9500i GPS lock reliability

[iresist]

Have had 9500i, build 2207, for several weeks. No significant highway trips with it. Auto mode really cuts down on needless sensitivity to doors and such. Price is worth this feature alone. But all the best features of this RD require reliable GPS acquistion. This I don't have. For no apparent reason my 9500i will take a notion to alternately lock and unlock. This goes on until it becomes apparent that the best solution is to turn it off and try another time. Thought it might be summertime heat build-up. Nope. When it works it works great - for hours at a time in the blazing sun. Have tried diffferent placement - no change. It just seems intermittent in GPS sensitivity and lock. Wondering by chance if any other 9500i users are experiencing anything like this?

[oman0123]

I have had my 9500i for a few days it is also a 2207. I have not had any problems with it thus far. maybe you got a lemon? Keep us informed if you continue to have problems. I will also let you know if i start to encounter anything like this.

[insidercw3]

Have had 9500i, build 2207, for several weeks. No significant highway trips with it. Auto mode really cuts down on needless sensitivity to doors and such. Price is worth this feature alone. But all the best features of this RD require reliable GPS acquistion. This I don't have. For no apparent reason my 9500i will take a notion to alternately lock and unlock. This goes on until it becomes apparent that the best solution is to turn it off and try another time. Thought it might be summertime heat build-up. Nope. When it works it works great - for hours at a time in the blazing sun. Have tried diffferent placement - no change. It just seems intermittent in GPS sensitivity and lock. Wondering by chance if any other 9500i users are experiencing anything like this?

I have lost GPS lock a few times. Mostly on heavily overcast days when I get on a narrow road with big trees. Multi-story buildings can interrupt the GPS view of the sky as well as can going under multi-lane overpasses.

[CJR238]

I very rarely lose GPS after its acquired and when I lock something its locked, but im not sure that’s your question?
Does the unit say "GPS signal is lost"?
It sounds like your saying the unit locks and unlocks randomly? If so is the satellite blinking, rotating?

It sounds like it may have a software bug?

The 9500I uses one of the best GPS receivers so it should be rare to loose GPS after its acquired .

[RanEnRui]

The only time I have ever lost GPS signal was when I coming home from my girlfriend's house one night (she lives in the woods pretty much ) and it was a pretty cloudy night. It took a good minute or two to get signal and then I lost the signal about 20 seconds later. I have noticed that cloudy/storm days do make the acquisition time a bit longer on GPS (as it should, it is a satellite based system after all :P).

However, upon reaching a commercial intersection (aka civilization ), it came back and the signal remained strong for the remainder of my drive.

As far as your original question goes, I am not sure what happened there. From what I gather, your 9500i was going from "spinning satellite mode" to band warning and back and forth? If this is the case, I suggest checking the frequency on the "new" signal and the "locked out" one, if they are the same then I am clueless.

If is this not what you are describing but rather "spinning satellite" to "no warning" and back and forth, try unlocking the signal and see how strong it is and if you lose signal periodically and regain it. If this is the case, your 9500i is functioning properly and the signal is just very low.

Otherwise... I don't know what is going on!

[iresist]

Thanks to all for your input! This past weekend I had enough testing time to conclude beyond any doubt that the GPS circuitry in my 9500i does have a cold solder joint or similar poor connection. For instance, at one point, while parked, I had my 9500i laying quietly in the center of the dash and it was totally failing to acquire satellites for at least 20 minutes (revolving satellite icon). I picked it up, tapped on the case, put it back down in the same spot, and it locked on satellites in 30 seconds! Once underway, it lost GPS acquistion every time we went over railroad tracks. While it will have to go back, I have my doubts whether Escort will take the time to correctly identify and fix this problem. I've been in electronics myself for many years and I know how difficult an intermittent like this can be to locate. My only hope is that I think the problem is getting worse (makes fault easier to trace). I bought my first Escort in 1978 - have never had such a problem with any of them until now. As a lot they are normally very reliable.

[CJR238]

Thanks to all for your input! This past weekend I had enough testing time to conclude beyond any doubt that the GPS circuitry in my 9500i does have a cold solder joint or similar poor connection. For instance, at one point, while parked, I had my 9500i laying quietly in the center of the dash and it was totally failing to acquire satellites for at least 20 minutes (revolving satellite icon). I picked it up, tapped on the case, put it back down in the same spot, and it locked on satellites in 30 seconds! Once underway, it lost GPS acquistion every time we went over railroad tracks. While it will have to go back, I have my doubts whether Escort will take the time to correctly identify and fix this problem. I've been in electronics myself for many years and I know how difficult an intermittent like this can be to locate. My only hope is that I think the problem is getting worse (makes fault easier to trace). I bought my first Escort in 1978 - have never had such a problem with any of them until now. As a lot they are normally very reliable.

Send it back with a letter & RA#. be as detailed as possible, they will probably just replace the unit or the guts.

[below_the_radar]

Have had 9500i, build 2207, for several weeks. No significant highway trips with it. Auto mode really cuts down on needless sensitivity to doors and such. Price is worth this feature alone. But all the best features of this RD require reliable GPS acquistion. This I don't have. For no apparent reason my 9500i will take a notion to alternately lock and unlock. This goes on until it becomes apparent that the best solution is to turn it off and try another time. Thought it might be summertime heat build-up. Nope. When it works it works great - for hours at a time in the blazing sun. Have tried diffferent placement - no change. It just seems intermittent in GPS sensitivity and lock. Wondering by chance if any other 9500i users are experiencing anything like this?

Sirius, or XM satellite radio on-board ? Toll transponder? Or cell phone in very close proximity?

Could be interference from some source like these. Else, send it back ASAP as it sounds like a cold solder joint if it is mechanically intermittent.

[insidercw3]

Thanks to all for your input! This past weekend I had enough testing time to conclude beyond any doubt that the GPS circuitry in my 9500i does have a cold solder joint or similar poor connection. For instance, at one point, while parked, I had my 9500i laying quietly in the center of the dash and it was totally failing to acquire satellites for at least 20 minutes (revolving satellite icon). I picked it up, tapped on the case, put it back down in the same spot, and it locked on satellites in 30 seconds! Once underway, it lost GPS acquistion every time we went over railroad tracks. While it will have to go back, I have my doubts whether Escort will take the time to correctly identify and fix this problem. I've been in electronics myself for many years and I know how difficult an intermittent like this can be to locate. My only hope is that I think the problem is getting worse (makes fault easier to trace). I bought my first Escort in 1978 - have never had such a problem with any of them until now. As a lot they are normally very reliable.

I've been inside the 9500i and they use a flex cable with zif connector for the GPS. I bet the zif connector latch isn't closed properly causing intermittent contact with the flex :wink:
Send it back.