Earthmate just started sucking at nights

techy101 · 11-25-2004, 03:49 PM

Hey, I was just wondering if anybody else has had this problem. Over the past three weeks or so my earthmate has seemed to become possessed. During the day i get great signal, 6-8 sats avg. But once the sun goes down, i loose most all of my signal, and it only tracks for about 40% of the time, the rest of the time i get a bunch of grey, yellow, and red sat. status icons. Any idea's???

Yuriy · 11-25-2004, 03:52 PM

No, but you could try changing your GPS receiver or relocating it.

MatrixPC · 11-26-2004, 11:13 AM

When it cool out side, it take forever to lock at the sat, and if it does, only 3 or 4.
During the day, when it warm and sunny, it was able to lock into 9+ sat.
The problem I think is too much overcast (if that the word)

finnman925 · 11-26-2004, 06:54 PM

doo you have window tint or a factory tinted glass ? - if so, it may interfere more in the dark .

NRGZ28 · 11-26-2004, 06:59 PM

Mmm we're talking about radio waves here, not light transmission

Really doubt the GPS receiver cares too much about how much light can go through your windshield

jcdillin · 11-26-2004, 07:00 PM

not if the tint is reflective. I have had it reduce gps signal many times.

0l33l · 11-26-2004, 07:01 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by finnman925

doo you have window tint or a factory tinted glass ? - if so, it may interfere more in the dark .

Ok..... GPS uses radio signals... if these signals pass through the glass during the day, what makes you think they won't pass the same window at night?

Maybe the problem is clouds, different area, heading in a different direction?

carpcnoobie · 11-26-2004, 07:10 PM

Where is the GPS located??? Is it in the back window or under glass? I agree.. it's a radio wave.. it doesn't care if it's light or dark out. Just wondering if anything else is interfering. Dash lights, window defroster, some EMF field? Etc.

Change · 11-26-2004, 08:02 PM

Some window tint is made from metallic particles, so that can attenuate the signals passing through it. That wouldn't cause the unit to fail at night though, unless there's heavy cloud cover attenuating the signal further...even then, I think they would have to be some pretty heavy clouds...just for kicks, try holding the Earthmate outside of the vehicle at night and compare it to when it's inside the vehicle.

Grayscale · 11-26-2004, 11:25 PM

what about humidity? does it get more humid at night maybe, causing it to refract the signals?

techy101 · 11-27-2004, 03:31 AM

As for as the weather, it's crystal clear at nights. and I haven't had this problem until about a few weeks ago as i said. Before that it has been working perfectly at nights. The only difference is that the overall temp has dropped. I have never had any problems with it in bad weather. It is located right up under my dash, almost up against the windsheild, and most of the way to the passenger side door. If that makes any sense.

GruvThang · 11-27-2004, 04:09 AM

wasn't there a similar thread about this? But I think that guy lived in CA

GruvThang · 11-27-2004, 04:12 AM

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/general-hardware-discussion/36994-paint-gps-locator.html this is the one

frodobaggins · 11-27-2004, 06:14 AM

It's not that far fetched an idea. The metal in the window tint will have
different properties when it's warm, than when it's cold. Could be enough
to **** with it. I doubt it, but you never know. Try heating up the window
while stopped with your defroster on heat. See if it makes any difference.

Frodo

Bugbyte · 11-27-2004, 03:47 PM

I've seen a similar issue with mine (not Earthmate) at night. It locks great in the mornings but takes longer and seems to track fewer satellites at night. I just thought it had something to do with the position of the satellites in the evening vs. the morning.

Moving the GPS to a more prominent location gave me reliable results but still fewer satellites lock in the evening.