Need to pair new device from reachview

Hi there Emlid Team,

I’m interested in trying to pair bluetooth accessories to a RS2 that use standard bluetooth spp for communication.

The issue is that ReachView or the RS2 firmware does not allow for you to pair a new “generic” bluetooth device. Many devices are able to be discoverable but have no interface to allow you to pair them to the RS2, so this must be done the other way round.

Can you please add the functionality to search for discoverable bluetooth devices and pair them from within the reachview app. It would also be great when doing this that you set the baud rate etc.

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Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the request! However, at the moment, a Bluetooth connection with Reach should be initiated from a 3rd-party device. You also need to confirm the connection with a password. Connection with devices that don’t require a password might not be safe. That’s why we’ve removed scanning functionality from Reach Firmware.

Hi Svetlana,

I can understand that thinking for a mobile phone or a car stereo where there is the possibility of high jacking the device or the issue of sensitive data. However this isn’t really a concern to users of a GNSS receiver. Practicality and usability over security is more of a concern as I doubt anyone will be interested in the data on my Emlid. The fact it will only pair while it’s scanning and the user selects the device would be sufficient security for this type of device. You should leave these decisions to your users rather than hamstringing us with what we can use the device for.

Also the devices connectivity options includes generating a wifi hotspot with a publicly documented wifi password. I can’t see in this instance how Bluetooth security would be a concern.

Thanks for the information but I still don’t undstand why this isn’t implemented.

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I agree, and sure others also.

But the answer will be more that pleases users that mount their units permanently and are on all the time.

This should have a TOGGLE then in the ReachView Bluetooth settings. I.e. require passcode, or do not. Owner’s choice.

In a world of technology, one gets REAL TIRED when something works, then without any sort of notice, someone decided to change things? Then it doesn’t work, and it takes ages to figure out why or until you STUMBLE across why? : /

Wonder if this is in the change logs?

Hi there,

Thanks for explaining your point. Would you mind answering some additional questions? I’m just trying to understand your workflow to note your request properly.

You’ve mentioned that you’d like to pair other GNSS receivers from the Reach side. However, in my experience, Bluetooth connection isn’t that suitable for such an application since it’s short-range. Could you describe cases in which it’s needed?

Sorry Svetlana somehow you have missed my point completely.

The Reach RS is the only gnss receiver I’m referring too, I’m trying to explain that regardless of what emlid think we want to use it for, it has positional data as NMEA or correction data as RTCM, that your users may either need to use by another device that supports these message formats, wirelessly over a short distance, using “Bluetooth serial communication” (spp). SPP was the original and main reason Bluetooth was invented.
An example use case of this might be an NTRIP caster, autopilot system, depth sounder or a electronic distance measurer that would like to know the position of the Reach or the corrections calculated by the Reach.
What ever the external device might be, it is likely it doesn’t have a LCD screen or interface, only a physical Bluetooth pairing button. This means that reachviews limitation to not scan and select a discoverable Bluetooth device without a passcode / passkey severely hampers it’s usefulness, as right now it can only send data over Bluetooth to other "smart devices that have the ability to discover and pair the reach with a passcode. As it is currently the reachview is the device with the screen and the interface it should be the smart device connecting to the “dumb” external Bluetooth device.

The alternative is to buy an external piggyback cable for the reach and terminate the bare end with a connector suitable for the device you want to connect to the reach. This is a lot of time and expense if both devices support Bluetooth communication and the only thing stopping them from working is the reachview app.

Please add a scan for Bluetooth device button on the Bluetooth page of reachview and allow any currently discoverable Bluetooth device to pair with the reach without a passcode or allow the user to enter a passcode if required.

Once paired allow for the baud rate to be set for Bluetooth transmission using SPP.

Thanks for following up.

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Are you talking like this?

It has been a while since I did it but, if I got everything out, I am sure I could recreate my process.

I definitely used to be able to connect an older device WITHOUT a passcode, so it was changed to require a passcode at some point:

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks. I got your point regarding the difficulties you’re facing. However, I’m trying to understand your exact use-case and devices you want to be paired from Reach. From our users’ experience and my recent research, most autopilots, sounders, or radars have an interface that allows initiating BT pairing. That’s why the scanning feature from Reach was removed. However, if your experience with a specific device differs, we’d like to know.

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