Lost satellite connection?

[Tynan]

howdy, previously enjoyed i3 from ebay, messed the maps up trying to update but finally have it all seemingly working again, it took ages to get it's initial satellite connection but seemed ok after that, running the latest firmwar, 3.4?

loaded the POI and speed cameras this morning (1Gb card) and it thereafter took well over an hour to get a connection, I strolled through the house to the front to give it a quick test run before the lady wife set off to an unknown address in Catford, no connection, left it for ages, hard reset it twice, eventually it fixed after at least two hours sat on the patio, it shows almost no signal when it's being moody, maybe one red bar, when it connects it shows at least three green, after the last connection I was sat, still on the patio, when it said, lost satellite connection, does that make any sense when I'm say still in the outdoors?

I'm starting to get a bit worried about it now, it seems to work fine other than taking forever to fix, early on in it worked ok, it'd pick satellites up after losing a fix

any ideas?

ta

ps, it picked up the satellites in the time it took me to type this and behaved itself while I tugged it about, I switched it off and then on again, no signal and it asked me if I was indoors/moved 100s of miles

[mikealder]

Welcome to the forum, what state are the batteries in? - put a new set of Duracell batteries in it or better still invest in some high power rechargable A cells 2700mAh (or better) the device cannot recharge them but you can from time to time (this is the more cost effective route).

Also check the contacts on the battery hatch are not damaged, if the batteries loose power of contact the device will take quite a while to obtain a position fix, typically 20 mins is all that is required though - Mike

[Tynan]

Hi and thanks, they're new rechargeable 2600mah and the i3 shows them as full green, I changed them this morning in case

would that explain it sitting there showing 'acquiring satellite' for over an hour before finding one and seeming being happy thereafter until it wasn't

it's on the usb lead now in a position near the window where it's shown good signal yesterday, showing no signal now, as it did in the garden

I've read the threads and it all suggests that once the unit has got it's first fix it should be fairly zippy thereafter, I'm concerned about the lack of a signal

I'm in London so an intermittent satellite signal doesn't seem likely

[mikealder]

That does seem strange, have you told the device which type of batteries you are using?
Settings/ System/ Battery Type and select NiMH if that is the type of cell you have installed.
Don't keep taking the batteries out though otherwise the device will take time to acquire the sats on the next power up.

Location doesn't really matter too much London can be problematic (as can any other built up area) due to high buildings (Urban Canyons) this causes reflections of the signals compounding reception problems.

What type of car though as those with heat reflective glass (Athermic coated) cause problems with the i3 - and to be honest expecting performance inside your house even near a window is not that conclusive - Mike

[Tynan]

yep told it about the battery type

I have got a good signal when it 'works' even on the desk next to the PC, anyhow as I said it can sit out on the patio for hours and not see any signal and suddenly it's working, until I repower it or even just handled it the one time

it's only been to the car once, an ancient Cavalier that far predates anything fancy in windscreens, not a sausage for 20 minutes and that minutes after it all working fine

when it works it works fine, it's almost like it's not seeing the satellite signal very often

it seems a loing time ago now but when I first had it it seemed to behvce fine although I neer got as far as the car, I've updated everything since then, it seemed to get poor;ly when I stuck new maps in on a new card and loaded the POIs

I might try it with the old card to see, no harm trying, mind you, no logic either

[Tynan]

ordered an external aerial to see if that helps, but it's started shutting itself down now and not coming on again although it's once again hunting for satellites now, might be time to speak to the seller I suspect, see how quick paypal are to charge back or whatever ebay sellers are always howling about

[Tynan]

I gave it one last chance last night at about 9pm, after preparing to send it back to a doubtless indignant seller, and it worked fine despite restarts and messng about, took the car out for a spin and it worked fine

up this morning expecting nothing and it worked fine, slowish initially, quick thereafter

who knows, acid test for the wife to go to Dartford today ...

perhaps it was batteries? perhaps it was a couple of coaxing taps it got last night

[Tynan]

wife has called from Dartford, it worked fine and she loves it

as an aside, the AA routeplanner on the net wanted to send her via the M25, 38 miles and 50 minutes, the i3 went via the A12, 14 miles and 20 minutes

nice

I'm starting to think that it works and there was something else causing the problems yesterday, I had a bit of no network on my mobile too thinking about it

finger crossed, driving out to the dordogne at Christmas, the tiny village is in the favourites already and the route looks good, can't wait, we did ok with a paper map last time we drove but they're were a couple of 'diversions' plus shouting

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