GPS - "no coverage message"

Big Al · Veteran Member

GPS - "no coverage message"

milo · Guru

i know mine latly it takes a while for the satelites (old tom tom go 500)
you may have to up date the maps too,

coyotte · Veteran Member

I used to use a Tom-Tom, it was at the time rated the best on the market by Choice, it turned out to be a load of rubbish --- so much for Choice!!!!

would often come up with no coverage but the the worst (in rural areas) was it would claim bridges or roads where closed and send you off on some whacko route, even though it was reguarlly updated

have since replaced it with the top model Naveman and have had no problems -----
BUT they are no replacement for good Hema maps ---- allways check with the map first.

just my two bobs worth

Coyotte

jimricho · Guru

Hi Al,

Firstly check that the unit is mounted in a position where it can "see" enough sky to receive the satellites. If it's mounted on a suction cup on the windscreen as is usually the case with "after market" GPSs this should not be an issue. If this is not the problem then it may be that the unit is faulty. I'm not familiar with Tomtom but there may be an initialisation procedure that could be worth trying. Tomtom owners may be able to help here.

Re the "dodgy" directions that GPSs give, the info is only as good as the data and the algorithms in the mapping software and this is not as good as it should and can be. Comparing the data with Google Maps proves this point. It may be worth playing with navigation options such as "fastest time", "shortest distance", "avoidances" etc. Again Tomtom owners may be more helpful here.

coyotte's remarks about always checking with the map first is a very valid one.

Jim

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

I have a Garmin GPS. My thoughts are unless you pay big money for a high-end model treat then as an indication only, especailly in remote areas (Eg. anything outside cities and towns). Mine has lead me astray a few times indeed. And the routing on them, or at least mine is stuffed up, it doesn't want to know about Ring Roads or Bypasses, as far as it is concerned they either don't exist or it wants to take you away from them. This is regardless of settings.

Some months back just for the hell of it I let it take me from Geelong to Healesville, it had me going down goat tracks, out the back of Greensborough, if I had of kept blindly following it I would have been in a bit of trouble not been able to turn around.
Also, on the way back to Geelong it took me a completely different way!

I have a lot of (normal) maps, so I treat the GPS as a rough guide only especially in the sticks, its great for towns and between towns (sometimes). Although I would never stake my life on the damn thing.

Big Al · Veteran Member

Thanks for your comments to all who answered my "no coverage message" - it's not a big drama. Between these remote towns it's just one road - but it's handy for knowing how far is still to be travelled etc. If I don't have the maps, then the Information Centres do.

However, having a GPS that actually did what they are made for would be nice. It's not a cheapie (hundreds of $$s) and it mounts by a suction cup right into the windscreen - no hindrances. I have the latest updates - only about a week old.

It's just annoying that it won't recognise some of the big towns here in WA - but I'm trying extremely hard not to let it spoil our holiday!

biggrin

milo · Guru

some models have a reset button some where,
so maybe you could try that, oh also with tom tom i think you can have
a latest map update garante or some thing i read some where..

when on our way home from our SA trip, the gps was all over the place, we went down some roads that were just barley roads because we picked the fasted route ..
fun times with them some times

gunyah · Newbie

I use a Garmin and in my first few attempts at using it was also led astray....do not blindly place your trust in them....they are excellent tools, but you must use your maps and plan your route. I have found that by including several waypoints at 20 or 30 k intervals between start and destination solves the problem.

Onedodger · Guru

I have a Hema running route 66 and Ozie moving map.
Route 66 is the street type system and can be incorrect at times but so far and I have been on some outback tracks the Hema Geo maps used in the Ozie moving map has not been out at all.
Plus using this pooter a route can be planned to the enth degree and simply copied accross to Ozie and away one goes. However in ozie turn by turn instructions do not happen in voice mode but is shown on the screen.
Another plus one can see on the screen many interesting sites that one may want to investigate further. This is because you are looking at an actual map.

Route 66 will give turn by turn instructions and is reasonably accurate.
But only shows the road you are following plus adjoining roads.

Getting back to the original post.....
Your problem is probably that the GPS is more than likely unable to get enough signal where it is positioned. To prove the point just stop take the unit out of the car and wait to see of it finds the sats.

justcruisin01 · Guru

Al, we travelled over all that area two years ago with a very old garmin & had coverage all the way, even up to mitchell.
The only time it has had a short lapse of coverage is in mountains under heavy tree coverage, then only very breif.
If it is a street pilot model,[same as ours] they can some times freeze, this can happen if you set a destination eg. while in a large car park & have to do several turns in a short distance to exit the c/park, this tends to confuse the unit if it is still trying to plan the rout to your destination.
If this happens you flick off the facia panell & there is a reset button under that facia.
Press to reset & back in business.
The other thing that has happened to mine is the internal battery has died, must be 10 yrs old & not replacable. this upsets the switch off mode as its instintly off when you turn power off, no 30 sec, shut down.tends to loose memory of where it is at the time & therefore takes a while to relocate the sat/lights when repowered.
I fixed that yesterday, bought the latest model, life time updates free & far more features.
PS. the old one owes me nothing, still works well,just takes a while to get going.
Cheers.Jim.

jimricho · Guru

There may or may not be a misconception in some people's minds regarding "coverage" in remote areas. No matter how remote you are there should be no difference in reception of the satellite signals (apart from possibly in rain forests or deep valleys). In the open terrain of the Kimberley this should certainly not be a problem. That said, there may be some inadequacies in the mapping data but this is unrelated to any reception problems.

