Hi everybody, I'm hoping somebody can help me. About a week ago I bought a Nokia LD-1W GPS unit. I hooked it up and 30 seconds later I was using Maemo Mapper with no problems. The next day I found the LD--3W online for $100 less, so I returned the LD-1W. Today the LD-3W showed up and it doesn't seem to work.

When I power up the LD--3W, it turns on fine and Maemo Mapper connects just fine using bluetooth. The problem is the GPS light on the LD--3W never lights up. When I open Maemo Mapper it connects via bluetooth and then says "Establishing GPS Fix" and that message never goes away (see attached image).

There are 2 things that concern me... First, the "silver ring" around the edge is much daker than the one on the LD--1W (possibly indicating a fake?). Second, the text on the inside label is in Chinese.

Is this possibly a Chinese version of the LD--3W and if so, could this be the reason I can't establish a GPS fix in the USA? I mean, is there a difference in versions? I don't think it makes any difference where you are in the world when it comes to GPS.

If somebody has the LD-3W, would you mind replying with the FCC ID so I can verify that mine is the same? Thanks!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Scott

Hi scbauer,

I purchased LD-3W few days ago and afterwards I tested in the city suburbs, driving on few public roads and highways in Poland, of course with Maemo Mapper and Google maps. GPS fix is established promptly, module works OK. The only problem I experience is an indication of speedometer included into MM applications. It’s not accurate. Information is divergent compared to indication demonstrated by speedometer of a car. For instance, when I drive 120 km/h it illustrates 110-112 km/h. I don’t know yet if it is an application or module side defect. N95 shows proper value in the same conditions, using built-in GPS module.

Anyway answering to your question, my LD-3W is made in Chine, and FCC-ID is: PYALD-3W.

Regards,
michel

Have you tried running both Maemo Mapper and N95 at the same time? AFAIK, if location is properly calculated, the speed should be exactly accurate. Speed is counted in the GPS unit, Maemo Mapper is not calculating it.

In the other hand, car speedometers are often inaccurate. They get the speed information from the car's transmission, which doesn't accurately match the real speed of the car. Also, in many countries it is illegal for speedometers to show less than the real speed. For this reason they are usually calibrated to show a bit more. After my experience, speedometers tend to show 5-10 km/h more than the speed shown by GPS.

My LD-3W is also made in China and has the same FCC-ID.

Well, after a few resets and a couple of roof-top tests, I've decided the LD-3W unit I received was defective. The eBay'er that I bought it from has been very helpful so far. I sent the unit back and hope to have a new LD-3W by the beginning of next week.

By the way, thanks for the responses... I am now confident that this wasn't a knock-off but just a defective unit. We'll see if the next one works. Thanks again.

-Scott

Hi,

I also bought the same LD-3W and getting the same message "Establishing GPS Fix" I too bought it on ebay, by any chance is the seller "phonedotnet" from whom you purchased? can any one suggest me a good GPS device.

thanks

santosh

santosh, I did buy mine from "phonedotnet" and while I was originally frustrated, the phonedotnet guy was very quick with e-mail response. I explained my situation and he told me to send it back. I paid to send it back (only about $5) and when he got it, a replacement was sent the same day.

I received my new LD-3W on Tuesday and when I turned it on (not connected to my 770) the green light came on (indicating power). I knew that the blue light wouldn't come on because I wasn't trying to teather to any bluetooth device. I also assumed that the white light WOULD come on because it was sitting in the open with a perfect view of the sky (and GPS satellites). Nothing happend. I was VERY mad.

I then pulled out my 770, teathered to it via bluetooth and set the LD-3W on my dashboard... the 770 showed "Establishing GPS Fix..." and again, I was getting angry!!! Then, about 45 seconds later, voila! It just started working. Don't know what the deal was, but now it works.

I don't know if there is something funny about this version of LD-3W... all the writing is in an asian language (Chinese I think), so I'm just assuming these were bought in China and that everything else is the same as a US version. Anyways, mine works now.

If you are still having problems with the one you bought from "phonedotnet" then I would suggest e-mailing him through e-bay as he was very helpful with me.

Good Luck!

-Scott