How To gps accuracy fix!...... maybe

punkid · Dec 3, 2009

Back ground history first, skip to second paragraph for my fix.

I got the droid online when it released. I used this forum to answer all my pre and post buy questions with great results with even registering. My original phone (43/09) had the random reboot problem, it got progressevily worse and I finally swapped it today. I had zero problems with the return. I spent sometime with the new phone (39/09, odd right?) In the parking lot. Then on the way homde I tried google nav. It was weird it knew where I was kinda, but it kept searching for sats and never started to navigate me. at my house I tried to locate me but it was always way off (over a 1000ft). Well after reboots, battery pull and even a factory reset with no luck nothing seamed to help it. Any apps that used gps would not work, weather, compass, a dyno program. I found on this site an app "gps status" and it tells u how many sats you are using. So I had 2 sats above me and no lock.

Solution came from the help page of "gps status" he talked about re calibrating the magnetic sensors in the phone (classic figure 8 came to mind) but he said the theroy was to really spin the phone 3 times on each of its three axis. Well sure enough I did it, and before I was even done I was locked onto 6 of 7 sats, accuracy was with in 6 meters! So I went to google nav, everything worked perfectly!

I will keep an eye on it the next few days and post an updat. I hope this info helps

Arsonman · Dec 3, 2009

How did you see how many Sats you had locked onto?

Barbara · Dec 3, 2009

The above technique actually worked for me. I had to do it about 3 times so it may have just been a coincidence but I have the updated maps and I tried to get it to lock onto my location. After spinning the phone on all 3 axes 3 times, it had me right at my house. It was perfectly accurate.

Redflea · Dec 3, 2009

Arsonman said:
How did you see how many Sats you had locked onto?

IRRC, GPS status tells you...

Gunner · Dec 3, 2009

Haven't noticed any problems w/ my GPS accuracy. Has been pretty dead on since day 1. If you're sitting in the middle of your house or if you're in the middle of any sort of substantial building, don't expect the GPS to work. To be truly accurate, you need a clear view of the open sky.

kmfdmk · Dec 3, 2009

That's rather interesting about the magnetic sensor calibration. I'm not ruling it out, though I find it interesting that the mag sensors being misaligned/calibrated would cause the GPS receiver to go wonky.

Yeah GPS Status will give you a graphical as well as a text indication of the number of satellites locked onto.

Arsonman · Dec 3, 2009

kmfdmk said:
That's rather interesting about the magnetic sensor calibration. I'm not ruling it out, though I find it interesting that the mag sensors being misaligned/calibrated would cause the GPS receiver to go wonky.

Yeah GPS Status will give you a graphical as well as a text indication of the number of satellites locked onto.

Alright, another app downloaded. I think I am going to need a bigger phone.

Lisa W · Dec 3, 2009

Ok, I'm stupid but how do you:

really spin the phone 3 times on each of its three axis

Sorry, but this just doesn't make sense as to how to do this?

Gunner · Dec 3, 2009

They're saying.....lay the phone flat on a table, spin it. Put it on it's side, spin it. Hold it up on one end, spin it.

Although, I'm failing to realize how this would affect the GPS radio. The magnetometer has nothing to do w/ getting a GPS lock.

(Oh, and I've been using GPS Status since day 1. Great little app.)

Lisa W · Dec 3, 2009

Gunner, thanks for the help. I understand now.

aluman · Dec 17, 2009

That worked!!!!!!!!....wow....How in the world did you guys figure that out....

Thanks

UM

craiglester · Dec 17, 2009

wow.. I can usually lock onto 5 - 8 sats, accurate to 6 feet is the best i can recall.

Jim Dawson · Dec 17, 2009

My GPS works great EXCEPT, I'm a pilot and if I travel several hours with the phone in the "Airplane" mode, after I land it can take forever to get the GPS up again. Today after I landed it took a couple hours. It will work fine until I move it several hundred miles then turn GPS back on.

