Asset Tracker Kit v2 no GPS Sat fix

Hardware
1

I purchased the Asset Tracker Kit v2 a few days ago. It consists of an Electron, a GPS Shield, a LiPo battery, a GSM antenna, and enclosure. I also ordered an external GPS antenna from Amazon for good measure.

I have experience with microcontroller kits and hardware. I am comfortable with writing software. I put the kit together (and yes, I did ground myself to guard against ESD). The Electron itself works fine. I flashed to the latest stable 0.7.0 firmware. I have tried many of the example programs for the Asset Tracker, both the ones by Particle and the ones by community members. I have tried different GPS libraries, both the one by Particle, and ones by community members. I have tried the built in GPS antenna on the GPS Shield, and tried an external GPS antenna and modified the programs using t.antennaExternal();

The Electron itself is working. Results such as battery status are showing up in the Particle console. Therefore Electron and the GSM portions are working. However for the life of me, I cannot get a GPS fix, ever. The only time I have ever seen the Sat fix LED on the GPS shield light is a quick blink after flashing a new program to the Electron, or when the program restarts. Other than when the program restarts, the Sat fix LED never blinks.

I am beginning to wonder if I have a faulty GPS shield. Anything else I should try? What is the process for a warranty replacement of the GPS shield portion of the kit?

2

You should run the 7_DataDump program in the AssetTrackerRK library

and capture the USB serial output for a few minutes. If the tool can’t see any satellites, you likely have a defective AssetTracker and you should submit a support ticket with the log.

3

Thank you for your advice on using the 7_DataDump program in the AssetTrackerRK library. Here are my results. Same whether using an internal or external antenna for 30 minutes with clear view of the sky.
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E
$GPGSV,1,1,0079
$GLGSV,1,1,0065
$GNGLL,V,N7A
$GNRMC,V,N4D
$GNVTG,N2E
$GNGGA,0,00,99.99,56
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E
$GPGSV,1,1,0079
$GLGSV,1,1,0065
$GNGLL,V,N7A
$GNRMC,V,N4D
$GNVTG,N2E
$GNGGA,0,00,99.99,56
charsProcessed=343534 sentencesWithFix=0 failedChecksum=1 passedChecksum=12201
no location
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E
$GPGSV,1,1,0079
$GLGSV,1,1,0065
$GNGLL,V,N7A
$GNRMC,V,N4D
$GNVTG,N*2E
$GNGGA,0,00,99.99,56
$GNGSA,A,1,99.99,99.99,99.992E

4

Definitely submit a support ticket for that. It looks like you might have a bad antenna switch.

5

I have exactly the same issue here. It worked for a couple of days and now all of the sudden nothing. Only a quick flash of the red led at startup and that’s it.

My output:

charsProcessed=46 sentencesWithFix=0 failedChecksum=0 passedChecksum=1
no location
$GNTXT,01,01,02,u-blox AG - www.u-blox.com*4E

$GNTXT,01,01,02,HW UBX-M8030 00080000*60

$GNTXT,01,01,02,ROM CORE 3.01 (107888)*2B

$GNTXT,01,01,02,FWVER=SPG 3.01*46

$GNTXT,01,01,02,PROTVER=18.00*11

$GNTXT,01,01,02,GPS;GLO;GAL;BDS*77

$GNTXT,01,01,02,SBAS;IMES;QZSS*49

$GNTXT,01,01,02,GNSS OTP=GPS;GLO*37

$GNTXT,01,01,02,LLC=FFFFFFFF-FFFFFFED-FFFFFFFF-FFFFFFFF-FFFFFF69*23

$GNTXT,01,01,02,ANTSUPERV=AC SD PDoS SR*3E

$GNTXT,01,01,02,ANTSTATUS=DONTKNOW*2D

$GNTXT,01,01,02,PF=3FF*4B

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

$GNGLL,,,,,,V,N*7A

$GNTXT,01,01,02,ANTSTATUS=INIT*3B

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

$GNGLL,,,,,,V,N*7A

$GNTXT,01,01,02,ANTSTATUS=OK*25

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

$GNGLL,,,,,,V,N*7A

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

$GNGLL,,,,,,V,N*7A

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

$GNGLL,,,,,,V,N*7A
charsProcessed=1705 sentencesWithFix=0 failedChecksum=0 passedChecksum=55
no location

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

$GNGLL,,,,,,V,N*7A

$GNRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*4D

$GNVTG,,,,,,,,,N*2E

$GNGGA,,,,,,0,00,99.99,,,,,,*56

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

$GPGSV,1,1,00*79

$GLGSV,1,1,00*65

etc. etc. etc.

This is tested indoors, but that shouldn’t matter to see if the red LED blinks, right?

6

Well … it seems the red light only starts flashing as soon as it has the slightest hint of a gps signal, and not when sitting on my desk blocked from any signal.

So it works “again”.

7

You should run the data dump test at least near a window, the GPS basically does not work indoors with the built-in antenna.

If you only see:

$GNGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,99.99,99.99,99.99*2E

even next to a window (or even better outside) you should submit a support ticket because that means that zero satellites can be seen.

If you’re located near a window you can almost always see at least a few satellites, even if you can’t get a GPS fix. That message indicates you can’t see any, which usually means an antenna switch or GPS failure.