Got GPS working with phone...

chivas228 · Feb 11, 2012

So going over the thread about the GPS and opening their Prime to get the antenna working, I thought of something and gave it a whack....

I had a sudden thought.... what *if* I tried to turn on my google map on my phone (HTC Touch Cruise) knowing it can get a fix indoors and placed my phone where the Prime's antenna is located.... what would happen.

Well, it worked. I got 8 fixed (6-7 steady) once my phone's GPS antenna got a lock of only 4.

make sure you phone (or whatever you're using to get gps sats) is warmed up and has found some sats then place it over your Prime's GPS antenna is located (if you have to ask where, this is not for you) and try it out. this is just a cheating work around and not exactly a *fix* but in a pinch and you want to leverage the tablet's bigger screen for google map or nav, here you go...

*EDIT*: let me add, you don't have to use google maps. any gps tester would also work. we just want to activate the GPS on the phone so google maps is the easiest but there are other apps out there that can do the trick. if you're on an android phone, gps test would work. WinMo has an app too (i have it somewhere) that tests GPS for the phone as well.

EDIT: for a better explanation, see post #11: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=22458668&postcount=11

Doktaphex · Feb 11, 2012

your thread makes absolutely no sense. Of course you can tether, why are you talking about putting the tethered antenna over the top of the internal antenna? I can only assume that English is not your first language and that you're using the wrong phrasing.

Either that, or you're an idiot, I tend to look at the first answer.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium

flub · Feb 11, 2012

This has gotta be a joke right ??

I would just get a Bluetooth GPS device that would search and lock on to the sats and place it next to where the Prime's antenna is located if I needed a GPS

Why the Hell would you do that ? If you got a bluetooth GPS device connect the Fecker to the Prime not hold it where the primes antenna is .

This has gotta be a classic I can't wait for the pics LMFAO

chivas228 · Feb 11, 2012

can the prime multi-tether? i bluetooth share my internet connection on my phone so I can't connect anything else to my phone via bluetooth (like radio). ie: I can't listen to music from my phone in my truck via bluetooth to the radio AND share my internet connection via bluetooth with the prime. one or the other.

thought bluetooth can only link to one device at a time?

pyro6128 · Feb 12, 2012

use gps tether on your phone and prime

/thread

rand4ll · Feb 12, 2012

chivas228 said:
can the prime multi-tether? i bluetooth share my internet connection on my phone so I can't connect anything else to my phone via bluetooth (like radio). ie: I can't listen to music from my phone in my truck via bluetooth to the radio AND share my internet connection via bluetooth with the prime. one or the other.

thought bluetooth can only link to one device at a time?

You can connect multiple devices to one bluetooth controller and use them concurrently, they just need different addresses

chivas228 · Feb 12, 2012

rand4ll said:
You can connect multiple devices to one bluetooth controller and use them concurrently, they just need different addresses

did not know that. thanks!

and so this is where the confusion came in.

Doktaphex · Feb 12, 2012

BRILLIANT......

stretchwookie · Feb 12, 2012

is there a ban for these kind of posts? i hope so, cuz now im inb4it

Nefariouss · Feb 12, 2012

Why do you people have to be such dicks all the time. Ignore it and move on if you don't like the thread. Nobody wants to read all the retarded lol inb4ban haha u r retarded ****.

I believe he's just saying his prime could pull the sat signals easier when his phone had a solid GPS signal and placing his phone over his primes GPS antenna. While GPS over Bluetooth would be a better option this doesn't hurt anyone information wise.

dingdonggggg · Feb 12, 2012

OP might not know what he is doing but he is 10000 % right about the phenomenon

OP might not know what he is doing but he is 10000 % right about the phenomenon.

Because all the experts were flaming him and calling him a retard I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and imitate his actions.

I haven't seen one satellite with my Prime for weeks. I tried everything but taking it apart. I've left it for days on end in clear view of the southern sky (inside, outside, night and day, clear sky and overcast)
Today it was a heavy overcast day.

Test 1:
I placed the Prime flat on its back in front of the window (inside) and the phone next to it.
Result: 11 sats on my HTC sensation and as usual no sats on my Prime (pic 1)

Test 2:
Without moving the Prime I placed the phone on the area above the GPS antenna of the prime
Result: The HTC drops to 5 or 4 sats and the Prime suddenly sees up to 13 sats (pic 2a , 2b)

Test 3:
Without moving the Prime I remove the phone and place it next to the prime
Result: The HTC gets 8 sats again and the Prime drops down to 3 sats (pic 3). And gradually in time the Prime drops more and more sats until the effect is gone.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

There is something very very very strange going on here. It must be some electromagnetic or static field that is killing the Prime’s GPS. The field even kills the HTC’s gps because if you fiddle around a bit with the location on the Prime the HTC drops down to 2 or 3 sats with hardly any reception.
The Prime isn’t equipped with a GPS but with a GPS-killer.

