Apparent GPS Failure

[racklefratz]

There's also this problem....
GPS satellite system 'close to breakdown' and could fail by 2010 - leading motorists straight into trouble | Mail Online

Disregard that - that's a British pop-culture rag. They'd publish anything they thought was sensational enough to pump up readership.

The US isn't going to let the sat-nav system fall back to earth until they're ready. Ground-based users like us are the bottom-feeders of the GPS system. The tall poles are the entire aviation industry and the military, who uses it not only to navigate, but to aim missiles and other war-fighting purposes.

This is a non-issue.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0906/19gps2r20/

 

[racklefratz]

2 on my motorcycle

2? on one bike? Reminds me of the old Chinese proverb, "A man with two watches never knows what time it is".

 

[spalding12]

2 on my motorcycle

2? on one bike? Reminds me of the old Chinese proverb, "A man with two watches never knows what time it is".

hmmmmm
i don't think i mentioned 2 on one bike
i was alone on my bike... riding with a friend... also alone on his bike
love the proverb, however
great point

 

[racklefratz]

hmmmmm
i don't think i mentioned 2 on one bike

I'm confused. I understand this is off-topic, but in my own defense, I got that impression from your earlier post, which said

"that is weird
it must become some cell tower-related issue
i have 8 gps units i use regularly.....
2 in each car
2 on my motorcycle"

then showed them both in this image.......

 

[spalding12]

of course.....
i didn't realize what you meant
yep....
2
the garmin 376C...
has XM Radio.... and XM Weather with live NEXRAD satellite weather, updated every 5 minutes to STREET LEVEL ACCURACY
XM WX Data Products | XM WX Satellite Weather

i use that unit for a "wide view" of the area... and for XM Radio piped into my helmet

and the BMW Navigator II (another garmin product)
for street-level navigation

i do like a bit of redundancy on long trips
i've ridden about 250,000 miles in my life.... all over north american
GPS has come in handy, of course
not just for planning long routes to make sure i see what i thought might be interesting
but.....
because i can always find the LESS-TRAVELED ROAD and take it....
without fear that i won't be able to find my way back to "civilization

 

[racklefratz]

i do like a bit of redundancy on long trips i've ridden about 250,000 miles in my life.... all over north american GPS has come in handy, of course not just for planning long routes to make sure i see what i thought might be interesting
but.....because i can always find the LESS-TRAVELED ROAD and take it....
without fear that i won't be able to find my way back to "civilization

Yeah, I've been using GPSes since Christ was a small boy in short pants as well, and in all my vehicles, as you have. I also ride. Just one on the bike, but when I owned airplanes, I couldn't have enough of 'em on board. The "FAA-certified" one in the panel drove the autopilot to get me where I wanted to go, but my yoke-mounted portable was more capable and prettier (color)!

I've been riding over 50 years now, and have owned prolly 30 or so bikes, but currently own a '04 Goldwing and a '08 V-8 powered Boss Hoss. That one's a tall drink of water - 6200cc/445hp Corvette engine. Acceleration is, shall we say, brisk.

On topic, I've been through everything in this thread with interest. We bought 2 Droids last week, and I got a failure to acquire satellites yesterday on mine. I've always been a VZW customer, and I live in central Texas, so not in FL. It seems OK today after I did a factory reset yesterday.

However, after reading this thread I'm tempted to think it's a systemic problem rather than location-related. I've never been with Alltel. Time will tell what's causing it, I suppose. Sure hope we get a fix, though, because I'm a GPS affictionado from the gitgo.

 

[summerfieldjason]

GPS Update from my trip to NYC. Got off plane worked 2 seconds after I landed. Worked great the whole time. Returned to Tampa today and It worked for exactly 1 minute and haven't been able to get lock since I got back. It is definitly a problem with something in the area. Anyone have any GOOD news.

