MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

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er1cw
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Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:19 am
Location: Chisinau, Moldova.
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MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by er1cw » Tue May 02, 2023 6:37 pm

Hello All.

Problem description

I enter the latitude and longitude in the location submenu and save the data. GPS mode is off.
This data is saved correctly for a while. Then the latitude and longitude are randomly changed.
Data can be stored correctly sometimes for 24 hours or more, and sometimes it can be stored from 15-20 minutes to several hours. After that, I have to enter the data manually again.

Actions done

1. I checked the power supply for stability and ripple. Everything is fine.

2. I connected the radio to a 12 volt car battery. Nothing changed.

3. Perform a RESET of the radio before and after uploading the firmware. Did not help.

4. I turned off the radio, but left the power supply on (to exclude out a malfunction of the internal battery on PCB) - it did not help. (However the internal clock shows correct time (UTC), looks like the internal battery on PCB is good).

What is wrong?

Radio INFO

Radio: MD-9600 HW V4 GPS CPU:STM
PCB label: MD9600-UV-V4.0-180522
Firmware Rel: 20230423082552 [f3b8776 D]

Remarks

I discovered this issue last year when I started using the "Satellites" feature. I was surprised why, when entering the "Satellites" menu, I can see the orbits of the same satellite at different time. This was due to random change in the coordinates of my location.

I thought that this error will be found and fixed in the next firmware releases. Unfortunately, everything remained unchanged.

73,
Victor.
ER1CW

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by VK3KYY » Tue May 02, 2023 10:19 pm

I've checked the source code and I can't see anything which would cause these problems.
Settings are stored in Flash memory and do not rely on the internal backup battery

Latitude and Longitude are only updated when there is valid position data from the GPS, or it is entered manually.

Just to confirm that your radio has GPS fitted and that when the GPS is enabled it works OK?
Does the data become invalid while the radio is turned on or turned off

Are any of the other settings changing randomly in your radio ?

er1cw
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:19 am
Location: Chisinau, Moldova.
Contact:

Re: MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by er1cw » Wed May 03, 2023 5:06 am

Latitude and Longitude are only updated manually. GPS function is OFF.

I'm using radio indoor. I turned on the GPS several times. It looks like the GPS is working fine, but it takes a long time to synchronize the coordinates. That's why I don't use GPS.

The data become invalid while the radio is turned ON after random time it was entered manually.

No any other settings changing randomly in the radio.

The radio works fine, except for randomly changing in location coordinates.

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by VK3KYY » Wed May 03, 2023 5:30 am

er1cw wrote:
Wed May 03, 2023 5:06 am
Latitude and Longitude are only updated manually. GPS function is OFF.

I'm using radio indoor. I turned on the GPS several times. It looks like the GPS is working fine, but it takes a long time to synchronize the coordinates. That's why I don't use GPS.

The data become invalid while the radio is turned ON after random time it was entered manually.

No any other settings changing randomly in the radio.

The radio works fine, except for randomly changing in location coordinates.

Apart from the GPS, onlt manually entering the location will change it

Perhaps there is some hardware fault in your radio where although the GPS is turned off, there is random data being sent by the GPS module to the CPU.

Possibly the code could be changed so that if the GPS option is set to Off, then any GPS data received by the CPU is ignored

er1cw
Posts: 4
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Location: Chisinau, Moldova.
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Re: MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by er1cw » Wed May 03, 2023 5:44 am

VK3KYY wrote:
Wed May 03, 2023 5:30 am

Possibly the code could be changed so that if the GPS option is set to Off, then any GPS data received by the CPU is ignored
It would be great!

I will wait for the next firmware versions. Perhaps it will be possible to fix the issue with changing code.

SA0BUX
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Re: MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by SA0BUX » Wed May 03, 2023 6:35 am

I checked my older V2 HW GPS equipped MD-9600 that I run at home and it had the same coordinates that I had entered long time ago.
( I have almost no inside GPS reception , but I have had the GPS function enabled some times just to test)

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: MD9600 HW V4 GPS location data issue

Post by VK3KYY » Wed May 03, 2023 10:14 am

SA0BUX wrote:
Wed May 03, 2023 6:35 am
I checked my older V2 HW GPS equipped MD-9600 that I run at home and it had the same coordinates that I had entered long time ago.
( I have almost no inside GPS reception , but I have had the GPS function enabled some times just to test)
My MD-9600 don't have built in GPS, but I connected and external GPS. The radio has been used for several months with the external GPS connected and disconnected, and the location never changes to any strange values.

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