996 & GPS.. Unlocked... Lockout. ..Unlocked....

[nosoup4u]

I'm not sure if its my gps or a bug in the 996, but I'm seeing some banks that will go from unlocked, to lockout, back to unlocked all within about 30 seconds. When this happens I am well within the range, so I know I'm not driving along the edge of the range that I set. The GPS I am using is a Garmin eTrex Legend.

Aside from that, once you tweak your gps range it works great.

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

Hello,

It seems to be related to satellite reception. If the Garmin eTrex Legend has fair S-Strength, systems will lock and unlock. I notice the issue also at certain intersections traveled. When reception is good, no issues. The BCD996T and GPS is only as good as the quality of the data it receives.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

 

[UPMan]

I have the same thing occasionally with the same GPS. If I look at the street map showing on the GPS when this happens, it has usually jumped to an incorrect location on the GPS's screen, too (hard to catch, though, as it can be only 1 or 2 seconds of bad location solution before it fixes itself).

 

[woodyrr]

Constant Lockout - Unlock

I had the same problem while using a Garmin Etrex Legend with the 996. During a 30 mile circuit yesterday, the spurious lockout cycles were so frequent so as to make the GPS utility useless.

I was browsing the Garmin manual last night and discovered that the WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) satellites send data for "correcting" differentials in the GPS satellite signals which sent up a red flag in my mind. I hope that it is not coincidence that this morning, with the Etrex Legend's WAAS function disabled, over the same circuit and under the same conditions, all 996 GPS functions performed flawlessly without a single spurious lockout.

 

[slicerwizard]

I have the same thing occasionally with the same GPS. If I look at the street map showing on the GPS when this happens, it has usually jumped to an incorrect location on the GPS's screen, too (hard to catch, though, as it can be only 1 or 2 seconds of bad location solution before it fixes itself).

This not an uncommon occurrence with consumer GPS gear, yet Uniden's designers didn't account for it. Loss of position lock isn't either and it sounds like they didn't handle that properly either. I smell a firmware upgrade coming.

 

[STiMULi]

I wouldn't count on it.

I traveled 1800 miles and did not have one GPS related radio problem.

That is a lie. I had one... My GPS batteries died.

 

[slicerwizard]

I traveled 1800 miles and did not have one GPS related radio problem.

Spend more time in skyscraper alleys.

 

[nosoup4u]

What a difference that made. I haven't seen it do the lockout-unlocked thing since I turned off WAAS either. I also noticed my map scrolls a lot smoother now. It was very jumpy before.

 

[woodyrr]

What a difference that made. I haven't seen it do the lockout-unlocked thing since I turned off WAAS either. I also noticed my map scrolls a lot smoother now. It was very jumpy before.

I'm really glad that it helped. I was about to throw a fit. Did you ever notice that it would lock out a system right when someone was about to say something that you really wanted to hear! The circuit that I took the two previous days was south to Norman OK and back and this morning, I went on a 60 mile errand run to Edmond, OK and back and did not have a single spurious lockout on that route either.

As far as disabling WAAS for 996 use, I'm convinced!

 

[newbie]

This not an uncommon occurrence with consumer GPS gear, yet Uniden's designers didn't account for it. Loss of position lock isn't either and it sounds like they didn't handle that properly either. I smell a firmware upgrade coming.

Now as a software writer I need to ask you. How is the scanner supposed to know this position is incorrect? I get a lat / lon from the gos, next one is over there then back, then back over there? Which ones are correct?

Don't blame the scanner for it's reaction to bad input. It does not know which is good and which is bad.

 

[STiMULi]

Not to disagree with you but...

There could be some error correction process that would use some basic AI.

The last 10 coordinates (Y) were spaced at X distance with X speed.

If the newest Y exceeds the average differential of the last 10 X's +/- 25% then ignore last location and do not proceed with Lockout or Unlock.