All things GPS

Buddha64 · Mar 9, 2011

fldude99 said:
I've read I don't know how many posts of people getting gps locks indoors. For one thing, I don't know how that's possible without a view of the satellites, but for another-who cares if it can get a lock indoors or not? So far I can still navigate to the bathroom at all hours of the day (that could become an issue in a few years however)

The GPS signal is just part of the electromagnetic spectrum, so of course it is possible to get a signal indoors. But that seems to be the measurement standard for a working GPS for many.

If I got a great GPS signal indoors, I'd be worried about my A/C or heating bills, because there isn't any insulation in the walls or ceiling to attenuate the signal.

reinbeau · Mar 9, 2011

Buddha64 said:
The GPS signal is just part of the electromagnetic spectrum, so of course it is possible to get a signal indoors. But that seems to be the measurement standard for a working GPS for many.

If I got a great GPS signal indoors, I'd be worried about my A/C or heating bills, because there isn't any insulation in the walls or ceiling to attenuate the signal.

Unless you're near a window you are not getting a GPS signal indoors. You're getting signals from cell towers. Really, GPS does not work indoors, without a view of the sky somehow.

Girevik · Mar 9, 2011

I don't use my gps much, but before the update I was relatively okay with it. Honestly, I'm not sure if I've really tried since the update, but the last couple of times I tried I could not get a lock. But the weather has been bad and I don't know how big a role that plays.

Has anyone else had problems since the upgrade?

Tennis · Mar 9, 2011

It's a Captivate.

Girevik · Mar 9, 2011

I downloaded a gps test app today, and am wondering why it's showing 6 and 7 satellites, but none are "in use". They are all grey. Why would that be?

stephlu2k · Mar 9, 2011

mine got worse after FROYO, then I found in the forum someone said to use GPSrestore (in market, by Samsung). I tried that, seems to work better, although not perfect. I also downloaded GPSstatus and found satellites while in the house.
I had to do a factory reset because my battery wasn't holding up after FROYO (battery still not good), so had to reinstall everything again. DIdn't bother with GPS restore nor GPS status. I tried navigation today, with "wireless networks" off, it was spot on and maintained lock all the time. I then put the phone in aireplane mode, and guess what, I saw my little triangle move perfectly along my route (no big circles) on google maps! I couldn't navigate because navigation requires data, but apparently GPS works great! Now i just need to find a stand alone map and can then take it out of the country!

fldude99 · Mar 9, 2011

stephlu2k said:
mine got worse after FROYO, then I found in the forum someone said to use GPSrestore (in market, by Samsung). I tried that, seems to work better, although not perfect. I also downloaded GPSstatus and found satellites while in the house.
I had to do a factory reset because my battery wasn't holding up after FROYO (battery still not good), so had to reinstall everything again. DIdn't bother with GPS restore nor GPS status. I tried navigation today, with "wireless networks" off, it was spot on and maintained lock all the time. I then put the phone in aireplane mode, and guess what, I saw my little triangle move perfectly along my route (no big circles) on google maps! I couldn't navigate because navigation requires data, but apparently GPS works great! Now i just need to find a stand alone map and can then take it out of the country!

I used mapdroyd when in South America recently and it worked real good

Girevik · Mar 9, 2011

stephlu2k said:
mine got worse after FROYO, then I found in the forum someone said to use GPSrestore (in market, by Samsung). I tried that, seems to work better, although not perfect. I also downloaded GPSstatus and found satellites while in the house.
I had to do a factory reset because my battery wasn't holding up after FROYO (battery still not good), so had to reinstall everything again. DIdn't bother with GPS restore nor GPS status. I tried navigation today, with "wireless networks" off, it was spot on and maintained lock all the time. I then put the phone in aireplane mode, and guess what, I saw my little triangle move perfectly along my route (no big circles) on google maps! I couldn't navigate because navigation requires data, but apparently GPS works great! Now i just need to find a stand alone map and can then take it out of the country!

So if it wasn't the GPS Restore app, what do you think did the trick for you?

db8max · Mar 9, 2011

stephlu2k said:
mine got worse after FROYO, then I found in the forum someone said to use GPSrestore (in market, by Samsung). I tried that, seems to work better, although not perfect. I also downloaded GPSstatus and found satellites while in the house.
I had to do a factory reset because my battery wasn't holding up after FROYO (battery still not good), so had to reinstall everything again. DIdn't bother with GPS restore nor GPS status. I tried navigation today, with "wireless networks" off, it was spot on and maintained lock all the time. I then put the phone in aireplane mode, and guess what, I saw my little triangle move perfectly along my route (no big circles) on google maps! I couldn't navigate because navigation requires data, but apparently GPS works great! Now i just need to find a stand alone map and can then take it out of the country!

