Acer Iconia, GPS How to make it work 1st Time.

The GPS seems to be working fine. In my previous blog I mentioned that and others have reported the GPS was slow to find Satellites. What I have found is that when the Iconia is first switched on, outside in open it will not find the Satellites very quickly. I will clarify a few things.

The reason that a brand new Iconia A500 or any other GPS device appears not to work. If has not, or never been turned on since manufacture, in view of Sky for a long time (180 days).

If new it will not have an Almanac or it is way out of date. The Almanac has to be downloaded first and contains the location data to say where based on current time, each of the many Satellites is located in the sky. A bit like ‘tide or moon tables’ This is why I was only seeing one Satellite when I first tried my new Iconia A500. This 1st Satellite sends the Almanac and has to be synced and the data downloaded before the GPS will work. It Takes 12.5 minutes for a full download! If you do not leave the GPS running for a complete cycle then it will take a long time each time you use the GPS to lock! The 12.5 minutes assumes that you have a Satellite in view that is just about to start the 12.5 minute download when you switch on. so it may take a little longer.

So take you new Iconia outside for 15 mins with GPS enabled (run the ‘GPS Essentials’) application  go an have a coffee! Then it should start to lock Satellites within 18-32 seconds next time you use assuming you are in the same location that you switched it off. If you moved your location with GPS off then it will have to wait for each of the Satellites in view to download fresh ephemeris data (see below). So it can work out where the hell you are. If you happen to be moving in a car or train at the time it will take even longer. So if you want a quick lock stand still!

Once the Almanac is downloaded each Satellite transmits the ephemeris data this takes up to 36 seconds for each Satellite as it comes into view, hence a delay for each Satellite to lock. 18 seconds if you catch the beginning of transmission.

I had not used the GPS outside for 2 days therefore the ephemeris data had not been updated. This data only last for about 4hrs it is downloaded by each Satellite every 2 hrs.

Test application used ‘GPS Essentials’ from ‘Android Market’ Free, Great application with lots of tweaks.

It took around 4 mins to lock to 9 Satellites and show location accurately. I think this is because I had the GPS running in doors with no Satellites in view and it had lost its last location. I could see 9 Satellites with in seconds of switching on (remember the 1st time I switched on only 1!). My car GPS works in around 20-30 seconds and I do not leave home very often so can be 2-3 days switched off.

Use the Satellite display feature of ‘GPS Essentials’. If you back (<—) out to main menu or to another application the GPS is disconnected. When you return it will re-lock to Satellites with in a few seconds. I am not sure but I think the GPS is turned off unless some other application is using it in background. I have seen the GPS Icon blinking when indoors from time to time so maybe something is turning it on from time to time to get a fix. This really needs to be made public by Acer, as to when and what turns it on. I had disabled it in the Locations & Security settings option to save battery use. When I started ‘GPS Essentials’ it turned it self on and when I checked the Location & Security option the box was ticked. You have an option to let Google obtain your location using the GPS. I have not allowed this, but if you do I guess that the GPS will be On or turn On at regular intervals?

If you want more info on how the GPS system works then visit the Wiki. (opens in new page or tab)

If anyone at Acer reads this then why not put a Note in the Box with the Iconia on how to get the GPS working 1st use.

Before you go have a look at some of the other Tablets on offer in the UK. or Tablets from the USA.

Enjoy

Oldtimer.