Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I am traveling to Europe this week and brought along my Touch Pro for the plane flights and using it as my PDA. I use TomTom all the time throughout the U.S. I installed the European maps but cannot obtain a GPS signal, am I doing something wrong?
Does the internal GPS require a Sprint signal?
When I used my PPC-6700, my bluetooth GPS dongle worked very well in Europe. I was expecting this to work as well.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Should work, you must be doing something wrong. You do not need a carrier signal for use of the GPS. good luck.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

There was a dispute about this... I think you might actually have to modify the registry to make GPS work completely independent, because it tries to get a lock faster based on the nearest cell tower or something crazy...

I'll see if I can find anything for you.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I was gonna say... does that mean GPS would work even if there was no cell phone signal? Like an actual GPS unit?

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I am never to able to acquire a GPS pinpoint when Im in a building with no Sprint signal, I actually had to step out of the building to get a GPS lock, I'd think there's something in the registry to make it independent of the cell towers

:edit: This was using Google Maps w/Street View

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Not sure why it is not working because I just tried Garmin after I turned on airplane mode and was able acquire a signal w/ in seconds. I have not made any regedits on gps. Hope you get it worked out.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

In theory you have to be able to see sky to use gps, but some gps receivers work fine indoors. It just depends on the building type and what device you are using.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I'll be in Mexico next week and I'll test my GPS in the Pro, since I have Nav. Mexico maps. On my old Touch worked flawless, one observation is that before I activated my Pro I installed the Garming maps without having Sprint service and the gps unit worked great it took sometime to lock gps signal, but once it did, it worked great..

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Ok, so this must have been only a Mogul thing. It should work fine in airplane mode on the Pro, then.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Obviously you cannot use Google Maps, etc in Europe as they require an internet connection to work. I am using TomTom so that shouldnt be the issue.
Also, I am aware that it should take some time to locate the satellites since I am in a much different location on the earth than the last time I tried to use the GPS. But I am expecting a few minutes, it has been a few hours with no luck.
I tried this both near the window in my hotel, and again in a cab and then kept it on as I walked through the town.
It simply isn't finding the GPS.
I need to select 'COM4' right? There are four choices in my Touch Pro, COM4; COM7; Virtual COM9; and RIL on COM6.
Any settings like this I should try from within TomTom?

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Well guys, you are of luck. I also tought that the GPS of the touch pro would work out of the Sprint network which extends to Canada and Mexico as I was told.
I was in Southmerica last week. My son's Iphone connected to wi-fi was able to give him an exact location on the google maps with actually showing the pictures of the buildings, etc, with the GPS dot in the map.. MY touch pro, on the other hand, also connected to google maps with wi-fi, could not obtain the GPS location. On my return to the USA, I called Sprint, and together with the people of HTC technical support , I was told, that the GPS in the touch pro is only GPS assisted and needs the Sprint Network. So if you are traveling to Mexico, you may be ok. Europe, SouthAmerica, etc, bad luck.

So, unless somebody knows something different, that is a very dissapointing fact of the Touch pro, which is otherwise a great device.

Can it be configure to work as a GPS independent device?

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I am not doubting you, but why would the gps work when the phone is turned off (airplane mode)?

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

The GPS chip is independent from the radio.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I actually just posted this in another Garmin thread, but thought i'd post it here also in hopes of an answer.

So i recently found out that Garmin on the TP is able to get sat lock even while the phone is in airplane mode, which is awesome, because that should mean that it should be able to get lock in remote areas where there is no cellular reception.

However, when doing this, it keeps giving me the message saying it can't connect. I dismiss the message but it pops up again after a second. Is there a way to disable this message?

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Try telling garmin not to connect to online services automatically

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

hmm, ok so far looks like that works. thanks!

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I was able to get a lock with the radio turned off running Delorme Street Atlas 2008, it worked flawless. It didn't take any longer to get a lock either.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I've used mine without the phone radio on no problems.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I think that if you choose to enable AGPS you might have some trouble since it requires a cell signal to properly work. But, if you don't use AGPS you can use it without a hitch.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Even if its enabled, it still only uses the assistance when available and will still work without it when its not.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

that seems kinda gay. humm im not getting any service and whats the next street>>>> Damn!

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

AGPS only uses the data connection to create a route. If you lose cellular reception the GPS will still be able to navigate using the route which was acquired earlier using the data connection.