Try Co-Pilot Live. You download the maps onto your SD card. The app transforms your Captivate into an expensive looking dedicated Nav system. But it does cost! I think it is probably the best Nav App out there for Android.

DaNaRkI · Mar 9, 2011

Girevik said:
I downloaded a gps test app today, and am wondering why it's showing 6 and 7 satellites, but none are "in use". They are all grey. Why would that be?

It has to do with a signal "lock"; where the phone knows for sure which satellite it's hearing, and what is being said. The way GPS was designed, all the satellites are sending the exact same message in the exact same way at the exact same time with only a very small bit of data specific to each satellite. This is why it takes so long to "find" a satellite.

reinbeau said:
Unless you're near a window you are not getting a GPS signal indoors. You're getting signals from cell towers. Really, GPS does not work indoors, without a view of the sky somehow.

Not true, even my old Garmin Vista Cx can see some signals from inside my house, tho not as well as my phone. The Gov't has been improving the satellites and the signal they send, since when I first got my Garmin it was impossible to get a signal if I was even close to a building, but now it actually gets 3 or 4 even in my basement.

- - - - - on a speerate note - - - - -

My phone is a 1012 build, stock w/ 2.2 update. I noticed they made some changes to how the phone reads its sensor data via new info dispalyed in LBSTestMode. Including showing the difference in what time the satellites read to what time my phone says.

Anyways, today I finally got a chance for a lil road trip to see how well it could nav. I used Google Nav since I have no others and i'm not paying AT&T a single penny past the required phone services. It tracked my car as well as I could possibly ask. Its choices of roads to take I didn't agree with, but thats always been the case with me and nav systems. Tho everything is not perfect, as it was getting very very warm... I donno if it was google nav using so much processor or the GPS working so hard or a mix of both but for that alone I'll just stick with a device who's job is GPS and navigation.

Girevik · Mar 9, 2011

DaNaRkI said:
It has to do with a signal "lock"; where the phone knows for sure which satellite it's hearing, and what is being said. The way GPS was designed, all the satellites are sending the exact same message in the exact same way at the exact same time with only a very small bit of data specific to each satellite. This is why it takes so long to "find" a satellite.

I've tried for several minutes, and even then my 6 or 8 sattelites never get a lock. That jus seems strange to me.

reinbeau · Mar 9, 2011

DaNaRkI said:
Not true, even my old Garmin Vista Cx can see some signals from inside my house, tho not as well as my phone. The Gov't has been improving the satellites and the signal they send, since when I first got my Garmin it was impossible to get a signal if I was even close to a building, but now it actually gets 3 or 4 even in my basement.

Reflected signals - yea, they bounce around, but trust me, if you were in the middle of a large building, with no windows around you, you would not get any GPS signals from satellites. True fact. Repeaters, maybe, but straight signal won't get through.

SuFuCru · Mar 9, 2011

I have a 1012 build on stock Froyo and the GPS works, but now I'm noticing that it's only when I do the GPS restore. So anytime I want it to work now, I have to run the restore first, which pisses me off.

I'm getting real close to flashing a custom rom.

Buddha64 · Mar 10, 2011

reinbeau said:
Reflected signals - yea, they bounce around, but trust me, if you were in the middle of a large building, with no windows around you, you would not get any GPS signals from satellites. True fact. Repeaters, maybe, but straight signal won't get through.

In the middle of a building - jeez... No one said anything about getting signals in the middle of a building. 100 people will tell you they get signals inside, and you'll add yet another qualifier... "Yeah, but not in a lead shielded box!! Na na boo boo."

Now I remember why I blocked you - you're a fraking know-it-all. Time to make that happen again.

reinbeau · Mar 10, 2011

Buddha64 said:
In the middle of a building - jeez... No one said anything about getting signals in the middle of a building. 100 people will tell you they get signals inside, and you'll add yet another qualifier... "Yeah, but not in a lead shielded box!! Na na boo boo."

Now I remember why I blocked you - you're a fraking know-it-all. Time to make that happen again.

Block me if you want (I haven't an ounce of worry about it), it doesn't make you right. GPS signals do not penetrate buildings.

DaNaRkI · Mar 10, 2011

Girevik said:
I've tried for several minutes, and even then my 6 or 8 sattelites never get a lock. That jus seems strange to me.