And apparently if field conditions are changed by an external source the Prime has a GPS that can see just as much sats as any other. No matter what sort of back plate it has.
And let this be a lesson for all you so called expert. If someone tells you he has experienced something. Don’t call names and flame. And don’t discard until you are a hundred percent certain that he is wrong. In the old days you would get burned if you said the earth is round ;-)

I will see if it is worth opening a new thread about this phenomenon

chivas228 · Feb 12, 2012

dingdonggggg said:
OP might not know what he is doing but he is 10000 % right about the phenomenon.

Because all the experts were flaming him and calling him a retard I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and imitate his actions.

I haven't seen one satellite with my Prime for weeks. I tried everything but taking it apart. I've left it for days on end in clear view of the southern sky (inside, outside, night and day, clear sky and overcast)
Today it was a heavy overcast day.

Test 1:
I placed the Prime flat on its back in front of the window (inside) and the phone next to it.
Result: 11 sats on my HTC sensation and as usual no sats on my Prime (pic 1)

Test 2:
Without moving the Prime I placed the phone on the area above the GPS antenna of the prime
Result: The HTC drops to 5 or 4 sats and the Prime suddenly sees up to 13 sats (pic 2a , 2b)

Test 3:
Without moving the Prime I remove the phone and place it next to the prime
Result: The HTC gets 8 sats again and the Prime drops down to 3 sats (pic 2). And gradually in time the Prime drops more and more sats until the effect is gone.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

There is something very very very strange going on here. It must be some electromagnetic or static field that is killing the Prime’s GPS. The field even kills the HTC’s gps because if you fiddle around a bit with the location on the Prime the HTC drops down to 2 or 3 sats with hardly any reception.
The Prime isn’t equipped with a GPS but with a GPS-killer.

And apparently if field conditions are changed by an external source the Prime has a GPS that can see just as much sats as any other. No matter what sort of back plate it has.
And let this be a lesson for all you so called expert. If someone tells you he has experienced something. Don’t call names and flame. And don’t discard until you are a hundred percent certain that he is wrong. In the old days you would get burned if you said the earth is round ;-)

I will see if it is worth opening a new thread about this phenomenon

thank you!!

yeah, i wasn't exactly very clear as to what I was saying plus I didn't get to post any pics to back up what I was trying to explain.

I think the way the Prime is built (or the material used) is killing the signals. if you place the phone UNDER the Prime, you'll see a big drop in sat signals too.

I tried this because I can't open my prime and I also don't have the plastic tools to do it right (tried using a Swiss Army knife but I stopped short knowing it'll chip the glass)

markimar · Feb 12, 2012

Doktaphex said:
your thread makes absolutely no sense. Of course you can tether, why are you talking about putting the tethered antenna over the top of the internal antenna? I can only assume that English is not your first language and that you're using the wrong phrasing.

Either that, or you're an idiot, I tend to look at the first answer.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium

Lol huh? How would placing a device that was totally separate from the prime next to it make the signal strength change? Aren't GPS receivers passive? This is bizzare... wish I had an EMF detector... wait that's ghost adventures....

dingdonggggg · Feb 12, 2012

To Chivas228. You might wanna change the name of the thread so it attracts the right attention. We need antenna or shielding experts to have a look at this information. Maybe change it to: 'GPS fixed with phone' or something like that. And edit the first post refering to my post and pictures.

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 PM ----------

markimar said:
Lol huh? How would placing a device that was totally separate from the prime next to it make the signal strength change? Aren't GPS receivers passive? This is bizzare...

It sounds crazy and it probably is. Seeing is believing. Just try it. Will take you five minutes.

Maybe the phone's GPS distorts the field around the Prime's GPS enough to open a window. Also I read in some posts about parasitical antennas. Maybe this is due to that phenomenon.

I dunno but it works.
All credit to the OP for doing something crazy.

stretchwookie · Feb 12, 2012

Nefariouss said:
Why do you people have to be such dicks all the time. Ignore it and move on if you don't like the thread. Nobody wants to read all the retarded lol inb4ban haha u r retarded ****.

I believe he's just saying his prime could pull the sat signals easier when his phone had a solid GPS signal and placing his phone over his primes GPS antenna. While GPS over Bluetooth would be a better option this doesn't hurt anyone information wise.

callig people names while trying to stick up for someone else isnt being the bigger man. you, too, could have handled that differently.

dingdonggggg said:
OP might not know what he is doing but he is 10000 % right about the phenomenon.

Because all the experts were flaming him and calling him a retard I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and imitate his actions.