But yeah, the touch pro is able to work regardless of AGPS

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

More misinformation. AGPS doesn't make routes. AGPS uses land based assistance servers to determine your location. AGPS works by using data from the satellites + an assistance server to determine a location more quickly and where poor satellite signal is an issue.

Your mapping software whether it be sprint navigator, garmin xt, tom tom, etc etc, does the routing based off your location as determined by your (a)gps and the maps.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

ok well maybe i worded it wrong, but what i meant was, if your device requires assistance via internet connection to get a sat lock (like the mogul) then you can get sat loc, create a route, and even if you lose data reception during the course of the route, the navigation software will still be able to guide you properly. However you can not get a sat lock if there is no data reception initially.

I had a real world experience w/ my mogul where this happened exactly. I drove to sequoia national park for a camping trip, using garmin. I was able to use it fine on the way there, even without having the slightest bit of cellular reception for many miles inside the park. However when it came time to leave the park and head home i wasn't able to get a sat lock until i was back in an area w/ cellular reception.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I think its different on my Pro.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I have also experienced something almost exactly like that, I used TomTom to navigate to a camping site in the Rockies losing cell service on the way but GPS kept tracking my location just fine. When it was time to leave a few days later I could not acquire a satellite fix to save my life if I needed it. When I was back in cell range the gps picked up a signal and started tracking like normal.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

thats stupid, even if it was slower you should still get gps....

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

It was a several hour drive out with clear skies and the GPS kept searching until shortly after we were back in cell range.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

that would have had to suck

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Yes, it's different on the Pro. The pro doesn't require "assistance" so it's able to get a sat lock even without cellular reception.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

i used garmin XT in an airplane and watched the speedometer hit 600/mph.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

The GPS will work in standalone mode, but not all apps will recognize it correctly. Apps like GPSTuner and BeeLineGPS do recognize the standalone GPS signal.

I just came back from a trip. The GPS works great in standalone mode. I turned it on at times during a flight (in airplane mode so all the radios were off) to identify towns and cities as we p***** them.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

I'll add my 2 cents to this.

I have used my Touch Pro in Europe (both Belgium and Germany, using several different apps, but mainly TomTom for actual road use) on two different trips. Obviously I didn't have cell signal while there! But I did notice a few things that might help people.

1. I updated the "QuickGPS app that comes with the phone just before leaving. It comes with the TP stock, and is supposed to speed locks by having the most recent sat position data on the phone (rather than the GPS having to aquire the data from the sats directly once it finds one). The data is good for about a week which will cover most folks, plus you can update it if you can get a wi-fi connection.

2. (most important IMHO) Try to get an initial lock WHILE NOT MOVING. I found that the GPS seems to lock much much faster if I take a minute to get an initial lock.

3. If you're having issues, try an app like GPSViewer or BeelineGPS to monitor the lock progress. Get a lock there, then launch your preferred app. It's not necessary, but can alleviate some of the stress. Note that GPSViewer won't show that final lock from the "GPS Status" screen. Seems like a glitch, but if you saw it get 4-5 sats, then shift to the setup tab, then back to the GPS Status tab and you'll see the final lock.

All in all it does pretty well. The big challenge is the initial lock (cold start). I think the driver is probably optimized to assume a USA location, so if you're in a area with poor sky visability (e.g. buildings, mountains, lots of trees, remember, the phone has an antenna to receive VERY weak signals from sats) you will take a lot longer to lock.

Hope that helps someone get this working.

Re: Possible to use Internal GPS in no coverage area?
 

Gof's comments sound promising for having success using the TP's GPS outside the US….i recently got a Touch Pro, prior to that I had a Mogul for a couple of years….i go down to the caribbean a couple of times per year (St. Maarten), and I was never able to get a GPS lock on the Mogul while down there

also, I would try to keep the GPS on during the plane flights, and for the domestic portion of the trip (houston to miami) i would keep the GPS connection for about 5-10 minutes after take-off, then lose it….i would then re-acquire the GPS lock when we got close to landing, and I was able to pick up a cell signal again

one time, as we were approaching St. Maarten, I did briefly aquire a GPS lock, but I turned the phone off after we landed, and when I turned the phone back on later I was never able to get a GPS lock again for the remainder of the trip

attached is a Google Maps screen cap with GPS tracking points, from the one trip where I did get a GPS lock in the caribbean, using the TrackMe app….(I forgot to turn on the GPS when leaving Miami, the one point in the screen cap is from inside the airport)