[Captivate Android Development] Liv33viL:
Some Of My GPS Results

Out of the box, my GPS wasn't really bad nor was it really good. It worked.

Some may think of GPS feature on their phone as just another added application and if it doesn't work.... well they didn't buy the phone for the GPS anyway... and just leave it as is without giving it another thought.

The way I see it, I want maximum efficiency within every aspect of my device, whether it came out of the box that way or I made it that way by performing modifications.

I had been using the OTB standard GPS settings which really wasn't all that bad, but I knew that it could be much better.

I started really getting into the GPS and how to modify it to make it even better. Following Rrryan2's thread for the past couple of months now, I would read and read and read. I read many threads, many posts and many technical articles relating to the topic of GPS systems and Mobile GPS units.

I was hesitant as first to apply the 1.0 Final after Rrryan2 posted it was out of beta and was stable. I pulled the source down and compared what the changes attempted to implement and compared them to what I had already had loaded on my device. I flashed the 1.0, performed all prep and post adjustments, then cached some GPS data. The results appeared to be better, but I wasn't really sure. After running around for a while with the new flash it appeared to be stable, holding fixes and pretty accurate.

I then began my own experimenting with what I have learned about how the internals of the GPS work and how each component affects another. As most of us here know, testing and tweaking and testing and tweaking is extremely time consuming, especially when it's performed correctly. I did notice, that during certain times of the day / evening / night / overnight that fixes appear to be better than other times, and I've noticed a sort of satellite clustering during certain times of the day. Meaning the signal is much stronger, the fix locks tighter and holds a higher amount of satellites longer. Just an observation.

Anyway, I just wanted to post some captures of the results I have been getting. These captures show the performance after the 1.0 flash and many minor tweaks that I have implemented to the GPS configuration itself as well as the relative components working with the GPS. I took these after returning home this evening after a 1 hour drive, on major roadways, back-roads and different terrains. I used Navigon Mobile Navigator US, Google Navigator and Google Maps to test performance and accuracy. I must say, I was extremely happy with the performance and accuracy from my device. Curves were reported as curves, T junctures as T Junctures, Side Streets being called out as I was reading the street signs while driving by. Also, my tracking within the GPS was dead balls on. Intersections, traffic lights, buildings, parks, etc... were all being reported correctly and accurately while on my drive.

I'm not going to get to in depth as to details to settings at this time, being that it is very late and I need to get up early.

I have not flashed to the 2.0 Beta series.

I am currently running a modified 1.0 PB GPS release with a stock KB1 modem and v1.3 OverStock Kernel.

Here's a few screen captures of the readings I am getting with GPS Plus and GPS Status & Toolbox. These were taken this evening when I returned home from my drive. The reading were taken indoors from my living room on battery power, with a Mirage Body Glove housing the device.

Not too shabby.... but I'm sure I can make it even better ;)