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All things GPS

Is this a poll?

  • Yes, it looks like a poll.

    Votes: 42 26.3%

  • No, there is no way this is a poll.

    Votes: 31 19.4%

  • Why in the world is there a poll here?

    Votes: 87 54.4%
  • Total voters
    160
I can say this much, my original captivate was purchased on release day and had a batch number of 1006. The one I presently have is a 1008. The 1006's GPS worked after following a 'GPS fix' thread's directions. The 1008 locks on within a few seconds with no alterations made by me.
 
Count me as one who returned for a new Captivate and got a major boost in GPS performance. Both Captivates could lock onto Satellites but the new one has much better speed and accuracy when moving. It even keeps up with no problems at highway speeds. I have a friend who still has a Captivate from the first batch and we did a comparison test on the GPS... Observations are here: http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/187594-all-things-gps-23.html#post2088643
 
I have a 1007 and the gps was useable on jh6. After the jh7 ota, gps was great. I played around yesterday with the Phoenix rom (TLJL3) and the jh7 and I could get locks under 30 seconds on both from a cold start. This was doine in my room without a clear view of the sky. In lbstest, accuracy was 10 to 15 meters which is not the best, but its good for a cell phone. In my case, I dont believe its hardware, but a combination of modem and kernal.
 
I have Phoenix 3.0 w/TLJL3. Laying in bed last night I opened gps test. I got a lock on 9 sats with an acc of 32 feet within 10 seconds.
 
I have had my captivate since release date and have never once had properly working GPS. Ive spent hours on the phone with them to no avail. They have sent me new batteries, replacement phones, so far the replacements actually work WORSE than the original problem phone!

They have offered me ANY Att phone i want in exachange, EXCEPT the iphone.

The iphone is the only phone i would want, (i had 3 before switching to captivate).

Now i feel like a fool suckered in by ATT and Samsung into buying this and im stuck.

They offered me a $45 credit for the hassle, but still doesnt fix my problem.

I pointed out that its giong to be cheaper for me to drop att, and buy a Verizon iphone, and they still dont care?

Do i have any recorse?
 
The Captivate GPS just hasn't proven reliable enough for AT&T to be able to guarantee a fix for it and Froyo is nowhere in sight. Seems like you should take them up on the offer for different phone or switch to Verizon and get a great droid phone before January 16th, when the kill the new phone and early upgrade options.
 
jonE5 said:
Do i have any recorse?
Click to expand...

Have you tried flashing a different ROM? I never had working GPS prior to using Phoenix. It gives me quick locks and tracks well. If you have never flashed a custom ROM to your phone, do some research in the XDA-Developers forum, and make sure you understand what you are getting into. When (if?) you get comfortable with the process, you can turn your Cappy into the phone it was meant to be. The Phoenix thread is full of great people who are very helpful, and Adam has built a great ROM.

Good Luck!
 
The problem with flashing a different ROM is he risks voiding his warranty and AT&T will no longer offer him any further help or a free replacement. It's just a not a good solution if you are trying to work things out directly with AT&T.
 
I was lucky - I replaced my Captivate and the GPS is working perfectly now. I actually went to an AT & T service center and asked them to make sure the replacement phone was a new build. I was in and out of there in about 5 minutes. I knew in about 30 seconds of using Google Navigation that I had a fully functional GPS.
 
This thread has become difficult to browse through with every topic even hinting at being about the GPS getting thrown in here.

Edit: Maybe it would make more sense to make sub-forums out of hot topics rather than combining them into a stickied single thread in the main forum area. They always become impossible to read. Not just here but in every forum that manages hot topics that way.
 
This has been discussed ad infinitum, I've asked for PMs openly for any discourse on this whole subforum issue, not one person has taken me up on it.

In absence of that feedback, a _third_ mod has come in to help silently and try to figure out a proper organization for all of this.

Neither of us moved those posts here, btw, someone else on staff made that decision - just an fyi.

/off-topic discussion on this, we'll trim out further public complaints
 
When is anyone going to finally setup the android SDK, configure the DDMS.bat device debugger and actually record what the phone is doing while testing the GPS/mapping software?

Developers need the debugging output to even attempt to make a software fix.
 
FYI Everyone--I got a call today from executive services in response to the formal complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau. The guy listened to my story about the GPS not working. He told me that the problem was ridiculous and apologized. He refunded my money for the phone (the subsidized cost) and actually let me keep the handset.

If you missed my first post, here is the link to file a complaint:
United States and Canada BBB Consumer and Business Reviews, Reports, Ratings, Complaints and Accredited Business Listings

I since moved on to the Nexus One. Good luck all!
 
sharkhark said:
my canadian phone thru rogers is captivate and the 2.2 update done on wknd is not good so far. like some features but battery life was good before and now i am getting about a half days use.
my scrolling and use of features is laggy and jerky and nonresponsive.

but the gps? something i need in a totally unknown new city i moved to? it is great since the update. fantastic and fast and not quite up to iphone but very close and re gps alone...this is great.
Click to expand...