I haven't seen one satellite with my Prime for weeks. I tried everything but taking it apart. I've left it for days on end in clear view of the southern sky (inside, outside, night and day, clear sky and overcast)
Today it was a heavy overcast day.

Test 1:
I placed the Prime flat on its back in front of the window (inside) and the phone next to it.
Result: 11 sats on my HTC sensation and as usual no sats on my Prime (pic 1)

Test 2:
Without moving the Prime I placed the phone on the area above the GPS antenna of the prime
Result: The HTC drops to 5 or 4 sats and the Prime suddenly sees up to 13 sats (pic 2a , 2b)

Test 3:
Without moving the Prime I remove the phone and place it next to the prime
Result: The HTC gets 8 sats again and the Prime drops down to 3 sats (pic 3). And gradually in time the Prime drops more and more sats until the effect is gone.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

There is something very very very strange going on here. It must be some electromagnetic or static field that is killing the Prime’s GPS. The field even kills the HTC’s gps because if you fiddle around a bit with the location on the Prime the HTC drops down to 2 or 3 sats with hardly any reception.
The Prime isn’t equipped with a GPS but with a GPS-killer.

And apparently if field conditions are changed by an external source the Prime has a GPS that can see just as much sats as any other. No matter what sort of back plate it has.
And let this be a lesson for all you so called expert. If someone tells you he has experienced something. Don’t call names and flame. And don’t discard until you are a hundred percent certain that he is wrong. In the old days you would get burned if you said the earth is round ;-)

I will see if it is worth opening a new thread about this phenomenon

so i decided to try this, even though i didnt believe it would work. i tried my phone every which way on my prime, even on the back and i still only get the 1-2 satellites as normal.

also, you arent supposed to be on wifi while testing this sort of thing, but both your tablet and phone are. you are supposed to turn off wifi, turn on gps, power cycle both devices, then test.

flub · Feb 12, 2012

What the hells gone on with XDA ?

What the op was actually suggesting as a fix for gps was to get a bluetooth gps device & hold it where primes antenna is, He wasn't pointing out a phenomenon

quote from op

Instead of opening the prime, I would just get a Bluetooth GPS device that would search and lock on to the sats and place it next to where the Prime's antenna is located if I needed a GPS. Yeah, I know, another attachment but what the smell

It is an absurd idea

I have seen people flamed far worse for far less

Me personally I have bluetooth gps receiver & if i was gonna use it I would connect it via bluetooth

dingdonggggg · Feb 12, 2012

I get the impression that nobody takes the time for reading a whole thread.
And as in current society when whe don't understand it we flame them

Just try it
Has nothing to do with BT but with another GPS being close to the Prime's GPS antenna.

Next is optional.
Not necessary but for the non-believers that think the gps-data comes from some other source.
To make sure nothing else is corruptin or giving you the locational data.
Turn of GPS, wifi, BT, cellular data, google locations on both your phone and the Prime.
Do a power cycle on both.

Start up your phone's GPS with GPS test or something.
Start up your Prime's GPS with GPS test or something.
Put the phone and the Prime next to each other in front of a window with view of some sky.
In my case no sats on the Prime and 11 sats on the phone.
Then put the phone on the screen of the Prime on top of the GPS antenna (right hand top corner, see pics earlier post).
And ............ wait for about ten minutes (max).
And magicly the Prime gets a fix on more and more sats.
I got a max of 13 satalites from behind a double glazed window on a heavy overcast (snowy) evening.

So just try it.
Or call me and the OP names and flame us.
Or even better Burn us witches at the stake ;-)
Oh sorry. I forgot. We are civilised nowadays

Just try it.

---------- Post added at 11:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:34 PM ----------

stretchwookie said:
callig people names while trying to stick up for someone else isnt being the bigger man. you, too, could have handled that differently.

so i decided to try this, even though i didnt believe it would work. i tried my phone every which way on my prime, even on the back and i still only get the 1-2 satellites as normal.

also, you arent supposed to be on wifi while testing this sort of thing, but both your tablet and phone are. you are supposed to turn off wifi, turn on gps, power cycle both devices, then test.

did as you stated.
See previous post.
Same result
12 sats

Wordlywisewiz · Feb 12, 2012

This is crazy!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Diamondback · Feb 12, 2012

I can partially confirm this.

After testing this myth I found out the following:

Prime signal quality doesn't improve a lot for me, but it actually does improve
Signal quality of my Desire HD drops dramatically once it lies on the Prime
Everything can be repeated as often as you want

This is really strange.The Prime is getting more and more mysterious....

dingdonggggg · Feb 12, 2012

Wordlywisewiz said:
This is crazy!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Did you try it?
Or are you just a disbeliever?

Got GPS working with phone...

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Retired Dev Committee Lead / Retired Senior Mod

Senior Member

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts