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Joined: 12/12/2002 11:57:47 Posts: 259 Location: East Yorkshire
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
I have just brought a Leadtek 9532 for my Ipaq. I powered the unit up while I was altering my brodit mount and got a first fix within minutes. By the time GPS Assist had loaded I had a 6 Sat lock.... WOW.
I then proceded to drive home from Basingstoke to Reading, that's where things went wrong. One minute I would have a good 3D fix on 7 Sat's then all of a sudden it would drop to nothing and then back to 6-7 again. This happened all the way home. I even tried the reciever on the roof for the last few miles of the journey and the same thing happened.
I am using TomTom Navigator and selected the NMEA 4800 driver. What is frustrating is that I had been using a NavMan jacket which although took a while to get a TTFF but it rarely lost the signal. Is there something I have not done, I just plugged the cable from the leadtek into the TomTom Ipaq cable I brought from PC World then plugged it into my ciggarette lighter, selected the NMEA driver in TomTom and everything seemed to be OK.
I have a new shape Ford Mondeo and positioned the Leadtek on the right hand side of the dash, this is the place where there is no heated windscreen element. I did try moving it to different places on the dash but still had the same problem.
I would really appreciate any advice from anyone as from what I have read the 9532 is an excellent reciever but I am a bit lost as to what to do next.
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
If you get the same problem with the receiver on the roof, then the windscreen won't be interfering. Strangely enough I've been seeing some reduced signals over the past few days usually I'll have a 7-9 sat lock on both my Leadtek 9531's, but the last few days I've been getting around 3-5. Although weather doesn't have a direct effect, ionosphere can cause problems, or anything that will dampen the signal. There are talks also about GPS being de-sensatised again leading up to the Iraq war. I'm not sure if any of this has had an effect on my setup over the past few days, but I have been receiving a weaker signal.
Joined: 12/12/2002 11:57:47 Posts: 259 Location: East Yorkshire
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
Dave,
Is the setting of NMEA @ 4800 OK, I see from the manual I downloaded the reciever can be used at different baud rates. Also is there any benefit of running the 9532 in SIRF mode. I am hoping it will sort itself out, For anyone reading this I paid £77 for the 9532 From a company called TDC in Basingstoke.
Joined: 02/09/2003 11:06:03 Posts: 13 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
I Had the same problem, see my posting about a problem with TDC and the 9532.
I also get the problem that when using TomTom, it will show 6 satelites in grey but no fixes. It will get a fix if my car is at a standstill for about a minute but loses it again when on the move.
I suspected a fault unit and TDC are supplying another one, I will let you know if the same thing happens, I had hoped that this was just a isolated problem.
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
It can be used at different baud rates, but this is mainly for SiRF. NMEA prefers to run at the slow speed of 4800. You can run in SiRF mode switching it with WinFast Navigator, but if you're using TomTom Navigator there's a major bug if you travel east of the prime meridian (Greenwiche). SiRF does boast a re-acquisition time of 10ths or 100ths of a second, but NMEA reacquisition is around a second anyway, so I don't really see much benefit. The only other thing that SiRF is supposed to be better at is power save mode, which won't affect you if it's plugged into the battery, and allegedly better canyoning, but again it's marginal.
90% of apps prefer NMEA. There may be a switch in years to come to SiRF, but most developers don't really see any key developments to run their programs defaulted to SiRF.
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
Quote: Originally posted by RichDem on 07 March 2003One minute I would have a good 3D fix on 7 Sat's then all of a sudden it would drop to nothing and then back to 6-7 again. This happened all the way home. I even tried the reciever on the roof for the last few miles of the journey and the same thing happened.
The same thing is happening to me with the Leadtek 9532, even when the car is stopped and I'm standing in open field. It jumps from a good 3D fix to nothing and then back to a fix with 6-7 sats for about five times. After that it functions well for awhile and then it goes again.
When I look at the satellite window I see that the signal strength is strong enough in TomTom and in OziexplorerCe, but there's no fix. In TomTom I tried it also as a NMEA @ 4800.
I have tried it at an iPaq and XDA, it gives the same problem.
Joined: 11/03/2003 08:29:43 Posts: 64 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:04 am Post subject: Leadtek 9532 Help
I did see this problem on my own unit, but since upgrading to TTNavigator 2, the problem has gone away. I think there was an upgrade of the GPS driver program.
When using the 9532 with Leadtek's own monitor program it has never happened at all, so I do not suspect a problem with the SiRF GPS unit, but the software in the Pocket PC.
Last April I purchased a Leadtek 9532 as a wired backup solution, just in case I should ever encounter a problem with my Socket BT.
Apart from a 5 min drive out test with it on the first day I got it, used it just once more later that same month to go to Nottingham without any problems whatsoever, but since then I've not used it again.
Yesterday, getting ready to go for a drive into for Sunday lunch at a country pub, I decided to hook up the Leadtek once again to check if it was all still in good working order.
It kept dropping all the time, losing fix and thus TomTom 2 map position, before locking on again, regaining map position for a short while before dropping again and so on. Very distracting.
