Sudden trouble with Emtac Crux / TTN 3 and Ipaq 2210

[Piet]

Hello, can anybody help me on this?
I have been using the above mentioned combination to my satisfaction, until one week ago... All of a sudden, I cannot get fixes anymore... It takes forever... I used to be able to get a 3D fix in a couple of minutes, even while driving, now, I can't even get a fix when standing still. And if by miracle I do get a fix, after a couple of miles, the fix is gone again... Even on highways with clear skies, I often get only one or two "vertical bars" in the tomtom GPS application. The bars are grey, indicating there is no fix...
The strange thing is that I have changed nothing to my settings: I still live in the same street, drive the same car, have the same software, hardware, ... I have already tried reinstalling the software, but it doesn't work. I have tried pairing the emtac to the pda, but that doesn't help either. Settings in the TT GPS menu are "Emtac Crux GPS", Bluetooth serial port com 8.
Has anybody got a suggestion on what might be going wrong? Or is the emtac just broken... (there is a bluetooth connection, however...)
Thanks in advance for your help...

[lbendlin]

Sounds like a broken receiver. Do you have the possibility to try with another BT GPS? Borrow it from a friend maybe?
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[Brandon]

What is the status of the lights on your BTGPS?

Do you still have a green light, blue light, and charging light?

If you have all of the above, I would suggest heading outside with just the BTGPS and see how long it takes for the green light to flash (indicating a GPS fix).

If the green light (GPS) is not working, and your unit is less than a year old, you should contact the company you purchased the reciever from.

If the green light is working, then I would suggest double checking your connection settings or using a free GPS program such as Crux View to check if the device is comminicating GPS data to your PDA.

Good luck,

Brandon

[Piet]

Thanks for your reply! I tried leaving on the Emtac for some time in a car that was standing still. I got a green flashing light after some time. When I started to move, however, sometimes the flashing stopped, indicating I had lost the fix... This on a trajectory where I normally never loose a fix...
Later, when I tried the bluetooth connection with the Ipaq 2210, i saw in the TomTom GPS window that it could find one satellite (sometimes), but I got no fix... Now, the fact that I got one satellite means there is connection with the GPS, I presume. I also got the correct time in the GPS window, also indicating communication with the GPS... So both of the devices are still working, but the Emtac doesn't perform like it used to...
Problem is that the thing is more than one year old, so bye bye warranty...
I am at a loss here, because 200 pounds for a gps receiver that worked one and a half year, isn't my idea of a good deal...

[Brandon]

Tough news on the warranty...here are a couple of my suggestions.

Do you have a mate with an external antenna? It may be worth it to try the antenna if you are looking to save a bit of money compared to purchasing a new unit.

The external antenna should bypass the internal antenna and may give you what you need to keep a sat lock.

Are you able to try the GPS in another car? Maybe its the windshield...(disregard if you have not switched vehicles and had good results in the past).

You could also contact the retailer that you purchased the unit from; maybe they would be willing to give you discount on a new/refurbished unit.

Good luck,

Brandon

[Gadjet]

I have a similar and confusing problem with my Emtac BT GPS.
I've used it for 18months or so without a problem the a month ago I noticed that it took 25 min's to get a fix when normally it would get a fix in 2 min's.

I went to Germany last week and it usually gets a new fix in 5 - 8 min's but it now took 35 min's although it kept the fix after that.

when turning on the GPS after 4hrs 'ish it took 30 min's again to get a fix. I let the GPS go flat overnight and the next morning it got a fix in 3 min's.

I'm really confused. I tried it today in UK and (I'd used it before in UK after Germany) it took 45 min's.

Here's the strange thing, I opened it up and disconnected the battery, left it off for 1 min then reconnected and hey presto it got a fix in 30 sec's..... WEIRD

BTW I have the same problem if I use an external antenna.

Any thoughts ????

Phil

[DavidW]

It sounds like the issue may be the internal memory corrupting - but that is just a guess. That would explain the poor time to first fix - if the GPS is losing the almanac, or last position and current time data (the latter being more likely than the almanac), it makes fixes very slow.

Disconnecting the battery would clear this data. The external antenna would make no difference if I'm correct.


Obviously I can only speculate. You'll get more of an idea if I'm right if you watch the GPS getting a first fix using software like Winfast Navigator or even the first tab of the TomTom GPS screen.

If there is a consistent problem, then you may have a hardware issue, but without more detailed knowledge of the hardware (especially whether there's any device specifically to back up the GPS chipset's memory - be it something like a supercap or a small secondary battery), it's impossible to say. It may be worth contacting Emtac to see if this is a known issue.



David

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