Gunner · Dec 17, 2009

All GPS receivers get 'jetlag'. They have to download new data from the sats and go thru the whole initialization process as if they were being used for the 1st time whenever you move them a large distance while they're shut off. You should wait until you're outside before turning the GPS back on - it will reinitialize and get a new sat lock faster.

milrtime83 · Dec 18, 2009

kmfdmk said:
That's rather interesting about the magnetic sensor calibration. I'm not ruling it out, though I find it interesting that the mag sensors being misaligned/calibrated would cause the GPS receiver to go wonky.

I'm confused too. I don't see how those two things are related at all.

droidpcguru · Dec 18, 2009

Arsonman said:
Alright, another app downloaded. I think I am going to need a bigger phone.

Lmao.. 186 apps here and 32 MB internal memory left..

lordgold · Dec 18, 2009

Mine's always been mind-blowingly, Big Brother status accurate. I can zoom in when I click My Location on Maps, and the dot will be the exact room in my house that I'm currently in. Scary.

BottledHate · Dec 18, 2009

mine has always been pretty accurate. i get to 6 meters within a minute. keep in mind the gps probably isn't going to be as strong as a powered stand alone.

lemodular · Dec 18, 2009

sounds like witchcraft to me.

I've been lucky(?), my GPS has been very accurate.

magnus · Dec 18, 2009

milrtime83 said:
I'm confused too. I don't see how those two things are related at all.

I wonder if this is what is happening. I have GPS status on my phone too.

When I am indoors, it takes a little bit of time to get a fix on satellites....sometimes if the order of a few mins.

I also do not understand how the magnetometer can mess with the GPS.
BUT I can vouch for the spinning on three axes calibrating the compass (magnetometer)

I wonder if what's happening is that the OP happened to spin while the GPS was searching for a fix. While it was just a matter of time.....he attributed it to the spinning that allowed him to get a fix.
The next time....the fix was quicker because it did not need to be re-calibrated since he had not moved too far from where it was last calibrated.

I could be wrong though

John Frykman · Dec 18, 2009

kmfdmk said:
That's rather interesting about the magnetic sensor calibration. I'm not ruling it out, though I find it interesting that the mag sensors being misaligned/calibrated would cause the GPS receiver to go wonky.

Yeah GPS Status will give you a graphical as well as a text indication of the number of satellites locked onto.

Gee, I hope you are normally able to lock on to more than 3 satellites. 128 meters is a couple of football fields. I normally can get 9-12, even inside my house.

Ivanhead · Dec 22, 2009

well, I just spun mine and now the gps is 200 ft off from the true attitude. WTF is with that? Spinning not that good.

How do you refresh lattitude?

John Frykman · Dec 22, 2009

Ivanhead said:
well, I just spun mine and now the gps is 200 ft off from the true attitude. WTF is with that? Spinning not that good.

How do you refresh lattitude?

There must be something wrong with your GPS. I've always been able to lock in within 10 meters or less with 10-12 satellites. I'd take it back to Verizon if that's the best you can get.

daddycat31 · Dec 23, 2009

worked like a charm on mine! my fix/sats number was at 0/10 before spinning it and it was 5/10 after spinning it. it also has me pegged dead on my house whereas before it was off by at least a mile.

abc · Dec 24, 2009

You shouldn't discount this spinning thing too quickly. From the point of view of people who didn't design the device, the auto focus bug being related to time didn't make sense either.

With that said, some GPS units make use of data other than from satellites to calculate it's position and velocity. Some GPS units are known to use internal sensors to help adjust their calculations. An example of this is the use of an inertial navigation system which uses rotation and motion sensors to aid in GPS tracking. So if the Droid does use its internal sensors for GPS error compensation, then having the sensors provide incorrect measurements would affect the GPS's accuracy.

How To gps accuracy fix!...... maybe

Lurker

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Member

Well-Known Member

Newbie

Android Enthusiast

Newbie

Lurker

Newbie

Well-Known Member

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Lurker

Android Enthusiast

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Newbie

Member

Newbie

Lurker

Lurker

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads