Troubleshooting your bluetooth gps receiver connection

When we say troubleshooting your gps, the goal here is not really to attempt fixing your bluetooth gps, that is best left to the manufacturer if it is still under warranty or probably replacing with a new one if out of warranty (which may be more economical), but to find out the source of the problem. When you experience a problem receiving signals , there are two things to look out for, first the bluetooth connection between the gps and pda/phone and secondly the ability of the gps to receive signals.  In this guide I’ll assume you are using tomtom 5 navigation software.

When you find out your gps doesn’t seem to be working, Check if there is still a bluetooth connection between the receiver and your pda or phone. The whole task is simplified if your bluetooth gps receiver can give you a visual indication of a bluetooth connection.  For  example, if one is using a polstar bluetooth pbt-111, when there is a bluetooth connection, the blue light on the receiver remains steady, if it is lost then the blue light blinks. If your gps receiver doesn’t give any visual indication, look at your pda, it should say something like “GPS signal was lost xx min ago”, check the today screen and access the bluetooth manager, go to active cnnections , the outgoing connections should show some green bars,

If they are not there, try recreating a bluetooth connection between the gps and pda, if they are there, then that indicates the problem lies with the gps’s ability to acquire a satellite fix.

Most bluetooth gps receivers give a visual indication when they have acquired a fix to satellites, it could be in the form of the lights being steady as in the polstar pbt-111 or the lights flashing as in the bt-77 or holux  Gpslim236 . If you look at the receiver and it indicates it has lost its fix, try positioning it in a place where it can get a good view of the sky, this should solve the problem.

If the there is a bluetooth connection between the gps receiver and your pda/phone, and the gps has acquired a fix and still your pda navigation software still doesn’t display your position and they are no blue bars, reboot the pda or phone, this usually solves the problem.

In summary  if you have connection problems

1. Check that there is still a bluetooth connection between your gps receiver and your pda or phone, if there isn’t reestablish a connection.

2. If the above exists check that the gps receiver is locked to satellites or at least attempting to, On tomtom, in the “show GPS status” screen there should be gray bars and the small circle should be spinning (there should be a sign indicating the receiver is trying to lock on to satellites). If it isn’t locked or attempting to lock on to satellites then you have a faulty gps receiver.

3. If the there is a bluetooth and satellite connection (indicated by lights on gps receiver) and you still have problems, reboot your pda/phone.  This usually solves the problem.