Reduced Reception on 60Cx When runnign nRoute

[+Red90]

I know, you think I am crazy....

 

Anyway, while on a road trip a few weeks back I was using nRoute with the 60Cx attached by USB. At one point in the trip, I was in the back seat with the GPS in the center of the car. I was getting satellite loss on occasion which I have never seen with this unit. I watched the satellite screen for a while and was getting really low reception. Very unusual, I thought. I figured it was a weird day.

 

I had then unplugged it from the cable to do a cache while it was on the satellite page and like magic, the bars ALL jumped up to normal. It seems that the reduced reception was due to being plugged into the computer.

 

Has anyone else notcied this before?

[+Bus36]

I know, you think I am crazy....

 

Anyway, while on a road trip a few weeks back I was using nRoute with the 60Cx attached by USB. At one point in the trip, I was in the back seat with the GPS in the center of the car. I was getting satellite loss on occasion which I have never seen with this unit. I watched the satellite screen for a while and was getting really low reception. Very unusual, I thought. I figured it was a weird day.

 

I had then unplugged it from the cable to do a cache while it was on the satellite page and like magic, the bars ALL jumped up to normal. It seems that the reduced reception was due to being plugged into the computer.

 

Has anyone else notcied this before?

I have to say the only time I have it hooked up to the computer is in the house so it isn't the same but anyways when I have it near the monitor I get poor reception. If I let it plugged into the computer but get it as far away as possible I get better reception. No idea why. Was your unit close to the computer?

[+LandRover]

I haven't specifically looked at the sat. page (will have to do that next time) but I did get more than few "lost reception" prompts from nRoute while hooked up to my 60CSx.

[+Sputnik 57]

I know, you think I am crazy....

I think you're crazy Red, but it has nothing to do with this post .

 

Are you sure it isn't something to do with the location of the laptop at the time? I guess a laptop can cause RF interference, but I've never noticed this on my 60C.

[+Red90]

I don't think it had to do wit the laptop location. Because of the bad recption, I was trying the GPS in different locations. It obviously improved but was still poor near a window. Unplugging had it go straight back to the normal (great) reception despite still being in the middle of the car and in the same releative location to the computer....

 

I think I will play later to see if it only happens with nRoute running or not. with my luck it won't replicate.

[+Train_Man]

probably yet ANOTHER bug in the 60C(S)x

[wshelley46060]

Does it lose reception when it is writing data to the pc? I noticed periodic loss of reception when I had my 60csx connected to my laptop running Nroute. I think it happened whenever track data was being written to the pc.

 

I wasn't watching bars. I just saw the "lost reception" message pop up.

[+Red90]

It is continuously sending data. Both you two saying that you lost reception when connected, makes me think it was happening to you as well. I have never once lost reception in the car when it is by itself.

[steve 69]

Try changing the length of the wire. It might have something to do with the bandwidth cosign the wire to asked like a antenna

[+Red90]

Well, it is the stock wire that comes with the unit.......

 

I will try and test tomorrow. I "think" it only happens when running nRoute and not just with the wire plugged in.

[Hertzog]

I think what you are seeing here is something I encountered a while back, in which if you are tracking in nRoute it very noticeably beeps and announces a lost track about every 5 minutes and starts a new track log. If it's the same problem, then it is happening all the time; it's just that the 60CSx doesn't start a new log each time. What seems to happening is that once every 5 minutes the GPSr drops about 4 seconds of data. To see this set the GPSr to log at 1 second intervals, then let it sit in a good location and track for about 20 minutes or so. Then download the track data and carefully look at the trackpoint intervals; what you should see is a 4 second dropout about every 5 minutes. I think there is some sort of housekeeping task that causes the unit to stop tracking for about 4 seconds; I've acutally been able to watch the satellite page and see it "freeze" during these intervals.

 

I first noticed this in May, then looked back at earlier track data where I happened to log at 1 second intervals. It looked like the dropouts didn't occur before March, but starting in March (following the V2.60 update) I saw dropouts at 10 minute intervals; then in May (following the V2.7/2.4 update) the dropouts went to a 5 minute interval.

 

I may have mentioned this in a thread at the time (circa late May), but I believe my thinking was this was such an esoteric problem (and maybe just one with my unit) that I would wait to see if anyone else has sees the same thing - up to now I haven't seen a mention here or any of the other boards that I monitor.

[+3jaze]

I think what you are seeing here is something I encountered a while back, in which if you are tracking in nRoute it very noticeably beeps and announces a lost track about every 5 minutes and starts a new track log. If it's the same problem, then it is happening all the time; it's just that the 60CSx doesn't start a new log each time. What seems to happening is that once every 5 minutes the GPSr drops about 4 seconds of data. To see this set the GPSr to log at 1 second intervals, then let it sit in a good location and track for about 20 minutes or so. Then download the track data and carefully look at the trackpoint intervals; what you should see is a 4 second dropout about every 5 minutes. I think there is some sort of housekeeping task that causes the unit to stop tracking for about 4 seconds; I've acutally been able to watch the satellite page and see it "freeze" during these intervals.

 

I first noticed this in May, then looked back at earlier track data where I happened to log at 1 second intervals. It looked like the dropouts didn't occur before March, but starting in March (following the V2.60 update) I saw dropouts at 10 minute intervals; then in May (following the V2.7/2.4 update) the dropouts went to a 5 minute interval.

 

I may have mentioned this in a thread at the time (circa late May), but I believe my thinking was this was such an esoteric problem (and maybe just one with my unit) that I would wait to see if anyone else has sees the same thing - up to now I haven't seen a mention here or any of the other boards that I monitor.

