3450 Reception? Whats it like

[Dave]

There was a slight enhancement between 3000 and 3400 but very marginal from what we were told by Navman. The biggest changes are between 3400 and 3450.

[onbashi]

I think they have done a grand job too!, even if it does lose fix in certain places it's comforting to know that the reacquisition will work as and when clear line of sight is available.



You must admit that the 3400 did have bad behaivioural problems! or maybe the unit I had was not working as it should from the day I bought it.



Oh and Dave, the anti-static quick fix works ok on the 3450 as well, i've noticed marginal improvements
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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[Dave]

The 3450 really is an improvement over previous sleeves. The problem is that Navman can't really broadcast this in their advertising too much, because if they do, they're making their other products look bad.



We've always been hampering on about the 3000 and 3400 performances being lack lustre, but it's good to see Navman have addressed these issues (finally!).

[onbashi]

Ok, so here it is, I have it, its here, my new 3450, a gift from a lovely friend. All I can say so far is YYYYep!!! I'm satisfied, I'm getting 5-6 sat fixes inside my room 6ft from the window! and the TTFF, well lets just say Mmmmm! no more waiting around in my van like a plonker whilst my bosses are standing there !

no seriously, this is THE upgrade to the 3000-3400 sleeve that everyone has been waiting for sfi1 if your reading this mate, sod the unlocked software just go for the 3450 mate its impressive!.

I have seen 11 sats on the m11 (birchanger)and I was stuck in the m25 a10 tunnel for ages, but when I got through it reacquired its fix in nanoseconds! well little exageration maybe about 2-3 seconds. SUPERB!!!
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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[onbashi]

wow now that would p*** me off!



Dave, you mentioned the possibilities of other sources of RFI in a vehicle, do you know what these could be or what might cause it??
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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[Dave]

The 20 mins is inherant of the Navman 3000/3400 sleeve, especially when you're moving, most GPS Receivers will only take up to 5 mins whilst moving to acquire a fix, the older Navman sleeves was much worse, sometimes taking up to 40 mins!

[onbashi]

sfi1, you beat me to that reply!!!



gambitgander, I also own a usb haicom 202e receiver that i use with autoroute on my laptop and I must say that i have NEVER! had a problem with it in central London, re-acquisition times are lightning (1-3 Sec) even when i'm stuck in traffic under a bridge for over 10 mins and this is not particularly a high spec receiver, so it goes to show that some units suffer far more than others.
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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[sfi1]

Trouble is when it does loose the fix it can take at least 20 mins to recapture it and thats not travelling down roads full of skyscrapers. Very frustrating.

[gambitgander]

I think you'll find that all stand-alone GPS receivers will experience problems in built-up areas. Even my Garmin Street Pilot III loses it's fix around central London.
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Who's Your Daddy?

[sfi1]

That's the crucial question we'd all like answered before spending about £169 on the 3450 receiver. At this stage i'm still not convinced. Shame we can't try the unlocked version to see what is possible. Are there any 3450 owners using it in the built up areas of central london ?.

[onbashi]

Quote: onbashi, for the record I used to commute up to London a lot by car, and the 3000 sleeve and 3400 sleeve I have had very few problems with. The only time I would find it would usually lose a fix was going under one of the bridges along embankment or round the back of Tower on the road that leads from liberty bounds to tower (there's a few bridges/underpasses along there). Generally signal strength was around 5-6 sats, and I never had much of a problem. Even around some of the taller sky scrapers around Lloyds, Leadenhall Street etc. I'm not sure about your setup, but it may be to do with a heat reflective windscreen, or where you have the receiver located, or perhaps down to a faulty receiver or other RF interference within the car.

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I have problems in these areas and never have more than 3 and on occasion 4 sats throughout central London, so do you reckon the 3450 will sort this out???


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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[onbashi]

i have read that the 3450 has a surfII/LP, this is supposed to be excellent right?

can anyone tell me if it has good sat pick up capabilities compared to other recievers including the 3400?
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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[sfi1]

Dave



I was told by navman that the 3000 and 3400 are exactly the same receiver. I guess it must be the luck of the draw as i use the 3000 with smarst in the area you described and have TTFF problems even in the open air. However if you drive into the area with a current fix it seems better!.

[onbashi]

something strange that i have noticed is that ever since my ipaq returned from repair with the latest rom, its seems to lock onto less sat and tends to loose the lock very quick, ive only really noticed a major problem in central london. the unit is placed in my ford transit of which doesnt have a heater coil or asthermic screen, it has a dirty screen!! , but no seriously a friend of mine has the same setup and rom version and is suffering the same problems, so im confident that the receiver works, maybe a 3450 will help
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In The Land Of The Blind The One Eyed Man Is King!

[Dave]

sfi1, there won't be any comparison soon as the 3450 was a loan which has now been returned. We do have a 3000, 3400 and Emtac sleeve though. I can say one thing and that was, I was impressed with the 3450. I sat in my car for 2 hours straight doing TTFF tests and everytime the 3450 came out faster than the 3000 and 3400/3420 sleeves. The Emtac sleeve is good, but won't work with the unlocked 4400 version of SmartST Pro when Darren tested it. This is down to the way Emtac stealth the com ports.



onbashi, for the record I used to commute up to London a lot by car, and the 3000 sleeve and 3400 sleeve I have had very few problems with. The only time I would find it would usually lose a fix was going under one of the bridges along embankment or round the back of Tower on the road that leads from liberty bounds to tower (there's a few bridges/underpasses along there). Generally signal strength was around 5-6 sats, and I never had much of a problem. Even around some of the taller sky scrapers around Lloyds, Leadenhall Street etc. I'm not sure about your setup, but it may be to do with a heat reflective windscreen, or where you have the receiver located, or perhaps down to a faulty receiver or other RF interference within the car.

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