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EXTREEM
Lithuania
5 Posts |
 Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 08:21:31
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Hello, I do Geocaching, so the GPS precision is crucial for me. At the moment I am using O2 Orbit (a.k.a. HTC P3300), which uses SiRFstar III and has awesome accuracy. The problem is - O2 Orbit has 200 MHz processor and 64 MB RAM, also Geocaching friendly software (GCZII) is commonly outdated and doesn't provide good performance.
On the other hand Android has C:GEO software for Geocaching which is a lot better and flexible than GCZII. So I decided to get myself HTC Desire smartphone, which (as I recently found out) uses gpsOne Gen 7. Luckily for me, before buying HTC Desire I got my hands on Samsung Galaxy Mini, which uses the same gpsOne Gen 7, and it sucks if the terrain gets a little more rough. The accuracy goes down to 50 meters mistakes which is horrible when you need to find "The one and only tree in the woods".
I did some research and found out that SiRFstar IV is finally being implemented into Android based Smartphones. The only smartphone I found claiming to have SiRFstar IV so far is Samsung Galaxy S II.
Question is - are there any other Android Smartphones that uses SiRFstar IV? Any help is appreciated. |
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gpspassion
93394 Posts |
Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 09:49:22
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Welcome to the forums.
No, as discussed in the SSIV topic, the only phone with that chipset so far is the Samsung Galaxy S2, the other devices being the TomTom and the Garmin GPS watches. SSIV hasn't really caught on so far it seems...
I hear the fix is fast on the S2, but accuracy will have to be verified as there is a lot of interference for GPS in that compact package and probably not much of an antenna. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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EXTREEM
Lithuania
5 Posts |
Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 10:13:44
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Well, I have hopes, that their claims are true:
"Along with its low power location awareness capabilities, the SiRFstarIV includes CSR’s active jammer removal technology that dynamically detects, tracks and actively blocks up to eight separate sources of interference in the GPS frequency band that would otherwise inhibit GPS performance, allowing it to easily coexist in close quarters with other noisy components without any extra effort. Features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G mobile radios, as well as the large LCD screens employed in smartphones are often sources of this kind of interference."
I hope someone could present testing results of SiRFstar IV accuracy in Samsung Galaxy S II. |
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gpspassion
93394 Posts |
Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 12:40:25
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| The SiRFStarIV features like the "anti-jammer" or Georecov were discussed in the SiRFstarIV topic and after not finding an "anti-jammer" in the Garmin FR110 watch I found out from SiRF that all these features are optional and that the customer may or may not decide to use them. Hopefully Samsung chose the "anti-jammer", we shall see when a test unit becomes available. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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EXTREEM
Lithuania
5 Posts |
Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 13:50:51
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I did some digging, and I found this:
http://blog.clove.co.uk/2011/05/18/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-real-user-reviewpart-twogps/
Too bad, but the reviewer claims: "Trying to do GPS-based tasks like sports-tracking, or geocaching that require even more accuracy? Forget about it.".
Well if that's true, then it's a pity.
I think that I'll have to stick to a plan "Buy a Desire and a BT GPS Receiver with SiRF Star III" :D |
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gpspassion
93394 Posts |
Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 14:05:57
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Interesting review, and the tracks I've seen look excellent, more than the reviewer thinks actually.
For a start the accuracy shown in "GPS Test" is just a "guess" using HDOP mostly, it's not the actual error, which is unknown, if not it would be fixable. Real accuracy can only determined by using a reference spot. Then he doesn't seem to be aware that the "natural" accuracy of GPS is around 7 meters (with the ionospheric interference accounting for most of the error) in perfect conditions (i.e. with zero obstructions), so "For navigation purposes this is perfectly fine, however those with specific requirements requiring accuracy consistently around the 4m mark may need to look elsewhere" really doesn't make sense for a smartphone or for any other "consumer" GPS for that matter. To go below 5 meters you'll need post-processing, live (RTK) or after the fact.
Again, the tracks look great, which is what matters, certainly much better than those on my HD2 with one of the Qualcomm versions, and should be quite adequate for geocaching, since my HD2 does the job. I'll verify that as soon as I receive my test unit ;-) |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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EXTREEM
Lithuania
5 Posts |
Posted - 13 sept. 2011 : 14:18:42
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I recently got my hands on Samsung Galaxy Mini, which uses gpsOne Gen 7. In the wood (not a thick one) I got a 50 meters mistake - I couldn't get closer than 50 meters to the spot and C:GEO kept leading me in circles.
