ACER N35, no signal - please help!!

[davemk]

Thanks for reading this!

I was using the sat nav yesterday and all was fine. Went in to see a customer, came out and switched the PDA on, but Destinator3 can't find a single satellite.
So far, I've performed a soft reset, a hard reset, changed the sd card, re-installed Desintator, tried it in various places where I can usually get signal but all of these have failed.
The GPS configuration "Found GPS" but I don't get any satellites!
For what it's worth, the blue GPS LED is flashing with the antenna flipped up.
Does anyone have any suggestions please?? Really grateful for any advice. Thanks.
Dave.

[Border_Collie]

Strange going on it appears.

Yesterday both my friends Mio 168 and my Mio P350 both refused to lock on, even when we tried using our external aerials outside under an unobstructed sky. Mine's OK today, although only locking on 7 out of the 12 in view, I haven't spoken to him today about his.

I wonder how many more people had the same problem.

'The end of the World may be nigh'. :P
_________________
Formerly known as Lost_Property
And NO that's NOT me in the Avatar.

[davemk]

I was hoping it was atmospheric conditions yesterday.... alas, it's still not working. It's currently sitting on the window sill trying to catch the attention of any passing satellites!

[Border_Collie]

This is a freebie you can use WinCE Navigator CLICK HERE to see which NMEA $trings are being received.

When first using Winfast tap on Tools - Port Setting and select Protocol, which should be NMEA then the Port and Baud Rate 4800. (Although you can set the Baud to 57600 and after clicking OK tap on the 2nd Icon at the bottom, two chasing arrows, and it will select the correct Baud rate).

To save a file using Winfast you have to tap on the 'floppy icon' and name the file and select where to save to. You can then transfer the file to your Desktop to open in Notepad or similar.

When you've finished with Winfast you MUST go to Tools - Disconnect then Tools - Exit. Don't use the 'X' top right or it will not release the port.

To give you an idea of the results you can get. At least you will be able to see what is, or is not, happening with your device.

All data is received every second except GSV, which is every 5 seconds. There are three GSV lines 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. This represents Line 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3.

$GPGGA,150904.000,5122.2861,N,00035.9727,E,1,06,1.3,44.3,M,47.0,M,,0000*65
$GPGLL,5122.2861,N,00035.9727,E,150904.000,A*39
$GPGSA,A,3,06,25,30,01,14,02,,,,,,,2.4,1.3,2.0*30
$GPRMC,150904.000,A,5122.2861,N,00035.9727,E,0.19,35.99,250906,,*38
$GPVTG,35.99,T,,M,0.19,N,0.4,K*5A
$GPZDA,150905.000,25,09,2006,,*54
$GPGGA,150905.000,5122.2860,N,00035.9725,E,1,06,1.3,44.5,M,47.0,M,,0000*61
$GPGLL,5122.2860,N,00035.9725,E,150905.000,A*3B
$GPGSA,A,3,06,25,30,01,14,02,,,,,,,2.4,1.3,2.0*30
$GPRMC,150905.000,A,5122.2860,N,00035.9725,E,0.22,324.13,250906,,*03
$GPVTG,324.13,T,,M,0.22,N,0.4,K*63
$GPZDA,150906.000,25,09,2006,,*57
$GPGGA,150906.000,5122.2860,N,00035.9725,E,1,06,1.3,44.8,M,47.0,M,,0000*6F
$GPGLL,5122.2860,N,00035.9725,E,150906.000,A*38
$GPGSA,A,3,06,25,30,01,14,02,,,,,,,2.4,1.3,2.0*30
$GPRMC,150906.000,A,5122.2860,N,00035.9725,E,0.26,129.08,250906,,*01
$GPVTG,129.08,T,,M,0.26,N,0.5,K*63
$GPZDA,150907.000,25,09,2006,,*56
$GPGGA,150907.000,5122.2858,N,00035.9725,E,1,06,1.3,45.0,M,47.0,M,,0000*6C
$GPGLL,5122.2858,N,00035.9725,E,150907.000,A*32
$GPGSA,A,3,06,25,30,01,14,02,,,,,,,2.4,1.3,2.0*30
$GPRMC,150907.000,A,5122.2858,N,00035.9725,E,0.36,143.66,250906,,*0E
$GPVTG,143.66,T,,M,0.36,N,0.7,K*64
$GPZDA,150908.000,25,09,2006,,*59
$GPGGA,150908.000,5122.2857,N,00035.9725,E,1,06,1.3,44.9,M,47.0,M,,0000*64
$GPGLL,5122.2857,N,00035.9725,E,150908.000,A*32
$GPGSA,A,3,06,25,30,01,14,02,,,,,,,2.4,1.3,2.0*30
$GPGSV,3,1,11,30,75,081,40,06,63,201,39,24,56,245,,25,38,303,23*76
$GPGSV,3,2,11,05,34,095,,01,33,277,33,02,27,056,26,14,21,226,24*73
$GPGSV,3,3,11,04,05,024,18,31,05,338,,07,01,227,09*40
$GPRMC,150908.000,A,5122.2857,N,00035.9725,E,0.17,330.05,250906,,*0E
$GPVTG,330.05,T,,M,0.17,N,0.3,K*60
$GPZDA,150909.000,25,09,2

