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I am looking for some feedback on the GPS built into the new AT&T Tilt.
What is the accuracy of the GPS?
What is the sensitivity of the radio? (does it loose signal when you get in your car? in heavily wooded areas?)
How long does it take to obtain GPS Satellite Signal? (15 seconds? 30 seconds? 2 minutes?)
How much battery does it suck down?
Can it work with multiple programs at the same time? (Windows Live and another program at the same time?)
Can't really comment on accuracy, but it has me plotted on the correct roads on Google Maps and MS Live Search.
GPS reception is fine in the car, although initial satellite lockings seems faster when I put the phone on the dash. After that, I can pretty much put the phone anywhere near the drivers seat.
Takes a minute to a couple minutes for me to get a fix.
Its sucks batteries fast. Slightly faster then the trickle charger is charging the phone. So on a long drive, I imagine you will kill the battery on the Tilt using the GPS.
Don't know about the last question.
Braingears said:
I am looking for some feedback on the GPS built into the new AT&T Tilt.
What is the accuracy of the GPS? :iterally its pinpointed me w/in 5 ft
What is the sensitivity of the radio? (does it loose signal when you get in your car? in heavily wooded areas?) In the car its fine, dont have woods here in miami, but in the everglades it works just fine.
How long does it take to obtain GPS Satellite Signal? (15 seconds? 30 seconds? 2 minutes?) approx 10-15 s
How much battery does it suck down? Dont know, I dont have it on for a long time
Can it work with multiple programs at the same time? (Windows Live and another program at the same time?)
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Havent tried that yet, meaning using google maps & windows live?
I've only had it working for a short time, but based on what i've read its fairly accurate (someone got it within 15', mine was within 30' but that was google maps and i dont think it does off-road)
I established the connection on my porch (so i could use my wifi) and it followed me inside the house. 9 satellites outside, 6 in my chair. its a small house, but still nearly completely obstructed due to rain clouds and being indoors
If you use a program like GPSTest or GPSViewer to establish the connection first, they go very quickly. otherwise it may run into some problems connecting due to the timeout settings.
battery power no idea...
As mentioned earlier, i try a light weight program to establish the initial connection and the actual program to use it. from what i've seen you can see two but not sure how well it'll work n the end.
hey i got my tilt, I really don't know how things works, I mean I installed live search on it, but you know I can't get the current GPS postion, how does this thing work? anyone? can you guys tell us the steps for those of who are new to this whole GPS thing, thanks
redpoint73 said:
Its sucks batteries fast. Slightly faster then the trickle charger is charging the phone. So on a long drive, I imagine you will kill the battery on the Tilt using the GPS.
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I noticed this too.
Is there a way to fix this?
It is very annoying.
With a car charger I should be able to at least keep the battery at the same level.
(PS: I am using a car-to-USB adapter and the USB/Sync cable that came with the tilt)
Back when I was using the att flash, I'd need to use a program to jumpstart gps. It'd take about 2 minutes. Afterwards, I could use google maps without issue. But if I drove around, I'd constantly be losing the gps and need to hit retry.
Then I flashed to htc. Google maps always picked up the lock in about 10 seconds. I'd still lose it if I drove around.
But then a few days ago, google maps stopped picking up gps. Even using other programs, I'd run it for over 10 minutes without getting a lock. Haven't gotten gps working at all in the past few days. Not sure what's going on. Hopefulyl a future firmware will fix this. Not going to bother with it for the time being. Being able to use google maps is really enough. gps is pretty silly to me.
Braingears said:
I am looking for some feedback on the GPS built into the new AT&T Tilt.
What is the accuracy of the GPS?
What is the sensitivity of the radio? (does it loose signal when you get in your car? in heavily wooded areas?)
How long does it take to obtain GPS Satellite Signal? (15 seconds? 30 seconds? 2 minutes?)
How much battery does it suck down?
Can it work with multiple programs at the same time? (Windows Live and another program at the same time?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Accuracy -- I can't speak as to "within x meters", but I can tell you that when using it with mapping software, the location fix is right on the money as to where it shows me being in the car.
Length of time to obtain a signal -- after the initial "fix", I can open my mapping software and in the length of time it takes to select my destination, it has already paired with the GPS chip.
Battery Life -- I keep my Tilt on the car charger when using GPS -- at least, I did until a few days ago. I forgot to plug it in to the cigarette lighter and the battery was dead running the GPS constantly in 5 hours.
Multiple apps at once -- Can't comment on that one.
When I use telenav , most of the time it is accurate close to about 15 feet.
OK what im looking for is a gps software that can show my speed and my higest speed i had. Sounds dump but instead of buying a hand held gps i rather this. We want to see how fast some of our R/C cars and boats travel. ( place phone on R/C)
Thanks
I guess you could use MySportTraining and Vidaone GPS. I use it when I go running or biking and it tells me my average speed, miles traveled, and gives me a file that I can upload to Google maps that highlights my route. That might work for you.
http://www.vidaone.com/mst_ppc.htm
http://www.vidaone.com/mstgps_ppc.htm
There is zero chance you searched for this. There must be a dozen such programs which record basic things like direction, speed, etc.
Search http://www.freewareppc.com
I searched on here. Found only one (gps speed sentry ) and it reads speed to slowly. When my car ( real car not rc) hits 40 mph it takes about 10 secs for it to catch up. Same with slowing down jus has a slow reaction to speed showing.
Thanks for that link i didnt know of that site. Will see what i can find. If any one has a recommended program let me know
chvybeatsford said:
I searched on here. Found only one (gps speed sentry ) and it reads speed to slowly. When my car ( real car not rc) hits 40 mph it takes about 10 secs for it to catch up. Same with slowing down jus has a slow reaction to speed showing.
Thanks for that link i didnt know of that site. Will see what i can find. If any one has a recommended program let me know
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That's how some GPS work. It has to do with how often in Communicates with the Satellites. The more often, the faster, but it uses more battery that way. Over long trips It could mean the difference of battery remaining or not.
Thanks for the info i need one that is faster. Any way to speed up im not worried about the battery?
I'm hoping some Diamond users can help me with some questions I have.
I use memory-map os software and have been usinng it on an ipaq ppc. The ipaq has just died on me so I need a new device and rather than carry two gadgets around with me it seems to make sense to buy a smart phone. This has to be a windows device to run memory-map and the Diamond 2 seems to be the best such device in my price bracket.
The questions I haven't so far found an answer for :-
1)How long does the battery last for while using gps? Most users seem to use their gps for road naviagation in the car so don't have a problem with this but I will be using it for hiking.
2)Can the display be turned off while using the display to extend battery life?
3)How quickly does the gps obtain a fix?
TIA
Alan
Hi Alan,
I have been using GPS software with my Diamond for the last year and have mixed feelings about it.
TomTom Navigator 7 - works great - almost immediate fix - highly recommended. Works as well as a dedicated car GPS except screen is smaller.
PathAway GPS 5 with SoftMaps maps. Works fine - sometimes slow to get a fix - track log to .GPX file unreliable, you never know if it works or not and cannot rely on it because of that. Nice Pocket Mode where the unit is in sleep mode with GPS on.
GPSCycleComputer - great freeware application - live track upload to crossingways.com - I use it a lot to measure distance, speed, and build .GPX track logs to geocode my photos. I have not used it with maps.
The Diamond/GPS system has 2 problems IMO:
Problem 1: reliability. When in the field, you have to rely to your GPS and, IMO, this is not possible with my Diamond. It is too easy to hit a button accidently and disable the software. I tried different lock applications to no avail - I cannot be 100% sure, like with my Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx. Switching to another application - like phone, voice recorder or camera - and coming back is also often a problem.
Problem 2: battery life. It is possible to turn off the screen to improve battery life but you can never be sure it will resume back on - unreliable.
My Diamond is the North American unlocked version and has a 1340mah battery. Here are 2 examples of battery life:
GPSCycleComputer
Set to read GPS every minute
Set to send track to crossingways.com every minute
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Screen off
Battery life: about 4 hours
PathAway GPS 5
Screen ON 25% Pocket mode 75%
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Battery life: 2 to 3 hours
Conclusion:
In car use with TomTom: fine
Field use: as a gadget and a toy: yes - as a reliable tool to find your way back if you get lost: definitely NO. However, it is fun to use.
Regards
Jules
Jgobeil said:
Hi Alan,
I have been using GPS software with my Diamond for the last year and have mixed feelings about it.
TomTom Navigator 7 - works great - almost immediate fix - highly recommended. Works as well as a dedicated car GPS except screen is smaller.
PathAway GPS 5 with SoftMaps maps. Works fine - sometimes slow to get a fix - track log to .GPX file unreliable, you never know if it works or not and cannot rely on it because of that. Nice Pocket Mode where the unit is in sleep mode with GPS on.
GPSCycleComputer - great freeware application - live track upload to crossingways.com - I use it a lot to measure distance, speed, and build .GPX track logs to geocode my photos. I have not used it with maps.
The Diamond/GPS system has 2 problems IMO:
Problem 1: reliability. When in the field, you have to rely to your GPS and, IMO, this is not possible with my Diamond. It is too easy to hit a button accidently and disable the software. I tried different lock applications to no avail - I cannot be 100% sure, like with my Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx. Switching to another application - like phone, voice recorder or camera - and coming back is also often a problem.
