Gps Cannot Get Fix

I was at a friends house showing off my new toughbook....

lol, what a way to start a story, anyway I dumped a jug of water on it (brave move- and I sure hoped that all the ads showing this type of deliberate act of craziness wasn't going to backfire on me!)

The laptop lcd went black and my heart sank as I thought I had just killed my new toy! As it turned out I managed to power it off, then tip it up, clear off the water, powered it back on, and it is running fine!

The look on everyones face was priceless when I did it though, well worth it!

Then I had a guy - heavyset stand on it (lid closed of course!) and to top it off pushed it off the kitchen table! OPPS!! (yes it was running at the time!) This time I had to remove the battery since I couldn't turn it off!!! Now that had me worried for a second or two!!! But back up and running again.

I did notice though that the GPS board that is tucked under the battery had moved - antenna had come unplugged and also the small white connector- plugged them all back in and checked the gps.

Now the strange thing is I am getting streaming data on COM 4 at 4800 Baud but none of the GPS software I have seems to want to get a FIX on my location, even after running for 10 minutes or more.

I don't think this is related to the drop (I HOPE) since this happened the first day I got the laptop, then the GPS started working after playing with some COM PORT settings. Unfortunatly I don't remember what I did the first time to get it working again, and now I am stuck with NO GPS

Hoping someone has some ideas to try and get it working again. Thanks

 

Sounds like an antenna / connection problem. I dont suppose you have an external antenna with an MMCX connector on it to try?

 

No, but I could always order one...

Anyone have a working one for sale?

Actually, would I still get the streaming data if the antenna was no good?

 

Have you PM'd Toughbook for advice? Looks like its one he built, is that correct?

Yes, you would still get the streaming data...that GPS engine has an antenna built into it which will still be trying to aquire even without the external working properly. Does the external antenna on the display look ok? Meaning, does it look like it survived your torture tests?

 

You using the Jim Gray antenna?

I dropped one of mine (just the antenna itself, and a ton of stuff fell on top of it shortly after) and it's no good anymore. I'll dissect it some day...

This is the part about the external antennas though that I'm worried about. While they get the best sensitivity up in the LCD panel, they are vulnerable.

Until we can get a line on some GPS humps, we won't really have a good alternative either.


Edit; Let's eliminate some stuff though. Get GPSInfo and run that. Let me see what I can come back with from there, and see if we can figure out if it's antenna related or not.

However I gotta run bugly's inverter and RAM to the post office. Back shortly.

 

I'm not having good results with the 25mm square antenna in the hump...I have a 15mm on the way.

Did anyone try that P/N Tough2Go provided? DFKE0651ZA-0 FRONT COVER $20.30

It shows in stock at BumbleBee Stoves.?

What I'm thinking is it might have been the guy standing on it that damaged something with the antenna.

 

Running GPSInfo. Found GPS on COM4 4800 baud. Start GPS. Do a COLD start and SIRF Version shows GSW3.2.4_3.1.00.12-SDK003P1.00a. FW Version shows F-GPS-03-0701301
Data is streaming. Date shows 2006/10/28.Direction 0. Speed 0. Fix. NO.Sats at bottom show 20 10 31 27 19 07 04 24 16 28 26 29 but occasionally about half dissapear for a second. only sat 29 shows on the globe.

 

So far it sounds like an antenna issue.

Assuming Toughbook mounted the module opposite of how I do (I'm pretty sure he does actually), you can remove the battery, hold the toughbook upside down (with a power cord of course), and see if you get satellites that way.

If so, you've got a bad cable or antenna.

 

My laptop won't run on power cord alone... I tried that by pulling the battery and the machine powers off.

EDIT- helps when power cord is plugged in LOL OK typing upside down for a bit... I'll report back later when I can leave the laptop upstairs near a window!

 

External antenna "looks" ok. Not loose in direction.

Going for a beer...mabey not a good idea since thats what started the torture tests in the first place. I will leave the toughbook behind this time!!!

I will try the upside down test later tonight, perhaps that could prove out the antenna, last time though was a com port issue or setting issue, because I managed to get it working again!

Thanks for the super quick responses!

BtW - yes the GPS I believe was one of "Toughbook's" first with the external antenna on right hand of lcd mirroring the WIFI on the left. I think there are pictures of it here somewhere!

 

No problem. I wanna figure as much out about the GPS setup as I can, so in the future when anybody has a problem, we'll have a very fast easy solution to any issue at hand.

 

UPDATE: Just got back after having a beer (or two) and damnit if I didn't find a full strong fix on 11 of 12 listed Sats in WIN NAVIGATOR.

Obviously something I did had screwed up some settings. I have never seen it take so long to get a proper fix on the Sats.

The good news is the toughbook actually survived the abuse. The Gps antenna is still good. And all is well in the land of a VERY RUGGED LAPTOP. If I even dared to try what I did to this laptop with a "regular" laptop I would have been out $1500 quit easily. NO WAY any other manufacturer would have held up to what I put it through. I only wish I had a camcorder to record the event and put it on YouTube!!!!

Truly a RUGGED laptop.

 

Good to know.

I had some pretty loooong lock times after I pulled my unit off the shelf and started working with it again this week.

 

I am not sure exactly how the GPS works, I was using it on a daily basis and was use to seeing a very fast lock time of less than 2 minutes. Then for some reason.... perhaps the toughbook demonstration, and the antenna, adapter becoming unplugged, that the GPS lost power for a period of time. I guess it needed to be re calibrated. I am shocked at how long it took to do this as I expected 5-10 minutes at most. I wonder if this is related to the calculations required from an 800mhz machine and 12 Sat signals that need calibration.... although i doubt it, there may still be some other reason for the delay.

Word of advice to others trying out GPS for the first time..... allow 20-30 minutes of calibration before ruling out a defective GPS. I wonder if there was something running in the background that prevented a fast FIX? I may have to run a quick test, Setup a new user in windows with NO background tasks and see how fast I can get a Fix on a factory / Cold start of Gps!

 

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I think that voids the warranty

I seriously can't wait to try out some firepower on my dead 600 with the cracked 12".

 

Uh... Yeah... Warranty is definitely void.

 

I had a WARRANTY? I don't buy things for the warranty, I try to purchase items that don't need a warranty. I try to purchase items that work. I sure as hell didn't buy the toughbook because it "looks" rugged, I bought it because it "IS" rugged.

Sure my sales technique may be a little radical using a torture test to show off the toughbook, perhaps somewhat motivated by a beer or two, but the toughbook survived. I am now more than ever happy with the purchase. It is still going strong, The GPS is working again (with some fresh double sided tape to hold the board in place) And now I have 3 more people extremely interested in purchasing a toughbook.

Hell I think I want to buy another one to play around with... It is one thing to run mine through a little abuse but I am interested in doing a few MODS, and that means taking mine appart. I don't know if I can afford the down time if something goes wrong with a MOD since I use mine daily.

I may be in the market for a cheaper CF28 to try out some FM transmitter ideas I have.

Now where are my van keys.....I saw someone drive over a toughbook on youtube!!!

 

i think modly and grateful deadbolt are competing for the forum's biggest party animal award

 

'And the award for most abused Toughbook in a non-industrial setting goes to...'

Obviously Toughbooks present too much of a temptation when large amounts of golden beverages are consumed.
[considers beer, toughbook and Discover Channel show on catapults...]

 

David,

You crack me up... As much as it pained me to hear what happened... I'm glad it held together.

Let me know if you are any of your friends want one... I'll give them or you a hefty discount for a 2nd or 3rd.