My GPS signal aquistion fix: stupid?

Living in the city surrounded by tall buildings without any real view of the big blue sky, it takes a long time for my 9500i to acquire GPS signal as I am driving out for a trip so my local false signals always go off. Also my 9500i is mounted under the headliner without a clear view of the sky. I really don't want to move it. I have tried the ferrite choke trick with some success, but I'm still to inpatient to wait the usual one minute for GPS acquisition from a cold start, but that's only if my car isn't moving that much and has a relatively good view of the sky. Otherwise, it can take over 15 minutes or more.

Well, I decided to hardwire it to a constant on source so the GPS signal is always ready to go if I leave the detector on. Nice thing about the auto brightness of the LED display, it really is not noticeable at night time, especially where it's mounted high. Anyway, I can just flip my visor over the detector.

How long will my detector last? How many hours of use is it rated for? If it burns out or gets stolen, I will have an excuse to get the 9500ci. :)

I had a similar problem because of the high hills and dense trees near me. Plus i just drive right out of the box and the 9500I needs 30 seconds to first acquire GPS after sitting for 2 hours. So now I just wait 30 sec or drive really slow out my driveway and it seems to be ok.

I would be somewhat concerned having constant power to the 9500I because it won’t ever do an initial start up self test. I would suggest powering it down for a sec when you first take off.

Hi lancing74,

Try moving your 9500i just another 1/2" down to 1" down from the headliner. This can make a significant improvement in GPS signal acquisition time. Note that, regardless of whether your 9500i is mounted mid level or up high, GPS acquisition time will take much longer if you immediately start driving. Before I mounted my 9500i above my RVM, I tried it mounted just a bit below my RVM. In this position and if I immediately started driving on my winding and tree shrouded roads to town, GPS acquisition could take nearly 5 minutes. The point is that any GPS device seems to need to get an initial really good fix on several satellites. After that, it seems that just seeing a few satellites is good enough to maintain its fix on its location.

I like CJR's suggestion of cycling power to your 9500i once a day if you also use the standard full power up alert sequence. Why? Once in a blue moon a Belscort RD can become hosed due to power drops, and the best indication of this is that the power up sequence will not be normal. What happens is that the operational settings get corrupted. A simple firmware reset so far has always resolved this problem for me and other forum members.

What MTBF is your 9500i rated for? Unknown. The big killers for any electronic devices are excessive heat, noise in its incoming power connections, and power cycling the electronics -- especially if the power isn't clean. This latter reason is why I have always recommended that RD users power up their RD after they have started their car and after the engine is idling normally. Likewise, power off the RD before turning off your car since additional electronics in your car may not be good at preventing extraordinarily brief power spikes throughout the car's electrical system when turning off the car. Hardwiring a RD is a big help to prevent power spikes -- especially if the power tap you use in the fuse box is a very high amperage fuse which you tap into using an add-a-fuse adapter. Why? A high amperage fuse obviously will have a rather thick wire which runs to the fusible links under the car's hood and thence to the car's battery. The car battery itself acts as a rather good sink and suppressor of electrical noise and power spikes.

So, to more simply answer your question about how long your 9500i should last? Years if:

-- It is hardwired and power tapped via an add-a-fuse to a 15 or 20 amp fuse in the fuse box. Obviously use no greater than a 3A fuse in the add-a-fuse tap for the power to the RD itself.

-- You make sure that your 9500i never gets excessively hot inside the parked car due to sunlight and the heat which builds up in a parked car.

-- You bring it inside on rainy days since electronics do not like excessive humidity. RDs are more susceptible to humidity and corrosion compared to most other car electronics.

-- You bring your 9500i indoors on extremely cold winter nights when the temperature drops near to or below freezing. Alternatively, put it inside a small padded camera case and then either in the glove box or under a car seat. The camera case insulation will prevent the RD from getting extremely cold during long winter nights.

-- You make sure that your 9500i is securely mounted so that it is not vibrating all the time while you are using it while driving.

Well, that sums it up! I hope this info is helpful.:)

Well said MEM-TEK. I've already noticed that my V1 is losing distance as the humidity is starting to rise. My normal false alerts in the winter are not the norm for the summer months. One of the weaker ones is now hit or miss if it will alert.

As MEM-TEK suggested, I would try slowly moving it down the windshield to see if that can make a difference.

Now with the advent of the 9500CI, I would like to see Escort release a roof mounted GPS adapter for the 9500i.

Thanks! That's what I love about this forum. It always feels like an honor to get such solid advice and information from such professionals.

I'm going to think about my set-up a little more. Until I get a tint strip, I'm hesitant to move it down since I always leave it up. I agree it should help a lot. My Navalert's cold-start acquisition time is always very good and amazing in comparison. It sits on my dash.

I think I'm going to take the risk of possible power spikes by leaving it on continuously. I will certainly power cycle when I remember as a system check.

It has been so nice and quiet in the morning since I pass 3 false signals within a few minutes of my commute.

One point Mem-Tek forgot ... bring the 9500i at night and put in next to your pillow. Don't forget a nice blankie for it too! :)

By the way, what is power cycling?

why do people have such a hard time mounting it away from the headliner?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RadarKid

why do people have such a hard time mounting it away from the headliner?

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the higher and closer to the headliner the more stealth it is, less likely to be stolen or have a LEO see it. The problem is the GPS needs a clear view of the sky.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Armanius

By the way, what is power cycling?

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lol. sounds like spinning. i misqouted mem-tek's "cycling power" comment. noobs like me should just say turn the unit off and back on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CJR238

the higher and closer to the headliner the more stealth it is, less likely to be stolen or have a LEO see it. The problem is the GPS needs a clear view of the sky.

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x2. also, i use the visor clip to mount my detector directly to the headliner edge. since i don't have a tint strip, i didn't like how the suction cups made me detector even more visible.