Forum: General Topics
Forums / General Topics / Loss of Bluetooth connection
| Subject: | Loss of Bluetooth connection | |
wayneh 22:52 Location: Phone Model: | Sometimes, when using TMJ to record a track during a run or a ride, my bluetooth GPS powers down. It will do this if it doesn't sense a bluetooth connection. Of course then the track recording gets hosed. If I restart the GPS puck, TMJ will dutifully put a straight line between the last point and the new one. So TMJ keeps running happily while this happens. The auto-power-down rarely happens with other GPS programs such as Google Maps or Blackberry Maps, although I'm not sure I can say it never happens. But it is much more rare. My odds of getting a bad track are maybe 1 in 4 or even worse - definitely enough to be quite annoying. Is there something I could do in TMJ that might help diagnose and fix this? Some way to tickle the bluetooth connection, or maybe that's being handled by the phone? I have always had to tell TMJ to connect directly to the puck. Otherwise it connects but immediately disconnects if I try to use the Blackberry "internal" GPS. | |
Stephen 18:51 Location: Phone Model: | Hi Wayne, I suspect there might be a number of different reasons why this happens, I haven't quite got to the bottom of it - it has happened on my BB8900 in the past, but very rarely. In my case I've generally put it down to either the bluetooth device going temporarily out of range, or me accidentally switching the bluetooth device off whilst in my pocket... - I'm assuming that your BlackBerry doesn't have a built-in GPS, but that you've set it to use your bluetooth device as the 'internal' GPS. If so, try disabling this (in BlackBerry Settings/Advanced Options/GPS), or turning GPS Services off. It may be that this is interfering with TMJs bluetooth connection. Also, if you have other GPS software running at the same time that might connect using these 'internal GPS' settings, make sure you fully close these apps using the menu (rather than the 'hangup' button, which keeps them running in the background), so that they don't interfere. - You say that when setting TMJ to use the Internal GPS, rather than bluetooth, it doesn't maintain the connection at all... I'm a bit surprised by this - this *should* be handled completely by the phone, so why it works in other apps but not TMJ is a mystery! (It works fine on my 8900, though admittedly I'm running a newer test version). Is your phones firmware up-to-date? (BlackBerry Settings/Advanced Options/Wireless Update, or via the BlackBerry Desktop Manager). - If you turn on the TMJ Menu/Settings/Other Settings/GPS Connection Sounds you should get a beep when the GPS disconnects, which may help minimise the track loss (so that you're made aware that it has disconnected)... There are various internal parameters in TMJ related to the bluetooth connection that may not be optimal for every phone/GPS combination. At the moment they are hard-coded but I'll make these customisable in the next version. Which BlackBerry model are you using, by the way? Cheers, Stephen | |
wayneh 18:29 Location: Phone Model: | "I've generally put it down to either the bluetooth device going temporarily out of range..." Well, maybe, but for me it definitely happens even when both the puck and the Blackberry 8230 (no built-in GPS) are in a pack together as I ride. And, while geocaching I've often walked out of range and back. TMJ chimes and there's no break in service. "...or me accidentally switching the bluetooth device off whilst in my pocket..." Always possible. Mine requires holding down a small, recessed button for ~3 seconds. But I think the shutdown has occurred even in the car, with nothing next to the puck. "I'm assuming that your BlackBerry doesn't have a built-in GPS, but that you've set it to use your bluetooth device as the 'internal' GPS." Right on both. I've turned that off and we'll see if that helps. Also, I'll make sure not to switch into Google Maps, which I have done occasionally while running TMJ. This did not cause an immediate disruption but could have had a delayed effect. "I'm a bit surprised by this - this *should* be handled completely by the phone, so why it works in other apps but not TMJ is a mystery!" I had to set the Settings:Other settings...:Internal GPS to "Off" to get a stable lock. Otherwise I'll get a single reading at best and then the clock stops, the location shows the brackets, and so on. In fact you had helped me with this back in 2007 (http://www.trackmyjourney.co.uk/forum/10112_Blackberry_8300_(curve)) when you suggested this setting to me. I had to refer back to that forum to get TMJ running after a recent update. I can experiment more with this if you like, but the "direct" connection generally works fine. "If you turn on the TMJ Menu/Settings/Other Settings/GPS Connection Sounds you should get a beep when the GPS disconnects..." I think this is working but I'd have to say the "disconnect" alert is much harder to hear than the "connect" jingle. My fellow riders always notice the happy connect chime but the unhappy "clucking" sound gets missed. Maybe it should be the other way around, as far as "hear-ability". Hearing the happy chime just tells me that part of the track has been missed, but after it's too late to do anything about it. | |
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