And the following I found very helpful.

Decode of selected position sentences
The most important NMEA sentences include the GGA which provides the current Fix data, the RMC which provides the minimum gps sentences information, and the GSA which provides the Satellite status data.

GGA - essential fix data which provide 3D location and accuracy data.
$GPGGA,123519,4807.038,N,01131.000,E,1,08,0.9,545.4,M,46.9,M,,*47
Where:
GGA Global Positioning System Fix Data
123519 Fix taken at 12:35:19 UTC
4807.038,N Latitude 48 deg 07.038' N
01131.000,E Longitude 11 deg 31.000' E
1 Fix quality: 0 = invalid
1 = GPS fix (SPS)
2 = DGPS fix
3 = PPS fix
4 = Real Time Kinematic
5 = Float RTK
6 = estimated (dead reckoning) (2.3 feature)
7 = Manual input mode
8 = Simulation mode

08 Number of satellites being tracked
0.9 Horizontal dilution of position
545.4,M Altitude, Meters, above mean sea level
46.9,M Height of geoid (mean sea level) above WGS84 ellipsoid
(empty field) time in seconds since last DGPS update
(empty field) DGPS station ID number
*47 the checksum data, always begins with *

GSA - Satellite status
$GPGSA,A,3,04,05,,09,12,,,24,,,,,2.5,1.3,2.1*39
Where:
GSA Satellite status
A Auto selection of 2D or 3D fix (M = manual)
3 3D fix - values include: 1 = no fix
2 = 2D fix
3 = 3D fix
04,05... PRNs of satellites used for fix (space for 12)
2.5 PDOP (dilution of precision)
1.3 Horizontal dilution of precision (HDOP)
2.1 Vertical dilution of precision (VDOP)
*39 the checksum data, always begins with *

GSV - Satellites in View .
$GPGSV,2,1,08,01,40,083,46,02,17,308,41,12,07,344,39,14,22,228,45*75
Where:
GSV Satellites in view
2 Number of sentences for full data
1 sentence 1 of 2
08 Number of satellites in view
01 Satellite PRN number
40 Elevation, degrees
083 Azimuth, degrees
46 SNR - higher is better
for up to 4 satellites per sentence
*75 the checksum data, always begins with *

RMC - NMEA has its own version of essential gps pvt (position, velocity, time) data. It is called RMC,
The Recommended Minimum, which will look similar to:
$GPRMC,123519,A,4807.038,N,01131.000,E,022.4,084.4,230394,003.1,W*6A
Where:
RMC Recommended Minimum sentence C
123519 Fix taken at 12:35:19 UTC
A Status A=active or V=Void.
4807.038,N Latitude 48 deg 07.038' N
01131.000,E Longitude 11 deg 31.000' E
022.4 Speed over the ground in knots
084.4 Track angle in degrees True
230394 Date - 23rd of March 1994
003.1,W Magnetic Variation
*6A The checksum data, always begins with *

