Hi! We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
But as we’re losing ad-revenue from this then why not make 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!
Joined: 16/03/2003 00:51:47 Posts: 13 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
Hello all,
Has anyone had any problems with getting a GPS signal?
I am using an Ipaq 3970 with 128mb CF sleeve and TTN2.01 kit (with receiver).
I have loaded up the maps onto the CF, and the programs onto the PPC.
When I connect the receiver up with the Ipaq at 1st everything looks promising.....the lights switch on in the GPS receiver, the car cigarette lighter, and the Ipaq is "charging". After a while, the GPS receiver light goes from flashing red, to flashing green.
I then open TTN and go "File, GPS status".
A new screen appears. I click on STATUS at the bottom, and up pops the next screen, with everything "greyed out".
In the instruction manual/booklet, if the connection is good, I should get a "busy indicator" in the bottom right. Even after 2 hours, I get nothing, and everything stays greyed out.
(Needless to say, in TTN, I a,m always getting the "GPS not reliable" message)...Grrrrrr.......
All my connections seem OK. Today, the seller suggested I activate TTN. Well, I just went through the process and ttcode.com reckons the software has already been activated!
A question......does activation happen automatically, or do I have to enter something into the web site or my PPC? As far as activation goes, all I did was agree to go onto the net when prompted.
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
I haven't tested the new receiver, so I'm not too sure whether the green flashing is trying to acquire or it has acquired.
You do need to activate the software before you can use it. You don't have to activate the receiver though.
A quick way to test whether there's a problem with the hardware is to download WinFast Navigator from our downloads page, install it to your Pocket PC, soft reset the Pocket PC (and don't load TomTom or the GPS Status page. Now run the Navigator icon on the Start menu. Make sure the cable is connected to the Pocket PC and ignition is on, then tap VIEW | SIGNAL, then TOOLS | PORT SETTINGS | NMEA | SERIAL COM1 and 4800 for the Baud Rate. Tap OK and it should start connecting to the receiver and you should start to see some red circles appear. Red means it doesn't have a lock, blue circles/balls mean it's acquiring data from that satellite, green means it has all the data it needs from that satellite number. You should eventually get 4 or more go green, within about a minute (make sure the GPS receiver has a good view of the sky). If you don't get 4 or more turn green, there's a problem with the hardware, or the line of sight from the receiver to the sky.
This GPS receiver should acquire a fix within a minute, although sometimes receivers can take longer on their first fix, up to 15-20 mins. It does however look like someone's already activated it, I take it from seller you mean you've purchased this privately ?
TomTom will allow you to activate it once on the Pocket PC, and only allow you to activate it on another Pocket PC 7 days after the initial activation, and on a 3rd Pocket PC 183 days after the 2nd activation. Sometimes activation can fail if you're behind a firewall.
Joined: 16/03/2003 00:51:47 Posts: 13 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
Dave,
Many Thanks for the reply. I will test this out tomorrow and let you know.
FYI I bought off TotalPDA, not privately.
NN,
I'm not really sure what you're saying. In the "GPS" screen (right of "STATUS" screen), at the top, there are 2 greyed out boxes. First box says "TTN" and 2nd, says, "Serial on USB port". There is a big tick to the left of these 2 boxes.
I THINK, I connected it correctly. My PPC connect to my desktop PC via USB. Is this what these boxes are referring to? I'm unsure 'cos, when I'm trying to fix to a GPS signal, I am away from my PC and in the car.
Joined: 12/03/2003 01:20:45 Posts: 121 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
Quote 'A question......does activation happen automatically, or do I have to enter something into the web site or my PPC? As far as activation goes, all I did was agree to go onto the net when prompted'
Yes, it does activate automatically, but it doesn't confirm activation (at least when I did it). You must have typed in your code from the Cd case at some stage though. If you haven't activated your software you get a 'you need to activate your software screen' when you start TTN2 on your PPC.
Check you have set-up correctly in GPS Status screen on your PPC. Open GPS Status (as you described in your first post), choose the GPS tab at the bottom. Then at the top choose your GPS device (TomTom Navigator GPS?), then choose the correct com port (I don't know which one cos i'm using Emtac BT GPS, but I doubt it's Serial on USB. Try them one by one ) You can only change these settings while there is no tick in the box to the left, but make sure you put the tick in the box afterwards. These settings enable TTN2 to read from your GPS receiver.
Joined: 16/03/2003 00:51:47 Posts: 13 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
A big "Thank you" to all of you.
As per Aero's and Piers suggestion, I changed to "Serial on COM1" and finally got a signal. Subsequently got my 1st navigation home (although TTN2.01 thought my house was further down the road.)
Anyway, to clear a few points arising out of this thread.....
ACTIVATION
==========
In my software installation, I was asked to input a code...which I did. Then it asked if I wanted to activate now and connect to the internet. I pressed "OK" and it went onto the net. However, no web sites popped up, nor, to date, is there any confirmation emailed to me. Would be nice if this was a little more user friendly.
I checked the next day by going onbto ttcode.com which confirmed I had activated. However, unlike others, I have never input an activation code into my PPC.
GPS SIGNAL
==========
As mentioned above, there is no advice on which port to connect to (of which there are many). In fact, there is no mention that anything should be input on this screen.
WINFAST NAV
===========
Does anyone know how to install this? I downloaded the file and unzipped it onto my PC.....One EXE file, 3 CAB files, and one INI file. Double clicked on the EXE file, and a DOS screen appeared and disappeared in under a second. Nothing is installed on my PPC though. What am I missing?
Joined: 18/09/2002 09:32:57 Posts: 54 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
Quote: Originally posted by chandwpl on 17 April 2003
WINFAST NAV
===========
Does anyone know how to install this? I downloaded the file and unzipped it onto my PC.....One EXE file, 3 CAB files, and one INI file. Double clicked on the EXE file, and a DOS screen appeared and disappeared in under a second. Nothing is installed on my PPC though. What am I missing?
You can just copy the cab file (Navigator.ARM.CAB )to your iPaq, find the file (on the iPaq) using file explorer and double click on it. This will install Winfast into your memory. Job done.
If you want to install it to a storage card you will need to use CabInstl ( available here).
Joined: 18/04/2003 00:39:29 Posts: 16 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
TomTom don't give much info away about the GPS receiver in the Navigator kit do they There is no mention of what the flashing light on the unit is supposed to signify (although RichDem's post above makes perfect sense)
I found that I didn't get a signal straight away when connected to my Toshiba e330 Pocket PC. On the File|GPS Status screen I needed to select "Serial Cable on Com 1" and move the little slider button so that the PocketPC remains powered up as long as it's connected to the GPS receiver. Once you make any changes to the GPS Status options you have to tap the checkmark box to apply them. _________________ Jules
Joined: 16/03/2003 00:51:47 Posts: 13 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
Piers/Jules,
Back from easter break.......hope U had anice break too.
Thanks for the advice.
Jules.....the little slider thing you were talking about.......underneath where I select "serial Cable on COM1".......on mine, if I move it to the left, the screen on the little PPC icon shows "zzzz" and if I move it to the right, then I get the "2 hands Tom Tom logo". For me, the RIGHT slider posution works. Not tested the LEFT slider.
Just for info, does anyone know what these 2 screen icons are for?
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Newbie Help Please - no GPS signal
chandwpl, thanks for this. This is effectively what we suggest although doing it through WinFast Navigator, the main reason why we don't suggest this through TTNav GPS screen is that you can actually check the diagnostics a little easier through WinFast Navigator to see what it's doing.
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!
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!
Hi! We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
But as we’re losing ad-revenue from this then why not make 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!