Customer Reviews

Royaltek RGM-3800 GPS Data Logger Photo Tracker (SiRF III GSC3f/LP WAAS 650 000 Waypoints)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received this as a Christmas present to use in conjunction with my camera to GeoTag photos. The one down side of this is that the customer support is rather poor, leaving a question on the RealTek website's support form only results in a response that I should use the form.

I am using this with Linux, the software that comes with the item is for Windows (Mac?) but after finding the source code for a program to read and set the parameters in this device it became very easy to use.

The UI (User Interface) consists of one on/off button and a red/green LED. Other than that there is nothing else but a USB port. I have used it indoors and it has acquired satellites in 10-15 seconds, Outdoors the time is lots faster.

The logging interval can be set from 1-second to 60-seconds. At 15-seconds this will record about 500,000 data points

It will capture about 180 (12hour) days of data, but the batteries need to be replaced after 6 - 10 hours. I use rechargeable (2 AAA) NiMH lasting 8 hours. RealTek claims 10 hours on Alkaline.

The shell is White. But that is an advantage, it is visible and easy to find even if dropped in the weeds when out on a photo shoot or hiking.

If I lost this one would I replace this with another - YES!

I purchased the RGM-3800 for geotaging my photos. It works great for this purpose. I use the www.locr.com software for reading the nmea files that come from the data logger and applying them to the photos and it works very well. The battery last five or six hours - so I can make it last all daqy if I turn it off when I am not using for a while. It comes with a spot to tie it to a jacket or something. Great product.

I've had this for about 3 months. When set to 10 second log points i would get 3-4 hours of life from 800 mAh NiMH batteries. I've upped the refresh to 15 seconds recently to try and get a bit more life from it and this winter I'll probably de-case it and put it in a case that holds 2 or 4 AA's (both for the increased life and because I already have a bag full of them for my flashes). Part of the reason I'm going to do this is my lock on times are nothing like the other two reviews. It usually locks on in under 5 minutes, but I've had it still be searching a full ten minutes later, so turning it on an off to save battery life can lead to lots of manual tagging. The lock on time is the sole reason I didn't give it 5 stars.

I use the software that comes with it and it works well, though I haven't tried others to compare though I may give another a try in winter since other reviews I've read seem to imply that the time to match the photos and tags is longer than it could be. It takes around 20-25 minutes for it to matchup 5-600 photos, which means I currently just start it and walk away, but if other programs really do it significantly faster that would be a nice change.

I purchased this product to geotag my photos. It works great for this purpose with high degree of accuracy. It acquires satellites quickly, and keeps connected even inside cars etc. Battery life with the two AAA batteries is 8 hours as advertised. This is too short for me since most hikes last all day (12-14 hours would be ideal). The storage capasity is great, with up to 400,000 points possible. You could track for a whole month straight if you didn't constantly run out of batteries.
I have also found other uses for the device; when I had a friend carry it in his Hydro racing boat. We used the data, acquired once a second, to see how fast the boat had been going throughout the race. This required manipulating the data file a bit, since the included software is only designed for tagging photos and mapping your track on google earth.

Pro: Fast, accurate, compact, light, belt clip, huge storage capasity

Con: Batttery life, cheaply made case,

This thing is super small and light. Has no problem detecting 5+ satellites in the South East US and South Mid US. Start up takes about 2mins.

The battery life is poor on its 2AAA's.

I took the whole module out of its shell. Coated it a waterproof latex paint. Made a new shell that supported 2AA's. Instead of working for 1/2 the day it now works for a full 24hours.

I got a small 4V solar cell that I stitched into my backpack. Along with 4/ 3.5V 18650 cells that are around 3,500mah. Now I can go trekking whenever I want without replacing the batteries

I use this and my cell phone to double check exactly where I was. Its very awesome when I'm marking cave entrances