No GPS while at Sea

[BobC43]

We recently went on a cruise and I was surprised to find that I could not get a lock on GPS while at sea. I can understand if I were using a map program, but I was using GPS Status app to try and find latitude and longitude. The app would see 6 or 7 satellites, but would not lock. Tried this a couple of time. As soon as we docked, three different times, all was sell and a lock was achieved.

I have no idea what being at sea has to do with the GPS.

 

[ldimick]

We recently went on a cruise and I was surprised to find that I could not get a lock on GPS while at sea. I can understand if I were using a map program, but I was using GPS Status app to try and find latitude and longitude. The app would see 6 or 7 satellites, but would not lock. Tried this a couple of time. As soon as we docked, three different times, all was sell and a lock was achieved.

I have no idea what being at sea has to do with the GPS.

That is interesting. What app were you using?

 

[garrett]

thats weird...


i make the trip from Ft Lauderdale to the Bahamas 3 or 4 times a week and its worked for me.. only tried it once or twice to see if it really worked. besides my marine chart plotter is more accurate.



next time im further out to sea ill check it out

 

[htbyron]

OP said this happened while using the GPS Status app.

I suspect this has to do with the assisted GPS implementation. I have tried to get a GPS lock while on an airplane, and in airplane mode (so no cell/3G signal). WIthout a signal, I think the GPS is unable to confirm location. I don't understand why, since GPS Status shows some satellites.

 

[takeshi]

I have no idea what being at sea has to do with the GPS.

GPS on the Droid is assisted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

A typical A-GPS-enabled receiver will use a data connection (Internet or other) to contact the assistance server for A-GPS information. Some A-GPS devices cannot fall back to standard GPS.

It would probably work properly if you had network coverage when you started the GPS app and then lost network coverage. It would be nice if the Droid could switch to standalone if it's unable to get what it needs for running in assisted mode after a certain amount of time.

I've run into several instances where it was unable to get a fix even with good network coverage.

 

[BobC43]

OK, went an tried a few things discussed here.

Airplane Mode - GPS Status does not even see the satellites, unlike what I saw on the cruise which was seeing many of them, just not locking.

No Data connection (turned off) - GPS Status worked fine and locked on fine. I shut off the phone after turning off WiFi and Data and then started back up.

STRANGE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dylanthecat]

OK, went an tried a few things discussed here.

Airplane Mode - GPS Status does not even see the satellites, unlike what I saw on the cruise which was seeing many of them, just not locking.

No Data connection (turned off) - GPS Status worked fine and locked on fine. I shut off the phone after turning off WiFi and Data and then started back up.

STRANGE!!!!!!!!!!!

How did you turn off data?

 

[BobC43]

OK, went an tried a few things discussed here.

Airplane Mode - GPS Status does not even see the satellites, unlike what I saw on the cruise which was seeing many of them, just not locking.

No Data connection (turned off) - GPS Status worked fine and locked on fine. I shut off the phone after turning off WiFi and Data and then started back up.

STRANGE!!!!!!!!!!!

How did you turn off data?

I am currently in an area where I am roaming, so just turned it off.

 

[debejyo]

We recently went on a cruise and I was surprised to find that I could not get a lock on GPS while at sea. I can understand if I were using a map program, but I was using GPS Status app to try and find latitude and longitude. The app would see 6 or 7 satellites, but would not lock. Tried this a couple of time. As soon as we docked, three different times, all was sell and a lock was achieved.

I have no idea what being at sea has to do with the GPS.

I went on an Alaska cruise. I experienced the exact same thing. To avoid international roaming, I turned off data (#*#*info*#*#). I tried several apps: (a) MapDroyd - I had the offline maps (b) compass - set to getting the coordinates only and (c) MyTracks - capable of recording the coordinates without the need for any data.

Using the compass app in the satellite mode, my phone could see 2-3 satellites but was able to use 0. I was standing on the ship (literrally) under open sky. Tried in clear sky and cloudy weather.

I have similar issues in aeroplane. In aeroplane mode, the GPS works and technically should give a location. When close to a window, I can get 1-2 satellites but don't get any reading.

Don't you hate it when you think it will work and it doesn't!!

I use a Bionic, Droid 4 and HTC incredible 2. I carried and checked on all the phones, at least with MyTracks.