 

I’ve had the “lost satellite reception” problem since February with the 60CSx interfaced with laptop running nRoute.. The interval of notification seems to vary for me. Last week it seemed to be about every 20 minutes. Prior to that it was about 35 minutes. On other occasions, it seemed to vary randomly. My suspicion also led me to believe it may have had something to do with downloading tracks…. Have learned to live with it but it is aggravating.

I haven’t noticed the degredation in signal reception but also haven’t looked. I’ll keep an eye on it next time I’m out.

Edited November 2, 2006 by 3jaze

[+Red90]

Well I went out and did a test and nothing happened this time. No change in reception.

 

I have no idea what happened the other week.

[Hertzog]

I’ve had the “lost satellite reception” problem since February with the 60CSx interfaced with laptop running nRoute.. The interval of notification seems to vary for me. Last week it seemed to be about every 20 minutes. Prior to that it was about 35 minutes. On other occasions, it seemed to vary randomly. My suspicion also led me to believe it may have had something to do with downloading tracks…. Have learned to live with it but it is aggravating.

I haven’t noticed the degredation in signal reception but also haven’t looked. I’ll keep an eye on it next time I’m out.

I did some more testing today, and the interval between dropouts seems to be more a function of the number of trackpoints logged than time. I set the logging rate to 2 seconds, and got an average lost sample interval of 315 samples, or 10.5 minutes; then I set the logging rate to 1 sec and got dropouts at an average of 389 samples, or 6.5 minutes. I had disabled WAAS while I did the 1 second test, so the differences could be due to the change in logging rate or WAAS; also, nRoute was not connected and logging to the data card was enabled. I'll try some more tests varying only one thing at a time.

 

(If I were still working, this would be a good DOE (Design of Experiment) project

[+moniquejoe]

I recently installed nRoute to my laptop and using my 60CSx have been having dropped connections pretty consitently. Almost making the program useless! Any suggestions as to fixes?

 

I've reinstalled the program twice and confirmed the latest software on my 60CSx...any help would be appreciated!

[+GOT GPS?]

I have had dropouts with my Map60Cx also, but can't remember any problems with nRoute.

 

Things to try:

- Try disabling Tracklogging to the card while hooked up to the Laptop.

- When hooked up to the Laptop, leave the GPS on the Routes Page, which is a static page requiring no CPU time.

- Try fresh Alkalines, but maybe this won't help, except when the cable may moved around, causing signal interuptions.

 

Seems like the Processor in my Map60Cx was always a little slow on things so I tend to leave it on the Routes Page, when not looking at the GPS, so that the processor does not have to work so hard updating an active page.

[+Prime Suspect]

Well I went out and did a test and nothing happened this time. No change in reception.

 

I have no idea what happened the other week.

You were in a moving car. Just a slight change in tree cover, nearby buildings, power lines, etc., or just the direction the car was heading (more sats suddenly behind glass than metal) is all it would take to see a noticeable change. That it happened at the same time you pulled out the cord is what we like to call a "coincidence".

[+Prime Suspect]

I recently installed nRoute to my laptop and using my 60CSx have been having dropped connections pretty consitently. Almost making the program useless! Any suggestions as to fixes?

 

I've reinstalled the program twice and confirmed the latest software on my 60CSx...any help would be appreciated!

Bad cord (easy to check) or bad connectors.

[+Red90]

You were in a moving car. Just a slight change in tree cover, nearby buildings, power lines, etc., or just the direction the car was heading (more sats suddenly behind glass than metal) is all it would take to see a noticeable change. That it happened at the same time you pulled out the cord is what we like to call a "coincidence".

 

No that was not the problem. Trust me, I'm not a GPS novice. Flat and straight road, in the prairies. Unplug the unit (in the same location) and the reception went way up.

[+GOT GPS?]

Red90, if you are continuing to have trouble, you can try a serial cable from your earlier Garmin, and a Serial to USB converter if you already have one of those. Serial mode should be a bit more stable than using USB to port to nRoute your constantly updated position. I know that I have never had trouble going the serial route, but have not had the chance to try the USB method to the Laptop in the car. Using the Serial cable will allow the USB port to last longer, as constanly using it to keep the GPS powered and also having the USB connecting the GPS to nRoute may cause wear-in-tear of the USB port, and the USB sockets on the 60-series have come loose for a few people, so grab an old Serial cable and a Serial to USB converter, and see if that clears up your problems.

 

Serial Update of your position is a more proven technology than your position being updated via USB which may still be problematic.

Edited August 29, 2007 by GOT GPS?

[+GOT GPS?]

Yesterday I had trouble not only with the shutoffs, but I also had trouble with Power levels when the NiMH batteries were installed, and when I rode the bicycle among the trees the battery meter would fall down to almost nothing, and when in the open the battery meter would jump back up to about full, and this is with the NiMH setting on the Menu. This seems to be an issues with the Receiver and/or the Processor with the Map60Cx.

 

With the Alkalines, the GPS was more stable, but still there was slight power fluctuations between riding among trees or in the open.

 

Another problem with all the shutoffs yesterday on the 50 mile bicycle ride the GPS tended to freeze where the satellite screen would freeze, and no trackpoints were recorded giving me a 0.9 mile gap in the tracklog where I had to power down and back up to get the GPS to work again.

 

Many issues with the Map60Cx that I been having, basically too many issues, and I might have to try External power, via the serial port.

Edited August 29, 2007 by GOT GPS?

[+Train_Man]

I'd guess the problem is related to EMI/RF Interferences produced by the laptop or USB connection. My friend uses a legend and he has proof in pictures that his reception can be up to 5ft when on the computer but at the same place and time, when unplugged it goes down to 30ft. Strange, perhaps his computer actually produces healthy RF? LOL

 

I've never personally used n-route while on the road so I wouldn't know.