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Erratic PDA to GPS Bluetooth Connection

 
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DavidCPreston
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Joined: Apr 02, 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:58 am    Post subject: Erratic PDA to GPS Bluetooth Connection Reply with quote

I have an iPaq 3970 witn TomTom 5 and bluetooth GPS receiver and they seemed to be working OK until recently, though I haven't had them long or used the Sat Nav for a long journey. Recently by the time I'd planned a route it would state No GPS Device. I have had to restore the iPaq from Backup a few times so may have lost settings, so I decided to start again today.
I managed to make the bluetooth connection OK and it retrieves available actions which are Connect SPP Slave and Bond. None of the documentation makes it clear which I need. I tried bond a few times and it didn't work but SPP slave did, but it seems to drop the connection.
I did manage to get it to bond OK today and Connect SPP slave.
The GPS flashes every second if the bluetooth is OK and every 3 seconds if lost. Even after bonding it lost the connection after a few minutes so I go to the action menu and connect SPP Slave again. I have now been sitting with a planned route for 10 minutes and no problems.
I have also connected to my PC and tested the GPS with NCTLite and it streamed data flawlessly for 15 minutes:-

1. If TomTom 5 states no GPS Device does it means the bluetooth connection has gone or could this mean no GPS signal, though I think I get a no signal message then?

2. Should the GPS be bonded and an SPP Slave Connection made?

3. Should the SPP Slace connection be dropped if not used i.e. run TomTom within a few minutes?

Any help would save what little is left of my hair as there seems very little help with hardware or software.
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mikealder
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Joined: Jan 14, 2005
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Location: Blackpool , Lancs

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 2:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Erratic PDA to GPS Bluetooth Connection Reply with quote

DavidCPreston wrote:
1. If TomTom 5 states no GPS Device does it means the bluetooth connection has gone or could this mean no GPS signal, though I think I get a no signal message then?
The method I use to check for connection is go to the GPS page within TomTom and check the little blue/ yellow disk (top RH corner of screen), if this is rotating then you have a connection, if its stationary the connection has dropped.
DavidCPreston wrote:

2. Should the GPS be bonded and an SPP Slave Connection made?
Yes you should use SPP Slave Connection, in addition TomTom 5 will only accept NMEA data type.
DavidCPreston wrote:

3. Should the SPP Slace connection be dropped if not used i.e. run TomTom within a few minutes?
No the SPP Slave connection should remain active once connected, it might drop if you go out of range or turn the device off.
The first time you connect to the GPS (you did re-install everything so this will be treated as a first switch on) this will take considerably longer to aquire the sats typically up to 20 mins with a clean line of sight to the sky, away from buildings etc, subsequent run-ups will be considerably faster - Mike
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DavidCPreston
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers Mike,
It kept dropping it during yesterday so I guess I have a faulty GPS receiver or iPaq. Unfortunately I don't know anyone else with bluetooth GPS. I can test the PDA and GPS with my PC as I have a bluetooth USB 'dongle', and I have mates with wired GPS. I suspect the iPaq.
Many thanks for your reply, this is so frustrating
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mikealder
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lets make sure its not TomTom 5 that is causing the problem, in a similar way you have established the GPS unit is OK with the PC lets try the same thing with the IPAQ.

Go to the downloads section of this site here on the page you will find a link to the tomtom section download the GPS driver vs2,06 install this to the IPAQ, configure it and try that for streaming data for a timed duration.

If this drops the connection then I feel a hard reset of the PDA might be in order to get it back to factory default, you will loose all data though so make sure you have it backed up first.
Mike
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DavidCPreston
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Mike.

I tested it again this evening:-
From PC - Nice steady stream of data with GPS bluetooth light flashing every second.
Downloaded and installed GPS driver and nice steady stream on that. Stop GPS software and bluetooth light drops to once every 3 seconds.
Start TomTom and initially get "No GPS Device" then after about 10 seconds GPS found and GPS flashes every second.

The above leads me to think that once the bluetooth activity stops the GPS goes to sleep, but starting software up seems to wake it up again. Is this feasible? Maybe I'm misreading what the interval of the flashing light means.

This is much like what happened yesterday and I thought I'd got it sorted then I went out in the car and after a few minutes TomTom reports "No GPS Device". I figured it could be to do with the movement so I've tried walking round the house shaking the GPS and PDA and it doesn't drop the signal, so I cannot work out what's going wrong.

One other thing, should I need to initiate the SPP Slave every time? I have been.
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mikealder
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DavidCPreston wrote:
I figured it could be to do with the movement so I've tried walking round the house shaking the GPS and PDA and it doesn't drop the signal,
I think the above quote might be a clue, only use the GPS unit when it has a clean line of sight to the heavens above, it will stuggle in the house so only switch it on when outside. Which GPS unit are you using? as certain units will "auto power off" when they detect no movement - Mike
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DavidCPreston
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Mike,
I do pick up a signal in the house, usually 2-5 satellites especially by a window, which I suppose is logical. It's when I'm in the car after having established a signal that I get the problem - I usually turn GPS on while I'm getting ready for the journey, then PDA and it is usually OK at first.

It's a no-name GPS from eBay but it uses a Nemerex ZX4125? chipset if that helps.
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peterc10
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Joined: Aug 21, 2005
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Location: Kent, England

PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do you have an athermic (heat reflecting) windscreen by any chance? If so that may be your problem.
_________________
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DavidCPreston
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Peter,
No I don't and I get the same problem in my girlfriend's car.

I had exactly the same happen this morning - tested in house for about 30 mins before I went out and it was OK. Went out, switched GPS on, put on dashboard, switched PDA on, started TomTom, detected GPS, after about 10 minutes TomTom reports "No GPS Device". Reset PDA, start Tom Tom again, detects GPS, after a few minutes same error.

I will try running the TomTom GPS detection software instead and see if that drops the connection. It's driving me bloody mad!
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DavidCPreston
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmmm. The TomTom GPS driver works every time whether set as "TomTom Navigator GPS" or "NMEA...." any baud rate on Com8. I can exit, run it again, picks up signal stationary or on the move. Until I try running TomTom5, which may work for a short while but usually not at all, then the GPS software won't work until I do a soft reset again, so it looks like TomTom is causing the problem.

I thought I'd do a hard reset but the method I read doesn't seem to work - Hold down both lower buttons then press soft reset for 5 seconds - this just acts like a normal reset. I assume with a hard reset it loses all the data or is this a hard reset?
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