Just how long have you been willing to let it try? If I've not turned on the GPS after a fairly long span of time it's taken up to 15 min to finally get a lock, hold it and work accuracy down.

Also, are the satellite numbers (id #, not signal #) staying constant or jumping around? If so, then the phone is giving a false reading because it thinks it's hearing say #6 when it's really #9 since message only have that tiny difference.

Even on my Garmin some satellites just never get a lock.

If nothing else maybe try a different GPS app to let it learn where it is, personally I prefer GPS Status over GPS Test, and the built in BLSTestMode above all else since it came with the phone. I used anycut and made an icon on my home screen it.

reinbeau said:
if you were in the middle of a large building, with no windows around you, you would not get any GPS signals from satellites.

... in my house, I'm not talking about standing in the basement of some office building 3 stories underground, nor deep inside some cave, nor a tunnel cutting thru a mountain. My House

Girevik · Mar 10, 2011

DaNaRkI said:
Just how long have you been willing to let it try? If I've not turned on the GPS after a fairly long span of time it's taken up to 15 min to finally get a lock, hold it and work accuracy down.

Also, are the satellite numbers (id #, not signal #) staying constant or jumping around? If so, then the phone is giving a false reading because it thinks it's hearing say #6 when it's really #9 since message only have that tiny difference.

Even on my Garmin some satellites just never get a lock.

If nothing else maybe try a different GPS app to let it learn where it is, personally I prefer GPS Status over GPS Test, and the built in BLSTestMode above all else since it came with the phone. I used anycut and made an icon on my home screen it.

I'm not sure it was 15 minutes, but certianly longer than the 30 seconds folks are talking about.

Will BLSTestMode continue to run when the phone sleeps, or will JuiceDefender shut off GPS? The best test I could probably do is start the test on my drive home form work and let it run for the 20-30 minutes and see what happens, but I'm not really sure what to look for in BLSTestMode.

If if consistently takes 15 or 20 minutes, though, it's pretty pointless. It used to connect pretty quickly.

askpcguy · Mar 10, 2011

I have seen this problem; LbsTestMode will show satellites but not lock. The lock is shown at the top, Latitude and Longitude will have numbers indicating your position. These numbers will change which indicates a position lock.

The best suggestion would be to read for a few minutes on the settings within LbsTestMode, and start to experiment with various settings until you happen upon a combination which works for you.

Then there is the option to root the phone, and try a custom ROM (see Captivate Android Development - xda-developers) or you could root and try one of the GPS fixes.

I am using Cognition 4.11 and have not made any changes in LbsTestMode other than using the supl.google.com server on port 7276 with Secure Socket off. A short drive yesterday demonstrated pretty good GPS performance in Google Maps.

Girevik said:
I'm not sure it was 15 minutes, but certianly longer than the 30 seconds folks are talking about.

Will BLSTestMode continue to run when the phone sleeps, or will JuiceDefender shut off GPS? The best test I could probably do is start the test on my drive home form work and let it run for the 20-30 minutes and see what happens, but I'm not really sure what to look for in BLSTestMode.

If if consistently takes 15 or 20 minutes, though, it's pretty pointless. It used to connect pretty quickly.

qwertyaas · Mar 10, 2011

Just got my refurb this week - 1007 build running Supernova...

SuFuCru · Mar 10, 2011

GPS Aids works! GPS Restore would work, but only momentarily. I think the other thing is to not turn the GPS off at all.

I downloaded the GPS Aids fix using the brute force method for root and got a stronger and faster sat fix on the GPS Test than with just GPS Restore. If this is a stable cure, I will be happy.

I have a 1012 build btw.

mmoffitt9241 · Mar 10, 2011

Just wondering what this symbol is that's on the camera screen of my wife's Captivate. It's not there on mine. It looks like a dish (satellite) flashing when you open the camera app. I've posted a crappy picture of it. I was thinking it may have to do with geotagging the pics but can't figure out where the setting is or how to turn it on/off...

Thanks!

blackhemi · Mar 10, 2011

yes, its for geotagging. in 2.1, there was a setting that allowed you to turn it on and off. with 2.2, I cant find it.

jetpuck73 · Mar 10, 2011

I have the same thing on mine.

Check this out - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=856627&page=2

mmoffitt9241 · Mar 10, 2011

The weird thing is though that it doesn't do it on my Cappy...just the wife. I upgraded to 2.2 on both phones on the same day...weird...and GPS is turned off...

fldude99 · Mar 10, 2011

^^^Nice! Keep us updated on how it works after a few days

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