 

[summerfieldjason]

Was in NYC for holiday worked great. Landed this morning no luck

 

[spalding12]

i do like a bit of redundancy on long trips i've ridden about 250,000 miles in my life.... all over north american GPS has come in handy, of course not just for planning long routes to make sure i see what i thought might be interesting
but.....because i can always find the LESS-TRAVELED ROAD and take it....
without fear that i won't be able to find my way back to "civilization

Yeah, I've been using GPSes since Christ was a small boy in short pants as well, and in all my vehicles, as you have. I also ride. Just one on the bike, but when I owned airplanes, I couldn't have enough of 'em on board. The "FAA-certified" one in the panel drove the autopilot to get me where I wanted to go, but my yoke-mounted portable was more capable and prettier (color)!

I've been riding over 50 years now, and have owned prolly 30 or so bikes, but currently own a '04 Goldwing and a '08 V-8 powered Boss Hoss. That one's a tall drink of water - 6200cc/445hp Corvette engine. Acceleration is, shall we say, brisk.


On topic, I've been through everything in this thread with interest. We bought 2 Droids last week, and I got a failure to acquire satellites yesterday on mine. I've always been a VZW customer, and I live in central Texas, so not in FL. It seems OK today after I did a factory reset yesterday.

However, after reading this thread I'm tempted to think it's a systemic problem rather than location-related. I've never been with Alltel. Time will tell what's causing it, I suppose. Sure hope we get a fix, though, because I'm a GPS affictionado from the gitgo.

AWESOME POST
to say that i LOVE that bike, would be an UNDERstatement
glad to have a fellow rider here

for the record, i currently ride BMW K1200GT:

with a 2010 BMW S1000RR coming in less than 2 months:

as for your issues in texas.... hmmmmmmmm
i guess this makes it even stranger that verizon hasn't come up with a "FIX" yet
what gives?
they have to be aware of this large-scale issue with their iPhone killer...
verizon is the KING OF WIRELESS, so aren't they capable of squashing a problem like this fairly quickly?

again..... thanks for your terrific post.... love the AIRCRAFT STORY, as well

 

[ly92078]

While shoping today, Gps didnt work at all in polk county, FL but worked perfectly in Orlando.

 

[spalding12]

GPS Update from my trip to NYC. Got off plane worked 2 seconds after I landed. Worked great the whole time. Returned to Tampa today and It worked for exactly 1 minute and haven't been able to get lock since I got back. It is definitly a problem with something in the area. Anyone have any GOOD news.

this is so freakin' ridiculous
verizon has had TOWER issues in the tampa bay area since the company "arrived" here some time back
i can remember being in their "flagship" store in my area a few years ago....
where you couldn't even get a signal from ANY phone in the store
no kidding
so....
when they bought alltel... one of the main plusses for them, was finally being able to get some coverage in my area... where alltel had far more penetration than verizon did
but....
i guess we are left with the effects of their reliance on alltel's former towers

i surely hope there is a fix soon

 

[spalding12]

While shoping today, Gps didnt work at all in polk county, FL but worked perfectly in Orlando.

thanks for the update

 

[spalding12]

Was in NYC for holiday worked great. Landed this morning no luck

thanks for the update

 

[KTG]

I was on the phone with Verizon today, new prl is 65073, I updated my phone but I still have 65061, Time to back to the store and get a new phone or wait for an update ? undecided.

 

[jaymeangreen]

oh....
and, by the way:
here's what some UPPER LEVEL VERIZON REP TOLD ME... earlier today:

Former ALLTEL Customers will NEVER get GPS until they change to a VERIZON phone #

Not true. For those of. You who have been following this thread and have been reading my posts since I left ft Myers my GPS has worked without a problem. I am in west TN where I barely get cell phone service but my GPS. Works fine. So it is possible for former alltel customers to have GPS. It definitely has to do with my location in some way

ok ,i have returned from TN and im back in Ft. myers. GPS works perfectly as long as i am not south of the Bushnell Florida area .