View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
Sculli Occasional Visitor
Joined: May 13, 2004 Posts: 5
|
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 1:05 pm Post subject: Signal Dropout..... Faulty unit? |
|
|
Afternoon All,
I am a (fairly) happy owner of a TomTom Go uit. I think that it is a fabulous piece of kit - except that it seems to lose signal for no apparent reason. My windscreen ('04 Clio) has a coating on it, but I am not convinced that this is the only reason. If GPS signals were unable to penetrate the reflective winscreens then I would expect a consistently bad (or non-existent) signal. But the unit will go from 5 satellites to 0 within a second or so, but then they can jump back to 4/5 again for no apparent reason.
I am considering purchasing an external antenna to prove out this theory, but.....
I have a small area at the base of the windsceen without any coating at all and was planning on mounting the aerial there. But this area is only arount 6" from the back of the Go unit. The aerial has lots and lots of wire, but I only need approx 6 inches - can I simple cut a and splice the cable to the desire lenght
Thanks
Paul |
|
Back to top |
|
|
lbendlin Pocket GPS Staff
Joined: 02/11/2002 22:41:59 Posts: 11878 Location: Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Have you tried using the GO outside the car? From your statement I'm pretty sure the coated windscreen is the culprit. Don't forget - the sat constellation is dynamic, and you have other influencing factors like clouds or other electromagnetic fields that - in combination with the coating attenuation - may make the difference between a stable fix and the on/off you observe.
You can shorten power cables but you should refrain from tampering with antenna cables - they are tuned to perform at certain lengths (has to do with the frequency used) and you may end up with no signal at all. _________________ Lutz
Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
avi Occasional Visitor
Joined: Sep 08, 2004 Posts: 29
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Sculli Occasional Visitor
Joined: May 13, 2004 Posts: 5
|
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 7:26 am Post subject: HURRAH! |
|
|
Just a quick message to thank you guys for your advice - the TTG external antenna appears to have done the trick. After playing around with it last night, it seems to be fine just sitting on the dashboard, underneath the area of glass with no coating. Works better actually held against the glass though, but I need to find a neat way of holding it there!
Thanks again.....
Sculli |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
Posted: Today Post subject: Pocket GPS Advertising |
|
|
We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?. Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|