Do not confuse GPS "coverage" with mobile phone coverage, they are totally unrelated.

I can't help but feel that your unit may be faulty.

(ok pedants, I know satellite signals can vary daily, hourly or even on a minute by minute basis due to the positions of the orbiting satellites but that has nothing to do with the issue here.)

PeterD · Guru

Dead spots may be the result in how you have mounted your navigator. If you are heading in a particular direction and you have the majority of satellites be hind you then your receiver may only be receiving one or two birds.

When you say one navigator was working OK and yours was not - Do they have theirs further forward on their dash and/or under a windscreen with more slope on it. When starting my GPS I have often noted that the satellite location pattern is predominately to one side of the circle. If rhe receiver in your navigator is attempting to receive those satellites through the turret it won't respond. If you can shift your navigator a little further forward you may look at one or two more birds.

Another thing that can cause a GPS system to not come up in a timely manner is if you have shifted your location considerably since you last switched it off. If I have relocated more than a couple of hundred kilometres I often have to initialise it. (It's a Magellan GPS 315.)

Jazzin Around · Veteran Member

I find the GPS finds the initial signal when stationary much faster than when travelling. Having said that, the first Navman I purchased in Busselton WA could never find the signal even when stationary. A $600 touch back in 1006/7. In fact I stood outside my motorhome in southern WA for so long holding it skywards with no signal that the chap in the van next to me asked "Are you waiting for God to answer"!. You could have a dud. Navman, under pressure and threats, eventually replaced it with a far better model which takes a photo of any beaut camp spot I find and takes me back to it without me having a street name. I have recently purchased another Navman as it was a cheaper option than paying for upgrades on the first! The original Navman couldn't get a signal all the way across the Nullabor. I do drive what is known as a 'cabover' that is the bed is over the driving compartment so no clear vision to the sky but that doesn't make any difference - I can sit in the rear of my motorhome which has a 1" cube steel frame all over the roof and still get a signal in a flash.

-- Edited by Jazzin Around on Thursday 12th of August 2010 12:42:06 PM

whoppa · Veteran Member

I have a Fix for this problem.
I have had this once with my Tom Tom, like any electronic device it sometimes go into an
endless loop and needs to be reset.
Heres how with Tom Tom
If it is an older one like mine there is a reset button on the bottom just push this in , you will need a pen or a pointy object.
If it is a newer model hold down the power on/off button for up to 30 seconds untill it reboots.
Gps units are just little computers and in the case of Tomtom the use Linux software.
also it is a good idea if you install the software on your pC that is stored on the tomtom unit and do the quick fix updates and join mapshare.
To do this just plug your tomtom into your pc with standard usb cable ,turn on your tomtom,wait while your PC installs the device driver, then from the window that pops up run the Tomtom Home .exe ,you will need to give the program permission to run when the allow box pops up.
the quick fix will need to be updated once every couple of weeks an will help in finding the saterlites.
i suggest if you have more questions you join a gps forum like.
http://gpsunderground.com/forums/
or
http://www.navitotal.com/forums/index.php?varname=eng&langid=1

GrumpyOne · Senior Member

Hey there Guys "N" Gals,

I have 3 gps units all up, one on my IPhone an old Navig8or and a newer TomTom XL, the Naviga8or actually started to give the wrong directions around Sydney so I replaced it with the TomTom, which seems to be good so far, and the navionics software on the IPhone I use for boating but it is great for on the road as well.

I will retain the old Navig8or though as it provides a full screen speed readout so it is a very good speedo, considering mine is out by a few k's.

But all in all I have to agree that the good old fashioned hard copy HEMA maps are the best way by far to navigate, them and using the good old fashioned street signs you just can't get lost.....well it's almost impossible.

Hoo Roo Happy Days

Cheers
Grumps

brickies · Guru

I agree Grumps you still need to have a map to work out which way you want to travel, I have stated this in older posts if I am leaving Brisbane to go to Cairns I don't put in Cairns and hope for the best I would look at where I would want to be at the end of the day , It might be Rockhampton or it might be Roma if I want to go that way or maybe Emerald , the Tom TOM can't read your mind so we have to use some common sense . If you kept going to your local church will you finish up in heaven

Adrianf · Newbie

We have a TomTom and the first time we used it was on a trip from Byron Bay to Nimbin some how the GPS sent us on a wild goose chase and it took us nearly 4 hours to get there. But at least the scenery was good :)

Adrian