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GPS issues
- Thread starter ckochinsky125
- Start date
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- samsung fascinate
D
Deleted User
Guest
I finally tested the GPS today from my small town for about a 30 mile drive to the nearest mid-sized city.
It took a min for it to lock on to my exact location, but once it did, it was spot on for the entire drive, and voice nav was working great except that the volume is really low even when it's turned all the way up. Hopefully it will be addressed.
I also checked the GPS Status and i was connected to 5/9 then 8/11 then 10/12. After that it was usually 8/10 to 10/12, but even when it dropped it was still spot on.
I will do some more testing next week during the week when i am out and about driving more. I was really surprised that it worked so well though.
It took a min for it to lock on to my exact location, but once it did, it was spot on for the entire drive, and voice nav was working great except that the volume is really low even when it's turned all the way up. Hopefully it will be addressed.
I also checked the GPS Status and i was connected to 5/9 then 8/11 then 10/12. After that it was usually 8/10 to 10/12, but even when it dropped it was still spot on.
I will do some more testing next week during the week when i am out and about driving more. I was really surprised that it worked so well though.
Don S
Android Enthusiast
This is interesting. I am trying it and having success. Although normally with all the settings enabled, I do get a initial several-minute GPS lock time, I usually have good success for quick locks after that. I will reboot a few times to try this more to see if there is anything to this though ..
II Kings 9:20
Android Enthusiast
Add Google maps as an icon to the home screen. I never use the "Nav" or "Car Home" on my D1, just the map icon.
Additionally, I "Navigate home" from anywhere I happen to be traveling by adding a google maps shortcut. You'll be prompted to name the shortcut and select an icon. I named mine "Home". It's a good idea not to put ones home address there in case the phone is lost/stolen. I navigate to a church about 8 blocks away. The nice thing with this is that it automatically goes to Navi with 1 click and to the nearest freeway etc. to get me home.
This is my first post on this forum but I just got my Fascinate and I confirm what
Gevis wrote. With the VZW location services enabled I got 0 satellites in view 0 in use and google maps showed my location as almost a mile off. When I turned the VZW location off I got 5 satellites In View and 4 In Use with an accuracy of 111.4 ft. I was in my house and google maps showed my correct location.
Gevis wrote. With the VZW location services enabled I got 0 satellites in view 0 in use and google maps showed my location as almost a mile off. When I turned the VZW location off I got 5 satellites In View and 4 In Use with an accuracy of 111.4 ft. I was in my house and google maps showed my correct location.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
In each case, which of the other two optional location settings ("Standalone GPS services", and "Google location services") were enabled?
We are still trying to discern what these three labels mean.
I am having a hard time getting GPS to lock. I have tried with 3G enabled, with WiFi enabled, VZW turned off and Google Location Services turned on (Standalone GPS also ON).
No luck.
It actually locked earlier today but it's very unreliable. With my Incredible, it locks no problem.
No luck.
It actually locked earlier today but it's very unreliable. With my Incredible, it locks no problem.
Where and when did Samsung state that the GPS issues were software related?
I just got a lock with GPS but it's been refreshing the screen (I'm sitting at home) and the initial direction (turn on street X) got progressively more accurate; it was off by a few blocks at first.
Boxytheboxed
Newbie
I can't get mine to accurately lock on inside, but when I go outside it is dead on as long as I give a minute to find me first.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
I am having a hard time getting GPS to lock. I have tried with 3G enabled, with WiFi enabled, VZW turned off and Google Location Services turned on (Standalone GPS also ON).
No luck.
It actually locked earlier today but it's very unreliable. With my Incredible, it locks no problem.
I suggest that the best thing to try is turning all three settings on. They are not mutually exclusive.
I suspect that one of these settings ("VZW" perhaps) enables aGPS services in MS Based mode, which probably should be on be default, and that another enables tower-based location services to help indoors. If aGPS (also called A-GPS) is disabled, then it would take a very long time to achieve satellite lock with Standalone mode alone.
Verizon did a pitiful job of documenting these settings, and the user manual is no help explaining what they do. Some marketing dweeb just made up the names (which mostly do not correspond to anything on other Android phones or even on other Verizon phones.)
Destination: Moon
Newbie
Seems everyone is having all kinds of experiences from good to bad. I have been looking at my unit and comparing it to my DINC (soon to be the wifes). I also have a Garmin C60 that shows the sats and signal strength.
My unit is working. Its not as good as the DINC but its way better than I expected. Both phones show much better indoor reception than my c60. The Dinc only takes a few seconds to acquire and lock on 7 to 10 sats.
The Fascinate is not nearly as fast or seemingly as stable. It also shows fewer sats in view nearly all the time. It is always dropping some signals and picking up new ones. Its like its never happy with the signals its getting and is continually dropping good ones to search for better. Either that, or the visual display updates on the DINC and c60 are are damped and not really showing all that is going on internally.
Now here is the strange thing, Even though the DINC sees more sats and reports a stronger signal from all of them (better antenna?) the accuracy figure reported by GPS Test is often better on the Fascinate. While the DINC can get down to 12 or 14 feet, the figure reported on the Fascinate is sometimes 4 or 5 feet. I am not sure this is correct. Not sure GPS Test gets the figure from the unit or calculates it but something is weird about the figure.
