Just want to say that on the Trip to William's Peak, there was a gas station called Bullwhackers just a little ways off the route :)

I purchased this in July 2011 and would not recommend the product or Sparkfun.

Firstly, and most importantly, it's completely non-functional. It never goes through the normal startup cycle indicated by the documentation - just blinks red. Completely defective - I've gone through every switch setting and even had two other people look at it (all very well versed in electronics like myself) to make sure there wasn't something wrong.

I have tried to contact Sparkfun twice and never received a response, and of course I'm beyond my 30 day return/repair timeframe.

There were a couple of other small things, such as incorrect labels on the product, but they were rather minor.

The GeoChron has a default sampling rate of 1Hz.

As shipped, this unit offers little more functionality than what is available from a number of much less expensive retail GPS units. Its' substantial charm comes from the potential to collect location specific data from other devices, and the fact that we can program it to meet our needs.
So, imagine my surprise when I opened mine up, only to find that the LiPo battery and GPS module had been glued in place in such a way as to block access to the programming and I/O connections, as well as one of the screws holding the assembly in the enclosure.
The adhesive foam tape used was so strong that unacceptable levels of force were required to remove these modules, and they had to be removed in order to extract the assembly from the enclosure, interface to the board, or program the board.
The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the assembly was still in the enclosure during the removal process. So much effort was required I was afraid the LiPo battery's envelope would rupture, and the solder joints holding the shield on the GPS module did in fact fail during the process. I have plenty of experience doing this kind of work, and I was as careful as I could be, but the force needed was substantial. I am now afraid to rely on the safety of the physically stressed LiPo, and will have to order a replacement.
I would urge Sparkfun to reconsider this assembly method. At the very least the foam tape should be shipped uninstalled, so that we can wire up the logger to other equipment and install our own version of the firmware before gluing everything together. Better yet, a future version which uses screws and standoffs instead of intractable adhesive would be more satisfactory.
Otherwise, I'm looking forward to getting this all wired up and working. I would order it again, but I would want to make sure it came without the adhesive tape installed.

I took a little bit of time on the forums to figure out that the GeoChron Blue has a pairing code ("1234") which is not mentioned in the datasheet that needs to be entered on the PC for proper connection.

Guys at Sparkfun,
do you really have no idea how re-programming a Geochron Blue can be done? What's the purpose of having the source of the firmware if it's not possible to update it ;) ?
Cheers,
Michele

Hello,
is it possible to update the GeoChron Blue firmware? How?
Regards,
Michele

Just purchased a Geochron Blue. I can connect via Blue tooth Virtual Com port, and Hyperterminal on the initial setup of the SD card, i.e put in a formatted card, turn the unit on. Changing the config via Blue tooth works except for Hold off number is erratic, put in a 4 and get 11? also when finished Push 9 to terminate the Blue tooth. My question is how to reestablish blue tooth after this. The setting is enabled = 1, but cannot establish a connection after the config has been changed to the following.
Mode = 1
Log What = RMC;GGA;GSA
Time Between Logs = 00:01:00
Holdoff = 5
WAAS = 0
Bluetooth Active = 1

Great looking logger. Any options to increase the battery capacity? There's the 6Ah LiPo unit but would the internal charger be able to handle it? How about room in the box?
Thanks.

How do I update the GeoChron firmware ?
Thanks

Ahhhh, I just bought a GeoChron and a BlueSMiRF to do this with, and now you integrated it before I had a chance to. Darn you SparkFun, with your forward thinking. Any chance you could hook me up with a bit of knowledge on connecting the two (I'm a bit of a Bluetooth Noob)?

Where is the firmware?