That's the worst case scenario for a Geocacher.
Hope SGS2 will do better. Can't wait to hear your review after you get a test unit. It would be nice, if you'd test it in rough terrain also (tall buildings, narrow streets, woods). |
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Ian Worthington
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - 17 nov. 2011 : 13:22:13
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I need to decide how to replace my newly dead LOCOSYS BT31 logger.
Should I go for a Samsung S2, another BT31, or some other more recent unit?
Any thoughts welcome!
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EXTREEM
Lithuania
5 Posts |
Posted - 22 nov. 2011 : 08:27:20
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Hello, I was stuck with pretty much same problem. I had an old O2 Orbit smartphone, which had an integrated SiRF Star III GPS Chipset, and was accurate as hell. Too bad it had a processor of 200 MHz and 64 MB RAM.
My upgrade was HTC Desire, which has a bad, not accurate and power hungry gpsOne Gen 7 GPS Chipset, that I had disabled. Together with the Android powered smartphone I decided to use Qstarz BT-Q818XT with MTK II Chipset, that actually slightly beats SiRF Star III Chipset. The fix speed is great, accuracy is great too, 10 Hz update rate for more accuracy is also great. Plus it connects to your device via BlueTooth, that saves the power of your smartphone due to the integrated battery of the Qstarz device.
Link to both devices:
Qstarz - http://www.qstarz.com/Products/GPS%20Products/BT-Q818XT-F.htm
HTC Desire specs - http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_desire-3077.php |
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gpspassion
93394 Posts |
Posted - 22 nov. 2011 : 09:05:43
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Yes, it's the "power user" choice, but having to rely on an external device is a bit of a nuisance.
I did get a hold of a Samsung S2 test unit and ran it againt the iPhone 4S, the Qstarz XT and the Alcatel OT-990. I need to go through the logs in detail but it seemed to me that the S2 and 4S performed quite similarly, with some problems getting a fix for the S2 to get a fix when it didn't have access to the network as it doesn't seem to rely on any predictive ephemeris like the Alcatel OT-990. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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Ian Worthington
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - 22 nov. 2011 : 12:22:11
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Thanks guys. I too am reluctant to have to carry two extra devices if I can get away with just one.
I'm a bit alarmed if the s2 needs the network (to download agps I assume?) to get an initial fix as I want to be able to travel with it where I won't have access to data services. This would add to my concerns about its battery life which the gsm forums seem to report as highly variable.
Or does 'problems' here mean that the ttff is often slow (cold start times), but that it *does* get it in the end? (Slow ttff is what I get with my gt31 which is ok with me. The gt31's tendency to wander around over large distances when stationary is however not, which is why I'm reluctant to throw another $150 in the direction of locosys).
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Ian Worthington
USA
24 Posts |
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Hurston
30 Posts |
Posted - 29 nov. 2011 : 22:06:54
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| The lack of network will only affect TTFF. I imagine that most of the people posting on these other boards are unlikely to understand even the basics of how GPS works (especially those who can't spell satellite), so their comments should be taken with a pinch of salt. It would be interesting to see a proper comparison on accuracy, with different hardware, in a comparable situation (same number of satellites visible), once the almanac/ephemeris has been obtained. |
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Ian Worthington
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - 29 nov. 2011 : 22:57:50
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Hi Hurston.
I'm inclined to agree with you re the extent of detailed gps knowledge on a non gps-specific forum
However
> The post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=15750263&postcount=262 and following is from user(s) who can't a get a fix at all without data services.
can't be explained away so easily. And it seems to tally with gpspassion's own comment:
> some problems getting a fix for the S2 to get a fix when it didn't have access to the network
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Ian Worthington
USA
24 Posts |
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Hurston
30 Posts |
Posted - 13 déc. 2011 : 23:04:41
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| It sounds like he is just being impatient, and "never get a fix" can be translated to "can't wait one minute", or "I'm indoors". I've heard other reports of the S2 being great for GPS, so I wouldn't put too much stock in this at all. |
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Android Smartphones with SiRFstar IV
