tomtom navigator 2004 gps "waiting for signal"

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

This is my first time using my wired gps w/a toshiba e335 pda. How long does it take to connect to the gps? I tried for 15 minutes and got a "waiting for signal" message. I have a 2002 gmc envoy, is it possible I have a heat blocking windshield? One website I saw says it could take up to 45 minutes to find a signal. I am open to suggestions.

Thank you,
Steve Laser

nej · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:48 pm Post subject:

For a first ever fix, it could easily take 30mins or so.

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

Thanks, I'll give it a shot and report back.
Steve

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

I drove for 50 minutes and my gps didn't configure. It flashed, "waiting for valid signal". The gps receiver's green light was flashing the whole time. I wonder if I'm missing a step? When I got in the car the black and white screen said, "signal last used 1 minute ago" (or something to that effect), so I chose a destination and drove. And waited. Any ideas?

nej · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:

Don't drive whilst doing it - it will take FOR EVER to get a first fix. Think about it - if you are moving then your position is constantly changing, and given that GPS is based on time differences from satellite-to-receiver, if you are moving around it makes the whole thing a LOT harder.

Just turn it on and leave it somewhere with a good view of the sky.

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

ok, thanks for the advice, I'll try it in my driveway and report back.
Steve

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

I let the system sit in my car for over an hour and it still didn't connect. The only odd thing that happened during the installation was this. After I initially loaded the software I accidently unplugged the battery of the pocket pc, which caused me to lose everything, so I reloaded the software. I wonder if that is somehow causing my problem.

That's the only thing I can think of. The gps receiver's green light flashes once per second, the software seems to be correctly loaded in the pocket pc, but I can't imaging why it won't find a satellite.

Steve

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

One additional note, my gps is hard wired, not blue tooth.
Steve

Hoppy · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 1:38 pm Post subject:

Mine takes less than 2 mins to aquire 3D nav and it doesn't matter if I'm moving or not. I have TT3 on a 2210 and a TT GPS with car mount. Have you got the correct com port selected in the software? If you can select it with your system. Question

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

I have absolutely no idea how to set a com port on my pocket pc. How do I do it?
Steve

Darren · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 7:03 pm Post subject:

The sync port is normally COM1 on PocketPC's so wired GPS receivers that connect via this would normally use COM1.

Try the receiver outside of the vehicle to exclude problems with an athermic windscreen. In TTN2004 under 'Change Preferences' 'Configure GPS' then 'Configure' as long as you select the correct type of receiver, in your case either 'TomTom Cable GPS' or 'Other Cable NMEA GPS' then the configuration 'Serial Cable on COM1' you should be set up correctly.
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Darren Griffin

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

I tried it on the roof of my car and it didn't work. Could any of this be caused by my having to reinstall the software?

When I contacted Tomtom via email they responded that the toshiba pocket pc is not very good for gps. Could that be? I imagine that all pocket pc's have enough in common that it shouldn't matter.

Has this problem occurred often to other people?

Steve

nej · Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:12 am Post subject:

Hmm, when it's running, tap the Navigator screen to get the menus, goto More and then select GPS Status. Have a look in here to see if the black dots are moving.

If they are moving then there is at least communications with the receiver, if there's nothing then either the settings are wrong or it's knackered.

stevenator65 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 23

Success! I downloaded the latest version of microsoft activesync, v3.8, sync'd the pda and it worked. Apparantly, v3.8 is the key. I thank all who tried to help me. Hope this helps someone in the future.
Steve

Darren · Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:21 pm Post subject:

I can't see how ActiveSync has any bearing on this. Aside from being required to install the software in the first place it is not part of the GPS software.
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Darren Griffin

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