TomTom One 3rd Edition - no GPS signal

[Cold Canuck]

I'd used it to navigate my way to the kids first day at a summer camp, shut it off in the garage, but when I restarted it when it was time to pick them back up (approx 2.5 hours later), it just blinks:

Waiting for a valid GPS signal...

It never gets dropped or abused beyond being used for some really short journeys on occasion, but it has been having some connection issues for some time, but until now, the issues were limited to long connection times...now it refuses to connect at all.

Pressing reset shuts it down, then on restart, it initializes, then I get the legal notice...but I get a notice that the GPS signal was lost ** sec ago .

Any advice?
Besides using it for target practice?

 

[dhn]

Try the reset again. Don't think your model has a specific reset on the bottom of the unit. If not, try holding the power button for about 15-20 seconds.

 

[Cold Canuck]

Yes, it DOES have the reset hole, but pressing it again then restarting did nothing to change the situation.

 

[mikealder]

Post reset take the unit outside away from any buildings and switch it on while stationary, tap the sat strength meter lower right corner of the screen then tap the sat indicator on the right of the next screen, the resultant screen should give you lots of information about the GPS status.
After 10 minutes is there any activity on the bar graphs, grey or blue? if there is still nothing after 20 minutes in the open and stationary the GPS receiver is dead - Mike

 

[Cold Canuck]

When I first went into the GPS status screen, it kept saying that signal strength was low, are you in a building.

After perhaps 3 or 4 minutes, I noticed that a number of satellites were now displayed and the signal strength was sufficient that I could once again use the TomTom.

Not sure why it did this, it's been a beautiful day today with barely any clouds at all, but regardless...thank you both, for the help.

Cheers, eh.

C.C.

 

[Rick F.]

I have a 3rd edition too. Sometimes it can take a few minutes (I've seen up to 8 minutes) to get satellites locked in. Usually if you've downloaded QuickGPSfix data recently, it will be much quicker to receive enough satellites - but not always. The longest time it takes is if your unit has been turned off for a long time and it doesn't know where the satellites are supposed to be.

Hope this helps.

 

[mikealder]

Best approach is to use the device at least once every three days, let it acquire a signal (position fix) prior to setting off in the car and avoid qGPS as its not needed if you use the device on a regular basis, your choice, but also consider that duff qGPS data can mess mess up the device in use which is why I no longer bother with it - marketing tool that offers no significant advantage to a device used on a regular basis - Mike

 

[Cold Canuck]

This afternoon, I made the 40 minute trip (20 minutes each way) and it still hadn't shown ANY satellite activity at all.

In the past, it may have taken five, ten possibly fifteen minutes to acquire a valid signal, but today was far outside anything previous.

Thanks again.

 

[Cold Canuck]

qGPS

I have no idea what this is, I just turn the TomTom on and drive...is there more to it than that?

BTW...I'm in Michigan, U.S. of eh.

 

[dhn]

The unit has a harder time grabbing the signal if the unit is moving.

The idea is to take it to an open unobstructed area where it can be stationary for whatever minutes till the signal is received.

 

[Rick F.]

I actually stopped getting the quickGPSfix too. When I'm not planning on using my unit for several days, I reset my 3rd edtion when I turn it off to conserve the battery. Then, if I know I'm going to be using it, I might get the QuickGPSfix. But it's not necessary if I'm willing to wait several minutes for the GPS to acquire satellites.

There's an excellent write-up on how quickGPSfix works on "Pocket GPS World" by poster 'kichu1979' here:

Pocket GPS World - SatNavs | GPS | Speed Cameras

It may be more than you want to know, but it's an excellent explanation.

 

[crazychevydude]

TomTom one XL

My TomTom one xl won't get a gps signal,it just says poor gps signal,TomTom is no help because it was a gift and I don't have a reciept,the battery is dead but I can still plug it in.Will a new battery fix this?

 

[dhn]

Try this...

Connect the unit to the computer. Use Explorer to delete anything in the ephem folder on the unit. Now, remove any sub folders found in the ephemeris folder found here:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\TomTom\HOME\Downloads\complete\ephemeris\

Next. Charge your unit for a couple of hours at least by connecting it to the usb port on the computer.

Then connect to Home and see if a new quickgpsquickfix is offere. If so, accept and install. Take the unit outside to an open area and see if you get a signal within a couple of minutes.

Yes, a dead battery may affect the reception abilitiy but TT batteries are not meant to be replaced (easily, that is).

 

[rspearce55]

I did exactly as noted above with comeplete success. No more problems. Thanks.