Hi all,
Today I received my Brodit car holder for the N97. The first thing I noticed is the GPS reception. The phone is placed on the same position as where my N95 8Gb used to be, but the reception is worse. This leads to a position on the map way off my actual location. With my N95 I had a current lock on at least 8 sats, whereas the N97 only locks to 3 or 4, sometimes even losing signal. This is even the case on roads in an open area.
I tried to use as well as assisted GPS as the normal GPS, no difference. Also moving the phone around on the windscreen where it would have more 'skyvision' did not really matter. Rotating the phone to landscape also did not make a lot of difference...
Does this sound familiar to more people here?
Yeah me too, the N97 loses Satellite lock quite easily and often.
Same here. Loses gps lock often, shows my position 500 metres or so behind where I am (that's when it shows me anywhere...). Using Ovi Maps 3.0 is worst , Google maps a little better but still loses gps signal, so I guess it's hardware or firmware. Nokia don't reply to my emails.
As of now, N97 is unusable for SatNav and I'm back to the trusty N95 (which meant swapping back the old brodit holder for the car - glad I hadn't chucked it).
Yeh, i've turned A-GPS on in the options and it gets me to within 90m almost right away on google maps, but that's not good enough, especially when the N96 could lock 3 or 4 satelites on to 20m in a few seconds!
I'm using a debranded Voda handset in the UK and I'm having similar issues.
I make a 300 mile trip most weekends, and while I know the way there by now, I like an eta and mile counter, so I shell out for the turn by turn directions.
With the N95 8gb it was really good, no major problems at all, however the N97 loses lock CONSTANTLY. I've just updated to maps 3.0, hoping this would make a difference, but a previous poster states that it makes it worse!
Do you guys calibrate the compass before inputting an address? does this make any difference? When I'm getting turn by turn directions the compass marker is White rather than red, yellow or green.
Any help on how to get a better lock would be appreciated.
ps. does anyone know how to show "my position" ie return the map to the red dot, while the keyboard is shut? It annoys me to have to pick my phone up while driving and open the slide to push the space bar!
cheers.
grimmy58 wrote:ps. does anyone know how to show "my position" ie return the map to the red dot, while the keyboard is shut? It annoys me to have to pick my phone up while driving and open the slide to push the space bar!
Hit 'Options' (bottom left), followed by 'My Position'. The menu option is only available when you have a GPS fix though..
And here was me thinking that I was the only one that was having problems getting and keeping a lock. I do a lot of traveling and this is a real problem for me. It looks like it's time to go back to the old N96. I'm also glad that I kept my Brodit car clip for it.
Here's hoping that there is another firmware update soon.
John
Gerco wrote:Hit 'Options' (bottom left), followed by 'My Position'. The menu option is only available when you have a GPS fix though..
There's a black box with a red dot in the top right hand corner of maps 3 that points to where you are.
Tap on that and it'll go to your location.
Gerco wrote:Hit 'Options' (bottom left), followed by 'My Position'. The menu option is only available when you have a GPS fix though..
Actually, I think this option appears once there is a GSM/3G lock too, which is normally quite quick, but not very accurate as has already been mentioned.
I see mention of Maps 3 - is this not the version you get as standard on the N97 then? Where do I go to upgrade?
Generally though, I thought once I got the firmware update I'd be happy with this phone but the more I read, the more I realise how good my N95 was. In fact, I just opened up Maps to try and find out what version it was and now the phone is complety frozen. Battery coming off. That'll be the second time today I've had to turn it off and it's only 8:20am! :icon13:
Maps 3 is available to some users as a software update (applciations/sw update).
Failing that, go to http://maps.nokia.com follow the instructions in the Download section...
The compass is only used in map mode and has no effect from what I can see in navigation mode ( why Nokia made two different "modes" is beyond me ) as its always grey regardless of the lock state before hand.
Not to mention you look like a complete spacktard calibrating it which you seem to have to do before EVERY trip. Last proper compass I brought seemed to work out of the box without having to wave it round as if your performing demented mickey mouse style magic.
Its slow at keeping up
It's often behind ( usually by about 500m sometimes more )
The UI as in menu structure is possibly the most unintuitive in any sat nav program I have used.
Their seems to be no POI support.
It has the McGuider problem where if your streaming music in the background you cant skip tracks unless you hold MENU and then back again.
The address search is absolutely dire often finding no results when re-searching
Constantly Looses lock and then spazes around before giving you the same direction it just did.
All in all lock issues aside I don't think im going to continue paying for Maps after the trial is over. 3 Iterations of Maps and its still as bad as the first and still costs the same hideous amount of cash each month.
No worries.
As far as compass in nav mode goes, you don't need it when driving, since you can infer direction by comparing last 3 gps points (or something) on account of the fact the road only goes 2 ways...
Works fine for walking directions...
Has ANYONE actually got version 3 giving a usable stable lock whilst in motion or even stationary for that matter?!
If so, please post full version number of the app and which N97 they have!
Wow..... I haven't had any problems with the gps! It has been quick to lock and accurate! It has been almost as good as my Tom Tom 7 so far.
Later.............. 😎
Used version 3 to navigate from Bristol to Peterborough yesterday:
N97 Rm-505 Black
F/W v11.0.21 (15/06/2009).