Anyway I've just sat out in the car with pda and the Leadtek and just run a few very basic, non-scientific tests. I didn't drive the car for this as tired. First thing I noticed was that the cigarette plug adapter... well its quite a chunky thing isn't it... and it doesn't agree to well with my VW Golf. The adapter plug itself has a green led on it. When I plugged the Leadteck plug in to the cigarette socket (or whatever the real term for that is) the green light doesn't come on solid unless the plug is rotated a bit either in an anti-clockwise or clockwise direction. So once I did that I got a fix of 6 to 7 sats with the leadtek receiver on the dash. Hand cupped over it dropped to 5.. clasped over to 3 and then dropped... tried it on the seat and 4 for a while... put it in the footwell and 3 and then dropped... put it in the glove compartment and 4 for a while but dropped.. regained.. dropped. Back on the dash and 6 to 7 constant.
However noticed if I rotated the Leadtek plug slightly back to central in the cig socket.. whilst the green led on the plug looked green solid.. every so often would flicker and sat fix would drop before regaining. That only happened twice as I had to stop and come back in the house as cold and tired.
This is just theorising but guesing one cause might be the Leadtek's power socket in the cigarette lighter socket, if its not aligned perfectly to draw power (?).
Well I'm going to take the Leadtek out tomorrow to drop guests off at airport - first plugging the Leadtek in to make sure have a full solid green led connection, and then see how it fairs again.
I'm probably completely wrong and it still cuts out will look at some of the more advanced possible remedies.
It kept dropping all the time, losing fix and thus TomTom 2 map position, before locking on again, regaining map position for a short while before dropping again and so on. Very distracting.
It sounds like you have the Leadtek switched to SiRF mode, don't. Switch it back to NMEA as you will see this sort of activity in SiRF. I have never had a problem in NMEA at 4800 baud, the GPS has always retained it's fix unless driving under heavy foliage.
Doghead wrote:
So once I did that I got a fix of 6 to 7 sats with the leadtek receiver on the dash. Hand cupped over it dropped to 5.. clasped over to 3 and then dropped... tried it on the seat and 4 for a while... put it in the footwell and 3 and then dropped... put it in the glove compartment and 4 for a while but dropped.. regained.. dropped. Back on the dash and 6 to 7 constant.
Hmm, and the test proves what ? Cupping your hand over the Leadtek or in-fact any GPS is going to cause problems, and will drop sats or even lose you a fix. It's a physical obstruction. GPS really requires line of sight to the satellites. Some newer GPS's have higher sensitivity like the Emtac and will enable you to put it away in a glove box, but most won't allow you to do this.
Doghead wrote:
This is just theorising but guesing one cause might be the Leadtek's power socket in the cigarette lighter socket, if its not aligned perfectly to draw power (?).
Cigarette/accessory sockets in-car come in hundreds of different configs from different manufacturers, same goes for the plugs. You will always find some that don't fit perfectly together. I have 2xLeadtek's in-car permanently and they fit perfectly without a problem. However if you do have a problem it's better to get a longer shaft socket, like a 4-way block and this will stop a plug popping out, or you having to twist it to get a connection.
It sounds like you have the Leadtek switched to SiRF mode, don't. Switch it back to NMEA as you will see this sort of activity in SiRF. I have never had a problem in NMEA at 4800 baud, the GPS has always retained it's fix unless driving under heavy foliage.
Hi Dave,
Thanks - I've no idea how to look the settings or change them, but I will search the forums later today to try and to track down that info. No software came with my Leadtek 9532 although I'm hoping its downloadable. I'd really like to see if I'm on SiRF or NMEA.
Dave wrote:
Hmm, and the test proves what ? Cupping your hand over the Leadtek or in-fact any GPS is going to cause problems, and will drop sats or even lose you a fix. It's a physical obstruction. GPS really requires line of sight to the satellites. Some newer GPS's have higher sensitivity like the Emtac and will enable you to put it away in a glove box, but most won't allow you to do this.
Hee-hee. Ok points taken. My experiment was not so much as to but to try and just block out signal, but just to maybe simulate possible foilage/obstruction I'd had on my trip out on Sunday when the fix had been dropping far too easily -- whilst I was trying to isolate if the problem was related to Leadteks big plug for the cigarette socket, by rotating the plug to different degrees. Certainly once it was inserted firmly in and turned to a certain angle... it seemed during this limited test there was much less dropping of fix than there had been whilst out driving - so was just trying to determine if power issues with cigarette connection had been a factor.
My Leadtek cig plugin in the Golf is tempremental. Even when fully inserted the light does not show. It has to be teased around to get it right with the green light on the plugin to become and then stay solid. With the airport run this morning, having first ensured the Leadtek's plug was firmly in cig socket firmly and rotated to what appeared to be the best angle for the Leadteck' cig plug-in's green light to stay solid, it was much better than drive out yesterday, but still dropped 3 times or so.. and sometimes went to 0 sats without fully dropping before resuming.
Dave wrote:
Cigarette/accessory sockets in-car come in hundreds of different configs from different manufacturers, same goes for the plugs. You will always find some that don't fit perfectly together. I have 2xLeadtek's in-car permanently and they fit perfectly without a problem. However if you do have a problem it's better to get a longer shaft socket, like a 4-way block and this will stop a plug popping out, or you having to twist it to get a connection.
