is completely water resistant and incorporates an active patch antenna for the highest level of GPS accuracy. With a 60" cable, placement of the GPS receiver anywhere within the vehicle will usually get sufficient GPS signal reception, but in those rare occurrences when towering high-rises offer challenging satellite reception, simply place the BU-353 on the vehicle's roof (attaches with its built-in magnet) for improved reception.Since power and data are transferred through the same USB cable from the BU-353, there's no need for batteries or any other external power source.BU-353W Package Contents: BU-353RB USB GPS Receiver (1) Suction Cup CD-ROM (User Manual & GPS Info Test Utility)

Product Description

Features: * SiRF Star III High Performance GPS chipset - WAAS * High sensitivity (Tracking Sensitivity: -159 dBm) * Extremely fast TTFF (Time To First Fix) at low signal level * Support NMEA 0183 data protocol * Built-in SuperCap to reserve system data for rapid satellite acquisition * Built-in patch antenna * Super-cohesive magnetic for mounting on the car * USB interface connection port * Waterproof and non-slip on the bottom * LED indicator for GPS fix or not fix LED OFF: Receiver switch off LED ON: No fix, signal searching LED Flashing: Position fixed Specifications: * Chipset: SiRF Star III v3.1.1 firmware WAAS Enabled * Frequency: L1, 1575.42 MHz * C/A code: 1.023 MHz chip rate * Channels: 20 channel all-in-view tracking * Sensitivity: -159 dBm * Accuracy Position: 10 meters, 2D RMS ~ 5 meters, 3D RMS WAAS enabled * Velocity: 0.1 m/s * Time: 1us synchronized to GPS time Datum: * Default: WGS-84 Acquisition Time: * Reacquisition: 0.1 sec., average * Hot start: 1 sec., average * Warm start: 38 sec., average * Cold start: 42 sec., average Dynamic Conditions: * Altitude: 18,000 meters (60,000 feet) max * Velocity: 515 meters /second (1000 knots) max * Acceleration: Less than 4g * Jerk: 20m/sec Power: * Main power input: 4.5V ~ 6.5V DC input * Power consumption: 80mA * Protocol Electrical level: TTL level, * Output voltage level: 0V~2.85V * Baud rate: 4,800 bps * Output message: NMEA 0183 GGA, GSA, GSV, RMC, VTG, GLL Physical Characteristics: * Dimension: 53mm diameter, 19.2mm height * Cable length: 65" * Operating temperature: -40C to +85C

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!!!!, October 16, 2007

By 

Marvin L. Benoit "Caribbean sailor" (Caribbean) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This GPS is awesome!!! I have struggled with trying to interface handheld GPS to my laptop for a couple of years. I live aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean using navigation software to plan my passages and have been frustrated trying to use my handheld GPS input which resulted in continual problems. That has all been changed using this new GPS and couldn't be happier with it's ease of installation and awesome performance. It picks up the signal below at my nav station, aquires quickly and performs without causing any problems with my computer. I have tried several systems and this unit outperforms them and I cannot recommend this unit highly enough, you will not be sorry...

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thoughts from a truck driver, March 31, 2009

By 

Anthony Bugg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I am a over-the-road truck driver and my blue-tooth gps unit started going out on me so I looked around for a replacement. Most of the review were positive and that had me really looking at this inexpensive gps. One person talked about loose connection I wonder if it might have been the user that had the loose connection as I have never had a problem with my laptop and gps bouncing around inside of the truck losing connection. I like the idea of a usb unit as I had already tried the blue-tooth versions and the batteries just do not last well for me as I drive between 5 to 11 hours a day. I have waited for several weeks after purchase and use to write this review as I wanted to give it a good try. I have drive all around the country during that time and I have been places where the road was next to a mountain cut-out on both sides of the road and still had gps lock the only places that I have lost gps signal was when I went through mountain tunnels but it picks back the signal on the other side within seconds. I would recommend this to anyone even if you are not a truck driver.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast locking in on Location, Very nice, May 2, 2009

By 

Jeff Greatorex (Santa Cruz, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This is the fastest lock GPS device I have used, and I have used about a dozen. One thing though-I was having trouble with it crashing my Vista laptop after a couple hours of use. I Solved this by going to Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Device Manager->Under Ports->Select Properties of Prolific USB-to-Serial...->Port Settings->Change Flow Control to Hardware then->Select Advanced->Change both buffers to 1. And that totally solved the blue screen issue I was having.
Great product, best available USB GPS.