Custom Version 11.0.21.C01.01 (15/06/2009)
I updated Maps over software update (or thought I did) but it's just shown me an update to 3.1 on software update so I'm gonna try that now... Perhaps I should have restarted...
D
thebluevoice wrote:Has ANYONE actually got version 3 giving a usable stable lock whilst in motion or even stationary for that matter?!If so, please post full version number of the app and which N97 they have!
I'm on v11, black N97 running maps 3.01, got it from the map updater today
I have, just had to drive home for lunch and had just updated the maps, took about 20-25 mins, left it near the windsill when i got home.
Funny thing is i've now switched to googlemaps when i got back to work and i'm getting 6 sats locked on inside my building, similar to what my N96 used to get
Ah so some people do have it working on the integral gps.
Boo! Does that mean a lot of us reporting the lock problems have faulty hardware then I wonder.
Also, still not clear if the latest version is 3.01 or 3.1?
It works well enough for navigation although I do get some lock flutter around Birmingham... And the voice normally says "Now take the exit" about 15 yards too late. Especially at roundabouts...
Dunno about versions. Maps says 3.01 but SW Update said 3.1 (although it may be that it's dropping the leading zero)
I'll let you know how nav goes with 3.1 when I go back to bristol way tonight...
D
I'm not. i pass it by on the way back from peterborough to bristol. just find n97 gps is pants on the m6/m42
Here are my experiences with different versions of maps on v11.
With the up until recently latest instalment via Nokia maps updater (which I believe was version 3.01, but not the 3.(0)1 which is currently available through the software updater) I had an unstable GPS fix with the speed regularly going to 0 every 5 to 10 seconds, and with the maps and directions lagging a few hundred metres behind.
I then upgraded through the software update application on the phone to version 3.1, which reports as 3.01 in the maps application itself. I usually don't go online when starting the application, and this used to work fine. Now, however, it is no longer able to get an a valid GPS fix if I do not go online. The bar turns halfway green, but the location is given as the point centred on the screen when it gets its "fix". The "dashboard" reports that there is no valid fix.
If I choose to go online when starting maps it gets a fix much quicker, but it does not give me any option/icon to click to automatically centre on this location. Navigation performs as before with speed drops which results in annoying zooming, sudden strangely calculations, and everything lagging a few hundred metres behind.
I've not really looked into how the GPS performance in other applications, but am planning to do some geocaching in the near future, so I'll probably find out.
I got a quick fix yesterday on google maps after getting a lock on with maps3.0 but when i drove home it was all over the place again, kept dropping out and pinging me all over the map. Really disappointing.
Also, how do you stop the screen from turning off? Every minute i had to touch the menu button to see the map again, not very hands free!
yup, same problem here. I did find a comment on the nokia support forum suggesting that turning A-GPS off might help. I presume you do that via the location app?
I use the Nokia sports tracker and run around under a blue sky the whole 3 mile route
When it shows the route overlays it is apparent how variant the GPS lock is, it may only be 20-30 meters but you can really notice it
Also it seems to loose GPS occasionally which is really noticable on the the Speed Vs Time graph as it shows me running at 20mph for a few seconds (not ~8mph like normal!)
I recommend you install (the franky amazing) app tho, and then check the comparisons for yourself!
As an aside:
has anyone got the back ground map to load on the sports tracker?
Yup.
See screenshot at http://davecozens.com/n97/moreinfo.cfm/id/29
Also had it working in Sandringham a couple of days ago... Dunno what network config is required for that... if any...
But you're right, Sports Tracker is awesome. And I don't do sports (but don't mind a walk in the country)
Has anyone used Garmin? If so how is the performance and gps lock?
Cause when i installed nokia maps 3 on my n95 it kept losing signal and was between 10 to 50 meters off/behind but garmin is just spot on
Ok, so I'd been having some major lock issues with the N97 (even though the satellite meter seems full most of the time) while using the pre-installed map software. I decided to upgrade to the latest version OTA.
This weekend I made my usual 300 mile journey up to my girlfriends place. I use Nokia / Ovi Maps more as a mile counter and ETA than for directions etc. I have my bluetooth headset in. This journey the maps lock-on was so bad that i had to take my bluetooth out because I was sick of the voice stating "recalculating route".
I'm starting to think that it's not a case of losing satellite lock, because I've had that happen, and when it does the voice says something like "satellite signal lost" and "reaquired". It feels like the software just can't keep up with the updates to the position information and has a little spaz out when it gets overloaded.
I was one of the early posters about the N97's GPS & Maps 2.0 capability and I was pleased with it then.
THAT WAS BEFORE THE MAPS 3.1 UPGRADE.
Now my GPS and maps are really, really bad!
This new software really has some problems:
1. Has a harder time getting a fix.
2. Frequently gets lost and continues to repeat "Recalculating route"
3. Often will say "In 150 yards turn right" when you are right upon the turn.
If this problem doesn't get fixed by Nokia before the "free" trial period is over, there is absolutely positively no way that I'm going to PAY to use this software.
a good solution for symbian phones, like n95 or n97 is a separate gps software.
I use NDrive Symbian... it's cheap, you can choose maps from diferent continents and countries and you won't have satellite problems anymore 😊
Not to talk about the graphics and framerate, which can\t be compared to a "built-in" gps like nokia has... or even maps, or tomtom....