Problem 2: battery life. It is possible to turn off the screen to improve battery life but you can never be sure it will resume back on - unreliable.
My Diamond is the North American unlocked version and has a 1340mah battery. Here are 2 examples of battery life:
GPSCycleComputer
Set to read GPS every minute
Set to send track to crossingways.com every minute
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Screen off
Battery life: about 4 hours
PathAway GPS 5
Screen ON 25% Pocket mode 75%
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Battery life: 2 to 3 hours
Conclusion:
In car use with TomTom: fine
Field use: as a gadget and a toy: yes - as a reliable tool to find your way back if you get lost: definitely NO. However, it is fun to use.
Regards
Jules
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Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply Jules. That is very helpful. It sounds like the Diamond will not do the main job I want it for then.
Memory Map with hTC diamond
Works very well on Diamond. Quick GPS fix. Battery life not great as in most GPS phones. I just have the map loaded & use as necessary. I would not be without it. Also works very well with tom Tom & Garmin XT.
Like you, i used MM on an ipaq and now use it on the HTC. The big adavantage over the HTC over the ipaq is that you can switch it to standby to conserve battery power and it will immediatly come back to life with gps signal.
ahardie said:
Thanks for your reply Jules. That is very helpful. It sounds like the Diamond will not do the main job I want it for then.
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You should know that there are extened batteries for diamond that take the battery life to really high values. I posted a review of a 3000 mah Mugen battery here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3447797#post3451845 (read the posts after that as well, for instance this one) ... it is a huge battery but well worth if you are looking for something for "in the field". There is also a Mugen 2000 mah version and an official HTC 1350 mah version. The Mugen ones are *very* high quality, don't confuse them with the cheap chinese/asian crap that are all over ebay or the internet.
I've never had the problem with the screen coming back on when I don't want it and I use GPS Cycle Computer all the time. You switch off the screen from the GPSCC interface and it stays that way (unless someone calls you or you power it on from the power button, of course).
Thanks for the replies. Very helpful.
Last but not least - in my hikes i don't look constantly at GPS - I prefer the views, so only sometimes I check my position on track crossing, or when I'm not sure of my position.
GPS fix - flash better radio, and you will have instant fix (outdoors), try 1.15
Switching off - just use the sleep button. It will switch the gps off.
Good luck!
i was driving w/ my captivate plugged in the docking system (charging) and with my nav. on paired w/ bluetooth gps receiver. Blutooth also was connected w/ my head set and I was talkign on the phone. this multitasking was going on about for 30minutes... when i took off my phone from the docking, it was very hot, so i checked the battery temp. it said 57C.... It had gone upto 45 C before when I did stability test for about 45minutes but never this hot before... Did i just cheat death and never do this stunt again? or it can survive this high teperature?? I normally listen music via BT and sometimes use nav. at the same time... so I wonder it I can continue to do that or not. fyi I'm on FF 2.5 w/ stock kernel.. not oc/uv'd
Thanks
It won't certainly be healthy for your battery though... I know what you mean though. It's having Bluetooth on and GPS turned on at the same time that seems to drive my temperature up as well (and it's really hot summer here).
I try not to use GPS on it for too long, I get a bit paranoid :/
I'm now 3 days into having a refurbished UB2 and learning what it can and cannot do, its limits, before I rely on it.
I have a usual bike loop of about 70 miles with 6000ft of ascent and I do it in about 5hr30m typically. I thought I'd try the UB2 "standalone" off from BT, left the mobile at home, to see what happened.
The UB2 was losing 25% of its battery an hour meaning it cannot do more than 4 hours. It kept connecting / disconnecting. It had no clue about my actual calories, I was using Google Fit and it was giving the same dumb 500Cals/hour even when going up a steep hill, it seemed to only know about speed even though GPS obviously knows you are going up or down hill, so it was showing me burning calories quickly on a downhill and slowly on an uphill when the truth is the opposite. If all it is going to do use is elapsed time, I can do that math easily.
As I had no mobile with me, the problem was the UB2 was my emergency phone so I took it off my wrist, when I got to 44% of power left at around 2 hours in to ensure it was not flat, connected it to power (I have a USB power socket on my bike via front dynohub) to top it up, and then Google Fit determined the act of connecting to power must equal I was no longer biking when not true so it stopped the timer.
I have previously tried Google Fit on a mobile and it drained the mobile battery pretty fast too.
The heartrate was unreliable, I was getting between 56 and 133. It seems reliable when stationary but not when moving, so meaning its not going to accurately tell you much of value.
The GPS got stuck and it stopped recording distance. I was not sure if this was me trying LG's fitness app (which I cannot uninstall) vs Google Fit, I was wondering these competed for GPS and the watch got confused?
