' waiting for valid gps signal'

catoutthebag

Is what my tom tom start 20 has been saying god the last couple weeks.

It was bought a few months ago from argos and all was well tik recently.

Sometimes it detects a signal after 10 minutes. Sometimes 40 or 50 minutes. I now get lost as I work all over and it's not fun ..

These are big towns and cities where I've uses it before and it's been fine.

Does it sound faulty?

agrinnall

Yes...take it back to Argos.

droopsnoot

Note that it will take much longer to get a GPS fix if you're moving than if you get the fix before you start off. If you're in a low-reception area (and high buildings will affect it) that would compound the issue. If you display the GPS status screen (do they still have that on the newer ones?) does it show satellites? Have you updated the "Quickfix" data recently? First fix after a hard reset can take longer too, so if the battery is going that might make a difference.


But if it's still in warranty you've got nothing to lose by taking it back for exchange.

catoutthebag

No idea about the satellites or fix you mention.

All I know is it used to work and now doesn't. ..from any of the original start places or places it used to work. Which doesn't tally up with the buildings or poor signal especially as mentioned I'm using it in large towns and cities.

I'm taking it back today. Can't be bothering to find a receipt. ..but if got the original argos bar code sticker on the box.

droopsnoot

Well, that's the key thing. If you're doing the same as you used to and getting different results, it's probably fair to say the device has an issue.

Large towns and cities can make a difference to the reception because tall buildings close together can make it hard to receive the signals from the satellites. You're much more likely to get a decent GPS position standing in a park than standing in a street with 5+ storey buildings on each side, simply because they block (or reduce) the quality of signal that your device receives from the satellite network. That won't have changed, I was just talking about how it gets a position fix from the GPS network - your comment above seemed to hint that being in a large town or city should give better reception when it might be the reverse.

kwikbreaks

For quickest fixes use the TomTom web update to download the little file that gives it a clue which satellites to use ( I forget the name but it's obvious when you connect).

Do not expect a quick fix while driving. My old TomTom often used to reboot itself if I started out before it got a fix. I swapped to Garmin to get lifetime map updates as at the time TomTom weren't doing them. That gets a fix much quicker than mt TomTom did but the TomTom software was better. It may be that my old TomTom was past it's bin-by date.

droopsnoot

Yes, for the initial position fix it's triangulating signals received from satellites, so it has much more work to do if you're a moving target. These things get better over time - the first handheld GPS receiver I saw (which was by no means an early one, it was long after hikers etc. had started using them) could take ten minutes to get the first fix after opening the box. Starting it up with the wrong local time made it take longer, too.

catoutthebag

I took it back. Had to show snap shot of bank statement from Feb and they swapped for same model. Hopefully no more issues.