Cannot Capture GPS Position

[JohnHuggins]

Hi,

I have ArcGIS for Windows Mobile 3.1 installed on a Trimble 6000 Geo XT, and everything???s working fine with the exception of the GPS point capture.

In a nutshell, I click the button to capture my position but nothing happens. The screen reads ???Capturing???.???, but never finishes. The application doesn???t crash or anything like that. It just never captures the point.

I???ve played with the settings to allow for max error, but still nothing. I can stream and manually plot geometry without any issues, but no GPS capture.

All firmware and software is up to date, and NMEA is turned on.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[MiguelDias]

Hello,

I have a similar problem. I have been working with a Trimble GeoExplorer HX 6000 with Windows Mobile 6.5 and ArcGIS Mobile 10.
I installed GPS Controller application in the device, using COM3 to get GNSS positions, than connecting with a differential correction station in real time via GPRS, and then outputting coordinates to COM2 (NMEA output).
Than in ArcGIS Mobile I connect the GPS input to COM2 and receive the GPS/GNSS positions very accurately. The problem is when I try to collect features and ArcGIS Mobile starts averaging positions the process never stops (it doesn't collect any position).
When I open the GPS Status window all seems to be fine except for the PDOP that appears as NaN (not a number). Since ArcGIS Mobile need to know the PDOP to start averaging positions, it seems to me the source of the problem.

Anyone had this problem before? Any solution or workaround?

Thank you
Miguel Dias
Sines, Portugal

[AkhilParujanwala]

Hi,

I am using a Trimble ProXH GPS unit, and I have it hooked up to my laptop via serial or Bluetooth.
I am able to collect data perfectly on ArcGIS Mobile 10 Out-of-the-box solution.

The important thing for the ProXH GPS is to be configured in NMEA output as opposed to TSIP.
I used GPS Controller to configure the ProXH.

I know you mentioned that everything seems to be ok, but with GPS Controller, you can output the raw GPS data in NMEA and select which NMEA strings you want to output. You may be missing a NMEA string that you need for PDOP.

Hope this helps.

[MiguelDias]

Hi,

I am using a Trimble ProXH GPS unit, and I have it hooked up to my laptop via serial or Bluetooth.
I am able to collect data perfectly on ArcGIS Mobile 10 Out-of-the-box solution.

The important thing for the ProXH GPS is to be configured in NMEA output as opposed to TSIP.
I used GPS Controller to configure the ProXH.

I know you mentioned that everything seems to be ok, but with GPS Controller, you can output the raw GPS data in NMEA and select which NMEA strings you want to output. You may be missing a NMEA string that you need for PDOP.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

Last week I had the problem that NMEA output was not activated, but the retailer sent the activation file and that problem was solved.
Now the GPS is configured in NMEA output and all NMEA strings are selected, so it must be something else.
In ArcGIS Mobile I can see the GPS cursor and it is very accurate and works fine.

Any more ideas?

Miguel Dias

[HenrikSvenningsen]

We installed FRANSON GPS GATE on our Tablet and it could locate our GPS and ArcMobile can then collect the GPS stream. If we disable the FRANSON GPS software ArcMobile can't locate the GPS.

[AkhilParujanwala]

We installed FRANSON GPS GATE on our Tablet and it could locate our GPS and ArcMobile can then collect the GPS stream. If we disable the FRANSON GPS software ArcMobile can't locate the GPS.

I have two GPS devices that I use.

The Trimble ProXH, and I use GPS Controller to configure NMEA output and a serial to USB converter with prolific drivers. I have no problem getting NMEA strings in ArcGIS Mobile.

Then we bought Garmin Montana 650 GPS Navigation systems, they look like a large smart phone and I also use FRANSON GPS GATE, and I believe we installed the Garming USB drivers beforehand.

Overall, the Garmin Montana was superior to the Trimble ProXH in both urban and rural tests. The ProXH will not work in urban areas causing ArcGIS Mobile to constantly throw an error, saying "Would you like to reconnect", whereas the Garmin can guestimate your location in urban areas and will allow ArcGIS Mobile to continue to collect data.

I wish I knew all of this when I first started building with ArcGIS Mobile, because I have spent countless months on trying to figure out GPS/NMEA problems with the Trimble ProXH. Now that we have switched to the Garmin Montana series, my work-life is a lot easier.

I hope this helps others!

[HenrikSvenningsen]

Did any of the answers solve your problem?? and if, could you please "close" it with a "tickmark", so other can see it as a sulotion 😄

[HugoMaurício]

I have two GPS devices that I use.

The Trimble ProXH, and I use GPS Controller to configure NMEA output and a serial to USB converter with prolific drivers. I have no problem getting NMEA strings in ArcGIS Mobile.

Then we bought Garmin Montana 650 GPS Navigation systems, they look like a large smart phone and I also use FRANSON GPS GATE, and I believe we installed the Garming USB drivers beforehand.

Overall, the Garmin Montana was superior to the Trimble ProXH in both urban and rural tests. The ProXH will not work in urban areas causing ArcGIS Mobile to constantly throw an error, saying "Would you like to reconnect", whereas the Garmin can guestimate your location in urban areas and will allow ArcGIS Mobile to continue to collect data.

I wish I knew all of this when I first started building with ArcGIS Mobile, because I have spent countless months on trying to figure out GPS/NMEA problems with the Trimble ProXH. Now that we have switched to the Garmin Montana series, my work-life is a lot easier.

I hope this helps others!

Hi to all,

I am developing a custom ArcGIS application with the ArcGIS for Windows Mobile SDK for desktop.

I am also trying to connect to a Trimble GPS External receiver, in my case a Trimble R4, to a Trimble Yuma 2, but with little or no luck.

I tried connecting the Trimble GPS Controller to a COM Port on the R4 but without success. Has anyone tried this?

Then I found out that I can use Trimble Configurator to configure the R4 to output NMEA message through a serial port (RS232). But Trimble Yuma 2 does not have a serial port connection. And I don't think it will be acceptable to carry both Trimble Yuma and R4 attached with a serial cable. Is there any way to forward NMEA messages to a bluetooth connection in the Trimble R4?

Thanks in advanced.

Hugo Maurício