As for locking signal, I am wondering if the DINC is really always on and updating the gps system, even if the switch is off? The sats are always in motion and these units need to acquire a signal from at least one sat to update the data stream of sat locations and timing embedded into the signal. There is some degree of predictive ability in all these units but the DINC seems to know where the sats are and which ones to receive in too fast a time. The c60 is the slowest of the three and shows much fewer sats indoors compared to the phones. This in itself is pretty incredible. The c60 is a dedicated gps unit (but 4 or 5 years old) and can't hold a candle to either phone for number of sats in view when indoors.
My unit is working. Its not as good as the DINC but its way better than I expected. Both phones show much better indoor reception than my c60. The Dinc only takes a few seconds to acquire and lock on 7 to 10 sats.
The Fascinate is not nearly as fast or seemingly as stable. It also shows fewer sats in view nearly all the time. It is always dropping some signals and picking up new ones. Its like its never happy with the signals its getting and is continually dropping good ones to search for better. Either that, or the visual display updates on the DINC and c60 are are damped and not really showing all that is going on internally.
Now here is the strange thing, Even though the DINC sees more sats and reports a stronger signal from all of them (better antenna?) the accuracy figure reported by GPS Test is often better on the Fascinate. While the DINC can get down to 12 or 14 feet, the figure reported on the Fascinate is sometimes 4 or 5 feet. I am not sure this is correct. Not sure GPS Test gets the figure from the unit or calculates it but something is weird about the figure.
As for locking signal, I am wondering if the DINC is really always on and updating the gps system, even if the switch is off? The sats are always in motion and these units need to acquire a signal from at least one sat to update the data stream of sat locations and timing embedded into the signal. There is some degree of predictive ability in all these units but the DINC seems to know where the sats are and which ones to receive in too fast a time. The c60 is the slowest of the three and shows much fewer sats indoors compared to the phones. This in itself is pretty incredible. The c60 is a dedicated gps unit (but 4 or 5 years old) and can't hold a candle to either phone for number of sats in view when indoors.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
That is plausible. The SNRs being reported are not an absolute reading by some external probe or meter, but themselves are being estimated by complex calculations in the low-level logic of each GPS receiver. So be careful comparing SNRs across platforms; they may not be calculated identically. As for the GPS Test utility, it is just reporting the output of the listeners in the Android API, which in turn are fed by the low-level drivers from Samsung and Broadcom.
The accuracy number being reported is also just an estimate of the underlying GPS chip. To evaluate the final actual accuracy of the lat/lon coordinates -- which ultimately is what matters -- it is useful to use the Google My Tracks app to record tracks and compare them. You can even post those tracks with a link online so other users here can see for themselves. Best to try both driving and walking tracks, the latter being the tougher test.
Any decent GPS receiver should cache some of the almanac and ephemeris data once it is downloaded. This data only needs to be refreshed periodically (over a period of hours) How this is done depends on whether aGPS (also called A-GPS) is enabled. In any case, with the cached data on board, the final fixes from the satellites then can be done very quickly.
Also, don't be shocked that state-of-the-art smartphones can outperform older standalone GPS units. That is really to be expected. GPS chip technology has improved hugely over the past several years, and the Broadcom BCM4751 chip is state of the art in that manufacturer's inventory.
I think the problem might be that the VW location services is maybe triangulation with cell phone towers? and for some reason takes priority over the GPS.
On my Eris, there were only two options, Verizon location services and GPS location. Every time I had Verizon on, it would be off my up to a mile, if I had them both on, it'd be a little closer. If I turned off Verizon altogether, it would lock my location fairly easily.
On my Eris, there were only two options, Verizon location services and GPS location. Every time I had Verizon on, it would be off my up to a mile, if I had them both on, it'd be a little closer. If I turned off Verizon altogether, it would lock my location fairly easily.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
Hmm. Have you tried rebooting your phone? If not, can you try doing that, and then checking all three options? (The reason I ask is that there is a confirmed problem on the Sprint Epic, a sibling of the Fascinate, in which the Epic will fail to get a lock after a long period of not using the GPS. Rebooting in that case is a workaround.)
xliderider
Android Expert
Yes, if an update or a patch isn't released before the 30 day mark, then this Fascinate may be going back for an X. I use GPS daily, and so far the time to lock on the GPS signal/satellites isn't acceptable. Sometimes, I am several miles into my trip before the lock occurs.
Got GPS test going. Sitting beside a small south-facing window. Started out 1900 meters away. About 1 1/2 minutes in--9 satellites using 5. accuracy 22.7 ft. 4 minutes in -- 11 satellites using 6. accuracy 4 ft. Verizon location services off. Google and standalone on.
Nothing wrong with my nates GPS that I can see.
OK, maybe it takes 5.8 seconds to go from 0-60 instead on 3.8 seconds.
Damn, I didn't expect a Corvette when I bought the thing.
Nothing wrong with my nates GPS that I can see.
OK, maybe it takes 5.8 seconds to go from 0-60 instead on 3.8 seconds.
Damn, I didn't expect a Corvette when I bought the thing.
Lefty Writer
Lurker
Interestingly enough, this is one feature of the Fascinate that really doesn't matter to me. Being an avid geocachers (Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site), my wife and I have dedicated GPS receivers (a Garmin Vista HCx and an older Magellan eXplorist 500) as well as a Tom Tom One XL for the car. I'll be interested in comparing the accuracy of the Fascinate's GPS function with that of the handheld GPSr's and the Tom Tom.