TomTom wired receiver failing to lock on

snoopstah · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 06, 2004 Posts: 19

Hi guys,

I bought a TomTom 3 wired GPS kit for my 2210 a couple of days ago, and installed it last night. All was fine, and I got 8 satellites with red bars no problem.

However, driving back from work last night, I didn't get a lock on a single satellite until I'd been driving for 25 minutes. Looking at the GPS status, I had 9 satellites with more than half strength grey bars, but none of them turned red!

Yesterday evening, though, it was fine. However, it happened again today when I went out at lunch time - no lock in the 15 minutes I was driving.

The only difference I can think of is that the temperature in the car was very high both times it didn't lock on, and I've mounted the GPS receiver under the black dash, so it could be getting quite warm. Anyone heard of this happening before?

lbendlin · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 4:00 pm Post subject:

I had some issues today to get a lock, took me about ten minutes (normally it's in the 30 seconds range. Maybe something's wrong with the sats.
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snoopstah · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 06, 2004 Posts: 19

I hope so - I really don't want to rip it out again, it took 4 hours to get it all nicely installed! Rolling Eyes

lbendlin · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:38 pm Post subject:

When I am out of the car I normally cover the receiver with a baseball cap. Both good against curious eyes and against the direct sun. Just imagine the receiver would be black (like most of the other ones are)... It's good that the TomTom receiver has the silver finish, that reflects quite a bit of the heat.
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snoopstah · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 06, 2004 Posts: 19

Ahh, well mine's actually embedded underneath the dash beneath the windscreen - totally invisible, and still gets excellent signal strength (when it works).

But because the dash is black and the sun shines down on it all day at work, I reckon it could get mighty hot under there. Didn't think of that when I installed it Embarassed

lbendlin · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 8:00 pm Post subject:

You will see that it takes longer to get a fix when it's under the dash. Keeping the fix is not a problem, but acquiring it is tougher.

You will want to think about putting the receiver somewhere else...
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snoopstah · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 06, 2004 Posts: 19

Is there more to getting a fix than the grey bars being strong? I figured if they were reading high, there'd be no probs getting a fix?

oddsock · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 8:42 pm Post subject:

I too wondered if there was a problem with heat ! Yesterday afternoon I noticed the speed reading on my 2210 and tomtom wired gps 3.03 was very eratic and gps count dropped to 3 sats .then my position was being shown as off road.. then no sats ..I then stopped ang reconfigured to my navman bt gps and everything was fine.. when i arrived home at 1300hrs I tried to switch back to the wired mouse but got no sats.. I tried again at 2100hrs and got 9 sats and again everything was ok this am when I tried .I rang tomtom support ( they were very helpful) and they asked me to send the gps back which I have done ..I shall post with the out come.

dave

lbendlin · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:30 pm Post subject:

snoopstah · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 06, 2004 Posts: 19

I know they need to be red - I meant, if I have a bunch of grey bars which are say, 90% full, does that guarantee a good signal, or is the tomtom GPS software only showing signal strength and ignoring noise level, for instance?

I'll try the cruxview program - looks useful.

Heyou · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 1:58 am Post subject:

My wired Leadtech 9532 always used to get a solid lock, mostly before i'd managed to get the car off the drive, i've had this unit for over a yer now.

But recently it's been taking longer and longer to get a lock! It takes various amounts of time for it to gain a lock and this can be 3 mins to 15 mins sometimes. Also it loses lock very easily, under just a few trees with now folliage on them!

This unit used to be so reliable and now it's virtually useless, is this condition known about and it means it's just time for me to buy a another GPS receiver?

Del.
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Dave · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:02 am Post subject:

This almost certainly won't be a GPS problem. If every single time without fail it took 15 mins when stationary no matter where you were to obtain a fix (even if you had it on for a few hours, switched the engine off for 30 mins and switched back on and it took another 15 mins) then this would the bthe backup battery on the GPS.

Losing fix more easily and sometimes taking longer isn't a GPS problem. The problem you will find is either

1) because you're getting impatient and starting to drive off which will prolonge a fix.

2) you are experiencing localised interference

3) it's winter, and you've got things like your heater/de-mister on

4) you've changed car and you have an athermic windscreen

5) the GPS is being blocked by an obstacle. e.g. You may have been parking on your drive way looking away from your house, but now your parking front towards your house and not having a full view of the sky.

I have never known a GPS to degrade over time that it starts losing a fix quicker than it did before, or that it sometimes takes longer to obtain a fix. Usually the GPS battery will just get so low you're constantly looking at 15-30 min fixes, or the GPS antenna or chipset will just die completely and render the GPS un usable.

Heyou · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:55 am Post subject:

Thanks Dave :D , first off - my receiver is wired - do wired GPS receivers have a battery in them?? I didn't realise i had to check that.

I'll try and answer you're salient points -

- I don't drive off before i get a fix (well i do now if i'm not using it as i'd never be on time) but i keep an eye on the signal lock LED colour but point taken Smile

But this can happen parked in the middle of open countryside, it still refuses to get a lock!

- This prob has been going on for many months now.
- It's the same car and the receiver hasn't moved from it's original installation position (corner of the windscreen)
- I do park the car the other way round now but in the same place!!
- I haven't moved

I will do some experiments on parking the car the other way round and do some TTFF tests in open countryside. It's odd! this unit would always have a lock with 40 seconds os powering it up.

Does the PDA have to be in the cradle to assist with the signal locking time? I haven't found that it does.

many thanks

Del
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lbendlin · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:18 pm Post subject:

Your PDA is not directly involved - apart from some "smart" navigation programs that think they need to reset the receiver when they start. Have you changed applications?
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Heyou · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:33 pm Post subject:

I've upgraded TT to V3 and the GPS software to whatever the latest ver. is.

I didn't think the PDA had to be invloved for the GPS receiver to get a lock, but i mustn't make assumptions :o

I'd noticed when the PDA's not in the cradle, how long it still takes to get a lock from the LED flashing red for a good part of any journeys i take.

Of course when i put the PDA in the cradle and then have to wait for it to get a lock, it's just the same. It's really annoying having to just sit there until it decides to get a lock and then at the slightest provocation it drops again if i drive under a few bare trees :x

Del.
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