Hello, All,
I just got my Earthmate and laptop hooked together. I used the Earthmate
without its battery pack, connected directly to the USB port. After
installing the Earthmate software, both disks, I tried it out sitting
outside on a lawn seat under the stars. The first fix took over 20 minutes,
so I shut everything down and tried again. The second time, I managed to
get a decent fix in a little less than 20 minutes. Well, so much for quick
fixes.
I tried to convert the fixes I got to "stops" or "vias", and was totally
unable to get them registered. A little window kept popping up, telling me
that my point had to be within 62 miles of a road. Well, wasn't that nice
of it to tell me that. My house front yard borders on a major highway
through the area.
No matter how many times I tried it, the same things happened: very slow
fixes and no way to register waypoints (poi). I thought it might be a bad
loading of the software, so I deleted the whole thing, both files, and tried
again with exactly the same results.
Well, I figured that I had either defective software or a defective
receiver, so unloaded both software files. Much to my chagrin, I discovered
that unloading the software contaminated any other software programs that
used the USB port. I had two other USB files, one that my daughter used to
download her camera pictures and one that used an external hard drive. Both
of those programs were scrambled, and neither my my daughter nor I have been
able to get them back. Something wrong with the basic USB enabling software
as part of the Windows operating system. Next week, I am going to mail the
whole mess back to DeLorme as defective equipment. I hope no one else has
had this serious problem, it's worse than a virus!
Regards to all,
Dick Myers
From: Michael May <MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: e: Re: a little frustrating Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 22:40:40 -0700
Richard,
Mike At 03:07 PM 4/21/2005, you wrote:
Hi, Mike
Is this configuration specific? The reason I ask is because, on a daily basis, my sequence of actions seems to give different results! What I do is:
1. Load up the GPS software whilst still inside a building.
2. Switch off the BN V6,1.
3. About 20 minutes later, once I've made one bus journey and I'm outside waiting for the next, switch on the GPS receiver (it's a Magellan 310).
4. Once on my second bus, switch on the BN.
With this sequence, as soon as the BN is switched on, I get the "acquired satellites" message. Therefore, it would seem that the GPS is looking for and acquiring satellites independent of communication with the GPS software.
Regards
Richard Bartholomew
> ----- Original Message ----- >From: Michael May <MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:39:56 -0700 >Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: a little frustrating
>Robert,
>The receiver does not start looking for satellites until the GPS >application menu is loaded. >Mike
>At 06:43 AM 4/20/2005, you wrote: >>Robert,
>>It is best to turn the blue logger on outside when ever possible, and turn
>>it off when you are going into a building. It has to do with the memory of
>>the unit and it's last fix of sattlites and when you have it on indoors it
>>thinks you have had it off and traveled a long distance of miles like 2 or 3
>>hundred, so it goes through a entire new sat area look mode for it has no
>>updated sat. memory of the area.
>>hth
>>-----Original Message----- >>From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robert Carter >>Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 06:11 >>To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: a little frustrating
>>Hi,
>>I am using the pk and Blue Logger. Does the receiver start looking for
>>satellites when it is turned on or does it only start searching when the
>>gps software is started? I have been turning my receiver on inside using my
>>light probe to make sure that it is on and then walking outside and
>>starting the gps software. Am I shooting myself in the foot in terms of
>>acquisition time by turning it on inside?
>>Thanks,
>>Robert Carter
>>At 11:34 AM 4/19/2005, you wrote: >>>Hello,
>>>There are various reasons for your sluggish GPS receiver. Having to wait
>>>20 minutes for a fix is uncommon, so if this problem persists, please call
>>>Sendero tech support. Also, I am not sure if you tried turning the GPS
>>>receiver on and off again once you were outside, sometimes that is all it
>>>takes.
>>>Now for the possible culprits...
>>>It is common for the GPS receiver to take a while when it is first
>>>acquiring in a new location. It remembers your last location, so when you
>>>turn it on in the new location it is surprised by the different latitudes
>>>and longitudes. It will take a while to confirm that you have indeed
>>>moved locations, it would rather give you no information than bad
>>>information. The same goes for when it has been turned on indoors, hasn't
>>>been used in a while, or if the battery has recently run out of
>>>juice. Here is a complete description of why this happens from Charles
>>>LaPierre:
>>>"The GPS receiver keeps an internal almanac of where the satellites
>>>"should" be. This almanac is updated when the GPS receiver is linked to
>>>the satellites."
>>>"When the unit is first turned on it starts looking where it "thinks" the
>>>satellites should be based on its current almanac. If after a while it
>>>can't find these satellites in the positions it thinks they should be then
>>>it switches to a mode called Cold start where it forgets its current
>>>almanac and starts searching for all satellites. This happens because as
>>>far as the receiver is concerned the satellites should be in a particular
>>>position at a particular time for this particular part of the country but
>>>they aren't so the receiver starts over from scratch as if you just moved
>>>the receiver half way around the planet, and it rebuilds it almanac of
>>>where the satellites are."
>>>"Cold start or cold boot as they call it can take a while to obtain a GPS
>>>fix 5-10 minutes if you are lucky when out in an open area and the
>>>satellites are in a favorable geometry."
>>>Hope that helps,
>>>Kim Casey >>>Sendero Group LLC >>>888.757.6810
>>> At 05:13 PM 4/18/2005, you wrote: >>>>Hi,
>>>>I went for a walk during lunch today and I walked for 20 minutes before
>>>>gps 3.0 on my Voice Note running Keysoft 5.1 got a fix on some satellites.
>>>>Does anyone know why this might have taken so long to acquire a satellite
>>>>fix?
>>>>I just did a Voice Note warm reboot and then a reinstall of gps 3.0.
>>>>I know I could upgrade to keysoft 6.x and gps 3.1 but I can't afford to
>>>>right now.
>>>>Anyway, can anyone tell me what the problem could have been? I was in a
>>>>residential area with only a few trees and nowhere near tall buildings
>>>>and it was also a sunny day.
>>>>Thanks
>>>>-- >>>>No virus found in this outgoing message. >>>>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. >>>>Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.13 - Release Date: 4/16/2005
(8):[(8)