Cognition 3.01 uses this 2.2 update but it has the Voodoo lagfix included which takes care of the nonresponsive issues.

And yes, the GPS is great now. It looks like Samsung has figured out the GPS problems and have included the fix in this 2.2 update. This is the best my Captivate has ever run.
 
dell21 said:
Cognition 3.01 uses this 2.2 update but it has the Voodoo lagfix included which takes care of the nonresponsive issues.

And yes, the GPS is great now. It looks like Samsung has figured out the GPS problems and have included the fix in this 2.2 update. This is the best my Captivate has ever run.
Click to expand...

So, where does someone who has never hacked a phone find EXACT, COMPLETE description of how to load such an update? And can you save the current state to go back to it?
 
I watched the videos the first few times I flashed. After that, its stuck in my head. I flashed close to 30 times since New Years and I can do it real fast now.
 
Keep in-mind that using Cognition 3 will prevent AT&T apps from appearing in the market. It also doesn't appear to support the Audience chip (voice-processing and noise-canceling hardware in the Captivate) although I've tried to get confirmation about this from DG but without success.

Every ROM has issues.
 
Well, then that brings up an interesting question...is there any place that "reviews" the various ROMs and shows a comparison of what they "put in" and "take out?"
 
I joined this forum just for this post, I'll remain active and add to it, but after reading the following quotes I've been compelled to say something.

Now first off, it's very unlikely that any GPS device is actually showing S/N or signal to noise ratios but rather C/N or carrier to noise ratio. Because C/N tells you how strong the carrier wave is being received, where as S/N is only telling you how clear that wave can be read. A low C/N can make an S/N impossible to figure out, ex. if a person whispering it too silently you can't hear the words well enough to tell what he/she is saying. Thus C/N is more important for this use.
I learned this after about 5 hrs of web research.

Rred said:
And since no users--absolutely none, as far as I can see, on any forum--have ever posted GPS signal to noise figures for these phones that match the numbers on real GPSes, we can only assume these GPSes are all sub-par
Click to expand...

and

Rred said:
If it was just a quality control issue, with some phones being good and others not so good, surely the folks with good phones would be able to post objective confirmation of that? Folks out there who simply haven't mentioned that they really have been able to get 50db or better signal strengths from the birds?

Forget the folks who are intimate with GPS, who navigate ships and planes and run surveys, but anyone? Anyone at all? Anyone seen a Captivate post the same s/n numbers as any GPS made in the past five years?
Click to expand...

As stated above I'm working on it. Tho i'm still trying out devices to use, i'll post a video of devices side by side with my Cappy. So people can see that the numbers arn't all that poor, and that the C/N of a completely stationary device will fluctuate rather oddly.

Rred said:
Are you getting s/n numbers for the satellites around 30-35db, the typical poor numbers from problem phones? Or has the ROM fix brought that up to 50db or higher, where other GPSes would see them?
Click to expand...

Please read here In this link search "TEST METHODOLOGY"

It explains that 35 dB-Hz is ideal as a higher GPS signal must be "toned down" so it can be understood. My personal best in some prelim testing for the video I'm gonna post was 42 dB-Hz. Tho I must add I have a 1012 build that had 2.1 update-1 already installed right out the box. So I can't speak for all the Cappys out there.

For any one doing comparisons to other GPS devices of phones with GPS as Rred had posted 5 Meters (15 ft) is really the best GPS alone can do. Anything that consistently gets closer then 15 ft MUST be relying on something more. Be it WAAS or the GPS of a different country or some other such Assistances (aka AGPS) to hone it down, my handheld GPS (designed for hiking) that uses WAAS can be as accurate as 3ft tho thats super rare, 8~12 ft is average.

Here are some links about the accuracy for GPS if you guys need more for convincing.
Garmin
The "offical" GPS site
what Wikipedia has to say
Non-US "GPS"
The FAA
Garmin - WAAS
Wide Area Augmentation System - Wikipedia
Note: WAAS is only for the Continental USA & Canada.

P.S. durring previews of the post the Garmin sites were not consistanly redirecting tho I did everything correct...
 
Something I came across today...
GPS Review.net

Look at the screen from the TomTom. In particular look at the gray line and the number on the bar closest to the line, 34, then as you can see the highest value being 39 can allow us to guess that a C/N of 50 may very well be the above any reasonal expectation.

12,550 miles (20,200 km) is how far the GPS transmitter is from your device, you want stronger signals go climb a mountain.

Something else for us to read GPSReview.net A-GPS

Side note: I'm having a hard time finding a way to directly interpret the typical "satellite page" that GPS devices show and an even harder time finding a way to get the actual numbers. AKA the difference between GPS Status and LbsTestMode. Also I'm currently stuck with two Garmin devices hoping to find a different manufacture before I post a vid.
 
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