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Howarduk
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Joined: Nov 10, 2003
Posts: 241
Location: Essex UK
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 Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:21 am Post subject: First gps fix in foreign country |
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Hi Guys
Quick question, I seem to remember posted some time ago that when you travel to another country and then plug in your Sat Nav it takes about 30 minutes or thereabouts to obtain a fix. Is that still correct?
Howard
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mikealder
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Joined: Jan 14, 2005
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Location: Blackpool , Lancs
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:39 am Post subject: |
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| It depends on the distance, if you are only crossing to France from the UK then it should start up straight away, if you go to USA (significant distance) the GPS unit will have a different view of the sky, therefore different satelites so it needs to work out where it is first. Mike |
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Skippy
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Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12
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Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:55 am Post subject: Re: First gps fix in foreign country |
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The receiver predicts which sats should be overhead at any one time from it's almanac. If you move a large distance then that throws this prediction out and it's searching for sats that it will never see from your new location at the present time.
It does figure it out but it can take two or three times as long for a first fix from cold. It shouldn't take 30 minutes though.
Some recievers (ie Garmin) have a feature where you can tell it the new location (within a few hundred miles is OK) and this helps it to know which sats to search for.
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Border_Collie
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Joined: Feb 01, 2006
Posts: 2543
Location: Rainham, Kent. England.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | when you travel to another country |
If you include travelling to France, the signals are naturally lost when going through the tunnel but within 50 yards or so, after driving off the other side, its locked on again, so 30 miles or so is no problem.
| Quote: | | if you go to USA (significant distance) the GPS unit will have a different view of the sky |
Which mine thinks it has every time I switch on, as when I first go into TomTom it's looking for satellites West -South (It must think it's in South America), but once locked on it shows East - North. I can't understand why it reverts to looking W/S.
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Skippy
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Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Lost_Property wrote: | | Which mine thinks it has every time I switch on, as when I first go into TomTom it's looking for satellites West -South (It must think it's in South America), but once locked on it shows East - North. I can't understand why it reverts to looking W/S. |
Does it lock on fairly quickly (1 or 2 minutes) or does it take a little while (2 minutes or more)?
It may be that the internal clock in the GPS is not keeping good time and so it's prediction of where the sats will be based on the almanac is askew. Also, if the GPS has been off for a couple of weeks then the almanac may be out of date and the prediction will be all wrong.
It doesn't matter too much because within a few minutes it will get a lock on a couple of sats and bring it's almanac up to date so it knows exactly where to find the other sats.
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Border_Collie
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Joined: Feb 01, 2006
Posts: 2543
Location: Rainham, Kent. England.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Does it lock on fairly quickly (1 or 2 minutes) or does it take a little while (2 minutes or more)?
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If, for example, I park up and return within a few hours, it will lock within a couple of minutes or so. (Done outside my car because of the athermic windscreen, but once locked the screen doesn't appear to affect signals).
Last used 2 days ago. I've just switched it on to do a check and notice it is searching West - South again. 1 - 2 then 3 grey bars appear within about 15 seconds. At 2 mins 30 secs it locked on to 3 sats and started showing East - North. Another 1 min 20 secs and got lock on 7 sats.
The clock, as I type this, is showing 12:43:51 UTC.
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Border_Collie
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Location: Rainham, Kent. England.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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I just exited TT, switched off, waited 30 seconds, switched back on, started TT and notice it's searching West - South again, although it locked on in less than a minute. 5 sats.
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Howarduk
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Joined: Nov 10, 2003
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Location: Essex UK
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks very much for all the info guys.
Howard 
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Border_Collie
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Joined: Feb 01, 2006
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Location: Rainham, Kent. England.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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I've just realised I owe you an apology for kinda hijacking your post Howarduk. 8O Sorry. 
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Howarduk
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Joined: Nov 10, 2003
Posts: 241
Location: Essex UK
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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Not a problem, all the other information was also useful.
Howard
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Trevor1234
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Joined: Apr 30, 2005
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Location: Milton Keynes
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Howarduk
How long it takes to get a fix also depends on your GPS Receiver. Some are better than others. I have a BT 338 and that gets a first fix quickly. In the past I have turned it on (at Calais) as the Ferry bow doors are opening and have had a fix before driving off the boat. Yes, it depends on how far you have travelled from home and the receiver that you own.
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Howarduk
Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Nov 10, 2003
Posts: 241
Location: Essex UK
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 1:18 am Post subject: |
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The reason I was asking is that I intend to drive in Spain this summer and was wondering how long it would take to get a fix. The 30 minutes I was quoting I got from the very first time you put TT Nav and the PDA together, I thought it was going to be a similiar time I can see from all the answers I am wrong and it should only take a fraction of that time.
Many thanks to everyone that has replied, I had visions of getting in the car and then waiting for ages to get a fix before driving away, but obviously the wait shouldnt be that long.
Howard
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Lost1
Regular Visitor
Joined: Jan 30, 2004
Posts: 68
Location: Merseyside UK
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:17 am Post subject: |
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Hi Howarduk,
Just a handy hint for the return journey  .
If you are going to use the France Map when you get over there (I dont know what happens with the major routes map) you will notice that the favourite locations are blank. You can set the ferry terminal as your home location and it is so much easier to navigate back with a couple of quick clicks rather than having to enter the full address .
Once you are back in the UK and you switch back to the UK map all of your usual favourites will still be there.
I have done the journey to Spain twice and apart from 1 roundabout by Paris on the 1st return journey it has been completly trouble free. You just need to back up the navigation instructions with a bit of common sense as you would when driving over here in the UK. If the map shows you driving through a field and you are on a nice shiny new road then just wait for the new road to meet the old road and the route will re appear :D .
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Howarduk
Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Nov 10, 2003
Posts: 241
Location: Essex UK
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:58 am Post subject: |
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Many thanks Lost1
All your advice has been noted and will be used
Howard
_________________
Ipaq 214 WM 6.0
TT6.030
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Active Synch 4.5
MohairSofa Calendar+Today Plug-in Ver.2.5.2
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Pocket Informant 9.01 build2390
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Border_Collie
Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Feb 01, 2006
Posts: 2543
Location: Rainham, Kent. England.
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | you will notice that the favourite locations are blank. |
Er, yes, well no, not quite, because if for example you are travelling to France and using the France plus map, you would have set up your Home (which at worst will only be a short distance away, in most cases).
For the return journey you just tap Navigate - Home.
When I had TTN3 with GB + MRE and then upgraded to TTN5, I initially had GB plus and the France map. I later realised by re-installing using GB and the France Plus map, I no longer had to switch maps. Not really a problem, but at least using the plus map of the country you are visiting, you will get an ETA Home. If you want an ETA for the Port, you can add it in an itinerary as a Destination.
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