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Acer Iconia A500 GPS Fail When Hot

I am just back from few weeks in the tropics of Far North Queensland.

I now have ICS and the GPS seemed to be working a lot better since the update.

Now I have found that my Iconia A500 Tab when warm, the GPS fails.

All Satellites disappear after A500 has been on for a few minutes!

The ambient temperature in Queensland is around 27C when I was using my Iconia A500. I would switch on all worked fine and then most, sometimes all, the satellites would disappear. Well a storm was around with heavy clouds so I waited and when blue sky returned I tried again and after around 10 minutes all satellites disappeared. On the way back to ‘Cold’ Victoria I was using the GPS with no issue for 1-2hrs with no failure with ambient temperature of around 17C in the outback.

If I power boot the Iconia A500 I still do not get the sattelites back. I have to leave the tablet off for some time to let it cool down.

I have concluded that the GPS receiver built into the A500 or the Antenna connection fails when the internal’s of the A500 warm up. I do use an Acer Cover.

Another thought is that the battery voltage drops enough to effect the electronics. I must admit I did not connect the charger to see if the satellites returned.

My A500 is now out of warranty:(

I think this issue has been around on my A500 for a while but has been masked by the bugs in earlier versions of the applications. If I am brave I will open up the case and see if I can find a bad connection and using my electronics skills and a hot air gun try and find out if its a chip or a mechanical connection that is failing. Seeing as sometimes I can just receive 1 or 2 satellites when another GPS is receiving 9 in same location may suggest that the Antenna connection is a bit loose. Will report back once I have a look.

Would appreciate any feedback if you have noticed this issue.

Oldtimer.

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