GPS initialized but no satellite signal (RaceCapture Apex)

Race Capture Pro hardware installation- power, wiring, physical installation, etc. See the dedicated forum for Sensor related topics

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tiponico
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:45 pm

GPS initialized but no satellite signal (RaceCapture Apex)

Post by tiponico »

Hello,

I picked up the Apex model last fall during a sale and was able to finally get time to install it several weeks ago to try it out at an upcoming hill climb race. I initially installed it via the OBDII Legacy adapter, which was wired for power, ground, and the OBDII CAN signals. I hooked up the supplied GPS antenna and drove it around for an hour or so. During that time, GPS shows Initialized in the status menu, but no satellites. I never seem to get a signal.

Troubleshooting so far:

1) I updated the firmware to the latest version, paying special attention to use the Apex specific firmware. Tried GPS again and still shows Initialized, but never gets a signal. I read in one forum post that bumping to an older major version and then back to a newer version can help things so I tried that (2.17.3 down to 2.15.2 then back to 2.17.3). This did not help GPS signal after further testing. Also tried doing Factory Settings reset.

2) Not knowing if I tightened the GPS connector to the RaceCapture tight enough (was only doing finger tight), I put a wrench on it and gave it a tad bit more of a turn. Still same results.

3) I thought maybe the OBDII power wasn’t strong enough so I hardwired from the battery to a switch, then connected to RaceCapture with a 5 amp fuse right before. I left the car in the driveway with the GPS antenna having clear view to the sky (and powered on via new switch). Still showed GPS initialized, but no signal gets acquired.

As far as the indicator lights on the RaceCapture Apex, I’m not sure what is normal. I couldn’t find in the wiki a write up explaining all the light indications. Currently after the unit is turned on, the Logging/GPS/Error lights each flicker green in-sync every 1 second or so. This never changes. I pulled the log file and tried to look for any errors, but don’t see any.

I believe that’s all I’ve tried so far. I’m usually only having it powered on for 30-60min at a time when I test for signal. Not sure if I need to leave it sit powered to open sky longer? Would have thought I’d have at least seen some satellite response within 30min. I’m also testing this in the Albuquerque, NM area so our skies are usually pretty clear of clouds and other things that might hinder GPS.

Open to other ideas in case I’m just missing something obvious. Thanks in advance!

brentp
Site Admin
Posts: 6274
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Hi,

RaceCapture/Apex should get a GPS lock after only a few minutes within view of the sky. It is good that you checked the status page and saw that it was initialized - that means it's able to talk to the GPS module.

Are you using the original antenna? Did it ever get a GPS lock?

You can also try a different GPS antenna as a test, so long as it has the same type of SMA connector.

If all else fails, we can take a look at it for servicing.

Thank you,
Brent Picasso
CEO and Founder, Autosport Labs
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tiponico
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:45 pm

Post by tiponico »

I am using the original antenna that was included in the package. Unfortunately, I don’t have a second one of any type to try out.

Not sure if this helps but this was the logging I was able to pull.

Code: Select all

*** Start! ***
[watchdog] Initializing...
sizeof LoggerConfig: 12760
[CAN device] Initializing CAN0 with baud rate 500000
[CAN device] CAN init success!
[CAN device] Initializing CAN1 with baud rate 500000
[CAN device] CAN init success!
IMU: init res=0
[GPS] Initializing...
[OBD2] Init current values
BT: Detecting baud rate...
BT: Baudrate: 115200
timebase/logging/telemetry sample rate: 50/25/25
[lua] Initializing Lua state
[lua] memory usage: 16KB
[lua] Starting Lua Task
[wifi] Initializing...
[lua] Loading script. Length: 21
[lua] Successfully loaded script.
[ESP8266 Driver] Client config unchanged by update
[main] Setup Task complete!
[at] Unhandled msg received: 
[ESP8266 Driver] Checking WiFi Device...
[ESP8266 Driver] Initializing Wifi

...(More WiFi stuff)....

BT: Device responds at baud 115200
BT: Init complete
[ESP8266 Driver] Socket connected on channel 0
[ESP8266 Driver] Connected on comm channel 0
[GPS] provisioning attempt
[GPS] probing baud rate: 9600
[GPS] Using baud rate: 9600
[GPS] HW ver: 00080000
[GPS] SW ver: EXT CORE 3.01 (16559b)
[GPS] module detected at: 9600
[GPS] Configuring baud rate to: 460800
[GPS] successfully configured baud rate to 460800
[GPS] successfully set high navigation rate
[GPS] successfully configured gps statistics
[GPS] provisioned
[USB] Starting telem stream on USB

brentp
Site Admin
Posts: 6274
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Feel free to contact us at [email protected] and we can help you with a possible inspection / repair.

Thanks,
-Brent
Brent Picasso
CEO and Founder, Autosport Labs
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