The radio frequencies, across 2g 3g 4g were in general worse coverage than a mobile, I was getting no signal on UB2 in places I'd get a signal with a mobile.
Probably this is a better device for walker/runners who go out for less time, more in urban situations near stronger radio signals.
I have now flashed to AW2 and will try it again, see if its less dumb than AW1.5. I think I'm going to totally give up Google Fit, its laughably less than useless given its wildly wrong and a battery drain, and just go away from mobile and see how long it lasts.
I'm not sure what is the point of LTE and a stiff band for antennae, if it holds a weak signal, nor of it being a fitness device if using it more than a 4 hours makes it go flat, nor what is the point of the heartrate monitor which is so wildly inaccurate.
Still, could have been worse, I could have paid double with the LG Sport. :laugh:
I'm not a cyclist but I've been recording my runs since the original release of the watch in November 2015. It doesn't compare to fitness focused devices like Garmin for battery life, HRM, etc., but with some trial and error I've setup mine to be perfect for my needs. I use ghostracer to record activities. It is very customisable and has many metrics to choose from. The developer is a cyclist as are many that use it, and responds quickly to questions/issues over in Google+.
I've noticed with mine the GPS is spotty if the watch contacts sweat/moisture, similar to the same issue with the SW3. I started wearing a 2" wristband under the watch for runs about a year ago and the GPS has been nearly perfect since then, in rain/snow/heat. The built in HRM isn't the best during activities but ghostracer also allows you to connect a BT chest strap for much more accuracy, since I'm wearing a wristband this is handy if I choose to use one. I also use Wear GPS (same developer) to get a lock before I switch over to ghostracer and I'm always paired through LTE to my phone that I leave in the car. I think this improves GPS as well with assisted data from the phone. I don't think they meant for the battery to last like other trackers, but I can get a few hours or more out of it and for my running that's plenty. If I ever run another marathon, I may have to find an alternative, but a half should be no problem. I've had pretty good cell signal and that probably helps but I'm sure it doesn't receive as well as a phone. For me the watch was a big improvement. Streaming bluetooth music from audio on the watch while tracking GPS and having a phone available has been great. It's nice leaving the phone behind. I just forward calls to the watch during runs.
mward1995 said:
...ghostracer ...
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I'll look up ghostracer, thanks.
Today I was all alone with no mobile and just the UB2 running AW2 developer preview.
The battery life was about the same problem, and often, more often than with a mobile, I lost cellular connectivity. Now on reading up on AW2 that loss of connectivity may be deliberate as it turns LTE on/off as an app needs it, i.e. if the app collects data every 5 mins but waits til say 30 mins to upload, then that would mean one brief LTE enablement per 30 mins, so the fewer apps running wanting to talk to the mobile/cloud the better. I still however got about 25% battery loss per hour so in effect a 4 hour maximum usage. That is fine for runner and the shorter bike rides. I'm not clear if the cloud with an arrow through it on the display = "I can connect but I'm choosing not to" or "I can't connect".
I used Strava, and it was losing GPS and saying "paused" even when I was moving, but on getting home and looking at the ride, it seem to have fairly accurately guessed I must have been moving between getting GPS signals and estimated what I'd done in between, fairly accurately.
So you reckon a damp wrist worsens GPS? Surely your wrist is down and GPS is up so they should not interfere? It would interfere with pulse checking?
To turn 4 hours battery life into 5-6 hours of my actual ride, on long downhills I took the watch off and connected to power, I could see the green flashing of the heartrate monitor flashing, and due the weak magnetic connection to the USB cable, I was forced to ride one-handed to pinch the UB2 to its cable, but doing that I managed to top-up battery and got home without a flat battery. The Strava ride shows the periods of no pulse but otherwise looks reasonably accurate of route, moving times, mileage.
So now I know its standalone battery limits of about 4 hours, I will try it next with it BT connected to a mobile in a pocket, as then it only has to do BT not LTE, and possibly it doesn't have to do GPS as the phone does, see if that helps. I keep the mobile connected to power so its reasonably able to withstand its tasks, and hopefully the asks of the UB2 are reduced to last longer.
FYI today I had the UB2 on AW1.5 current stock and had cellular off, and it was BT tethered to my phone. I told the UB2 I was about to road cycle. It went into battery saving after about 5 hours and stopped doing anything fitness related. It did say it was using the phone for GPS and obviously it was only doing BT, not Wifi or LTE.
On Google Fit it got the time about right but the distance completely wrong. Calories quite a bit wrong too.
Basically, its rubbish as a cycling fitness device whether its standalone or tethered.
Not to come off improperly, but your review doesn't mean a whole lot since you're not using a proper app. The guy above mentioned ghost racer yet you go back out and use Google fit again and expect different results. It's like eating soup with a fork. GR is a great app. Install it, use it, then post a review.
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