GLL - Geographic Latitude and Longitude is a holdover from Loran data and some old units may not send the time and data active information if they are emulating Loran data. If a gps is emulating Loran data they may use the LC Loran prefix instead of GP.
$GPGLL,4916.45,N,12311.12,W,225444,A,*31
Where:
GLL Geographic position, Latitude and Longitude
4916.46,N Latitude 49 deg. 16.45 min. North
12311.12,W Longitude 123 deg. 11.12 min. West
225444 Fix taken at 22:54:44 UTC
A Data Active or V (void)
*31 checksum data

VTG - Velocity made good. The gps receiver may use the LC prefix instead of GP if it is emulating
Loran output.
$GPVTG,054.7,T,034.4,M,005.5,N,010.2,K
where:
VTG Track made good and ground speed
054.7,T True track made good
034.4,M Magnetic track made good
005.5,N Ground speed, knots
010.2,K Ground speed, Kilometers per hour
Note that, as of the 2.3 release of NMEA, there is a new field in the VTG sentence at the end just prior
to the checksum. For more information on this field see here.
Receivers that don't have a magnetic deviation (variation) table built in will null out the Magnetic track
made good.

MSS - Beacon Receiver Status
$GPMSS,55,27,318.0,100,*66
where:
55 signal strength in dB
27 signal to noise ratio in dB
318.0 Beacon Frequency in KHz
100 Beacon bitrate in bps
*66 checksum
_________________
Formerly known as Lost_Property
And NO that's NOT me in the Avatar.

[davemk]

Thanks for the info Lost Property. I'll have a go with the program you suggested although I think I might end up coming back for more advice as I'm not very technically minded!
I'll report back when I've done it.

[davemk]

Lost Property - I'm assuming that I need to download two seperate files from that site? The first being WinCE Navigator under "Utilities", the second being WinFast Navigator under "Driver & Application". For some reason, it won't let me download Winfast, which I'm guessing I need?!
I used the GPS Monitor but don't know how to save it - there wasn't an option to save the results as you described. I can't even find the "Help" menu that should have been downloaded.
I've looked at the "Single Level" view, which has plenty of red circles - do these represent the satellites?
If you could offer further help, I'd be grateful! Like I said, I'm a bit of a novice at this type of thing!
Thanks.

[Border_Collie]

You only need the one file Utility CE which includes instructions in PDF form.

[davemk]

It was CE that I downloaded, from the Europe site but I didn't get any instructions in the Zip file.
The screen's a little different to how you describe too - it's as you describe apart from the brush is now a bin icon, and the save icon isn't there.
Thanks for the instructions. I made sense of your 1st set of instructions after reading it a few times (the penny was a bit slow to drop!!). I was getting a screen of info, similar to the one you posted but the satellites weren't locking although they were being detected (they remained red) so I assumed that this meant that the reciever wasnt at fault (?).
I kept on with it all night and eventually found 1 satellite. Tried an hour or so later and it found 2, then 3 a little later on. I've tried it a few times this morning and it's registering 11 from within the house with a strong signal.
I've just re-checked it and it's still working so the problem seems to have been resolved.
Really grateful for the comprehensive advice - much appreciated.
It's also worth pointing out that I'd reported the problem to Acer, even though the product is 14 months old. Great service from them, they even agreed to repair it under warranty. Excellent customer service.

[Border_Collie]

Glad you got it running OK.

[davemk]

I'll have another look and download the newer version. I'm going to run the monitor even though it's now working.....just out of curiousity to see what it brings up!!

Thanks again.

[Border_Collie]

I decided to have another 'fiddle' and found something rather interesting.

Instead of setting the $trings to GGA 1, GLL 1, GSA 1, GSV 5, RMC 1, VTG 1, I instead set them all to zero.

Went to Tools - Command, unticked the 2 boxes and did a factory re-set. about 37 seconds later I got a fix.

Went to View - Development and noticed the GGA, GSA and RMC $trings were showing every second and the GSV every five.

I re-checked Tools - Command -NMEA and all the settings were still showing 0.

Disconnected Winfast and started TT. To my suprise it worked fine and is working as well as, if not better, than previously. I hadn't expected that.

I'm not sure what this all means, so a few more experiments are about to commence.
_________________
Formerly known as Lost_Property
And NO that's NOT me in the Avatar.

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