Good idea about the extension and it reminded me that I already have one of these adapters/extensions already (a double) which I'm going out to try out in a short while. Already I like the way the Leadtek's plug clicks firmly into place in one of the splitter extensions. Will go out soon and hoping that the adaptor's own plug fits snuggly in to place in the car's own cigarette socket. Thanks !
Well hooked up the extension in my car. The Leadtek adapter fits perfectly in to one of the extension sockets and clicks firmly in to place. Then plugged the extension's plug in to the cigarette lighter and seemed like more of a satisfying fit.
Set up the Leadtek 9532, and no immediate green light. Rotated the Leadtek's plug inside the extension a bit until got a solid green light. It seems happiest at a 12, 9, or 6 o'clock position if you know what I mean.
The plug and the cable still seems sensitive but nowhere near as much as before (it would seem).
Also with the extension I could position some of the cables out of nudging distance of my hand whilst driving, whereas before the cables were resting just infront of the gearstick, pressing up against Leadteks's big plug, and that itself protrudes out from the car cigarette socket into nudging range.
It might just have been my imagination during last nights quick "tests" but I'm sure the slightest flicker or blink, almost imperceptable, might have been responsible for the loss of fix. A power issue from the Leadtek's plug inside my particular car's cigarette socket which might have too shallow a shaft socket for the Leadtek's plug as Dave indicated. The cable itself to the plug also seems sensitive but can now keep that more out of the way whilst driving.
Got a full solid green light on the plug via the cig lighter extension, Leadteck plug firmly clicked in, and went for a spin test for half an hour around the country lanes. Never had one connection issue at all. Minimum of 7 sats but mostly 9 throughout - and didn't lose the sat lock once. I'm hoping my suspicion about the plug and the cable was right and this is a permanent fix for me. Perhaps I just got an overly sensitive plug/cable?
Thanks - I've no idea how to look the settings or change them, but I will search the forums later today to try and to track down that info. No software came with my Leadtek 9532 although I'm hoping its downloadable. I'd really like to see if I'm on SiRF or NMEA.
Hee-hee. Ok points taken. My experiment was not so much as to but to try and just block out signal, but just to maybe simulate possible foilage/obstruction I'd had on my trip out on Sunday when the fix had been dropping far too easily -- whilst I was trying to isolate if the problem was related to Leadteks big plug for the cigarette socket, by rotating the plug to different degrees.
I wouldn't rule the plug out, I've have a two-way splitter plug which gives me a deep and a shallow socket for an accessory plug, the deep socket works well, but most plugs won't stay still in the shallow socket and I have found in the past for them to work there way loose, not to ping out but enough to lose connection resulting me to have to twise the connector. I now don't use the 2-way splitter and use a 4-way with 1m flex and this has 4 deep sockets and works a treat. If you are losing connection on the earth pins or the main central pin, then it would be enough to drop the power and bring it back up again which could cause a blip.
The above image is very similar to the one I have but mine is a 4-way block and I have three of these plumbed into the car's electronics. Purchased mine from Maplins and they work a treat!
Doghead wrote:
Set up the Leadtek 9532, and no immediate green light. Rotated the Leadtek's plug inside the extension a bit until got a solid green light. It seems happiest at a 12, 9, or 6 o'clock position if you know what I mean.
Check the socket you are putting the plug into. Some only have earthing strips at specific intervals around the socket where some are completely round the whole of the socket. Sometimes the former can cause problems when you have to position the plug specifically to get it to work.
Doghead wrote:
It might just have been my imagination during last nights quick "tests" but I'm sure the slightest flicker or blink, almost imperceptable, might have been responsible for the loss of fix. A power issue from the Leadtek's plug inside my particular car's cigarette socket which might have too shallow a shaft socket for the Leadtek's plug as Dave indicated. The cable itself to the plug also seems sensitive but can now keep that more out of the way whilst driving.
So it's not the cable that's dodgy ? You might also have a dodgy contact on the center pin, one thing I've found with some plugs is sometimes they use stronger springs and this can also result in forcing the plugs out of the sockets slightly to lose a connection. Leadtek's for me have always been pretty good, but they may have changed in their later models.
I've taken onboard all the above. Good info; many thanks. My Leadtek 9532 seems to be working fine now I'm using the 2-way block socket extension.
[quote="Dave"]
Check out this article for more info.
Thanks. Nice program. NMEA = 4800 so have left it at that setting.
Dave wrote:
I have 2xLeadtek's in-car permanently and they fit perfectly without a problem. However if you do have a problem it's better to get a longer shaft socket, like a 4-way block and this will stop a plug popping out, or you having to twist it to get a connection.
You leave them in the car even permanently ... does that include at night when unattended... on display? I thought of doing this, leaving the Leadtek plugged in and on the dashboard to look like a kind of alarm type of deterrent... but decided not to.
Dave wrote:
The above image is very similar to the one I have but mine is a 4-way block and I have three of these plumbed into the car's electronics.
3 x 4-way blocks ! That would be great fun to be testing out a lot of gps devices at once !!
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