Using GPS in Windows Mobile devices

A Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver calculates its positions based on the signal received from satellites. How a Windows Mobile device leverages the positions from a GPS receiver is essential for your field work. The following sections discuss how you can use a GPS in a Window Mobile device.

Configure a GPS receiver the first time

The ArcGIS Application running on a Windows Mobile device requires you to complete some GPS settings when you start the application and open a project the first time.

Steps:

1. Start the ArcGIS application on your Windows Mobile device (read Running the application for the first time for more information).
2. After you open a mobile project, the application suggests a GPS port and baud rate to which you can connect. The suggested values are listed on the GPS Settings page as shown in the image below. You can either accept the default GPS settings or change them if needed.
   Tip:

   The hardware COM Port and Baud Rate settings information can usually be found in the device manual.

3. To test whether your GPS settings are correct, tap the Connect To GPS button, then tap the Status menu item in the lower right corner to view the GPS Status page.
4. Tap Done to close the GPS settings page and return to your project.

Connect to a GPS receiver

Steps:

1. Start the ArcGIS application on your Windows Mobile device (read Running the application for the first time for more information).
2. If you want to connect to the GPS receiver before opening a project, see steps 3-5.; If you want to connect to the GPS receiver after a project is open, see steps 6-8.
3. When the application is opened, the Choose Project To Open page appears. To connect to the GPS receiver without opening a project, tap GPS Off in the upper right corner.

   The GPS Settings page appears.

4. Tap the Connect To GPS button.

   You have connected to the GPS receiver.

5. Tap the Done button in the lower left corner to return to the Choose Project To Open page .
6. Alternatively, you can connect to the GPS when a project is open. To do so, start the ArcGIS application, then tap a project on the Choose Project To Open page.

   The project opens and the Task List page appears.

7. Tap GPS Off in the top right corner of the page.
   Note:

   On all pages of the application, GPS Off shows at the top of the screen, enabling you to connect to the GPS receiver at any point during your field work.

8. The GPS Settings page appears. Follow steps 4-5 above to connect to the GPS.

GPS COM port auto search

If you don't know the GPS COM port to which you want to connect, use the COM port auto search function to search for it.

Steps:

1. Follow steps 6-7 in the above section to open the GPS Settings page.
2. Tap - GPS Connection Settings.

   The GPS Connection Settings page appears.

3. Tap COM Port. On the next page tap Auto Detect Serial Port and return to the GPS Connection Settings page.
4. Tap OK to return to the GPS Settings page, then tap Connect To GPS.
5. .

   In a few moments, the field application sets the COM port as the GPS COM port number of the device.

Note:

By setting the serial port to Auto, the application searches for all COM ports with baud rates 4800 and 38400 based on the National Marine and Electronics Association (NMEA) standard. If your device doesn't follow this standard, specify the COM port on the Serial Port settings based on the device manual.

GPS display on the map

The Map View is where a GPS-aware experience is provided. When the GPS receiver has obtained GPS positions in World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) geographic coordinate system, the field application transforms the positions based on the map's coordinate system, then displays the transformed positions on the map as a green dot with a red arrow on top. The red arrow indicates the direction you are heading to, as shown below:

Tip:

If there's no GPS fix, you will see a red circle with an exclamation mark instead.

You can enforce the map to keep your current position in view by tapping Menu > GPS > Keep GPS In View.

The application can display GPS information on a GPS Info bar as shown in the image above. To do so, tap Menu > GPS > Show GPS Info. The bar shows your location depending on the coordinate display format you set. You can also tap the > or < arrow buttons on the bar to view additional GPS information.

Note:

The GPS Info bar is only available on the map in View Map task and Collect Features task.

GPS status

On all pages of the application, the GPS fix type is shown in the upper right corner. If you get a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the text DGPS shows; otherwise, it shows GPS or No Fix. When you tap the text, the GPS Status page shows you details about your current GPS solution, as described below:

• Current Position—Includes latitude and longitude, elevation, and date/time in Universal Time Coordinated (UTC). It also has an additional position display set by coordinate system display settings (refer to the Coordinate Display Format settings section below).
• Solution Information—Shows the GPS fix type, position dilution of precision/horizontal dilution of precision (PDOP/HDOP) value, and details satellite information of GPS, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and Satellite-based Augmentation System (SBAS). The number before the forward slash is the number of satellites used in a position solution. The number after that is the satellite in view. Sometimes the number of the SBAS satellites used in a position solution in some devices isn't correct when the devices don't obey NMEA standard.
• Navigation—Covers bearing and speed for navigation.
• Connection Information (optional)—Shows the COM port and baud rate in use. Note that this information is not available if a file GPS is used (read How to log GPS locations on your mobile device for more information).

Coordinate Display Format settings

You can change the coordinate display format by first opening a project, then on the Task List page, tap Menu > Settings > Coordinate. 10 coordinate formats such as WGS84 DD, universal transverse Mercator (UTM), and United States National Grid (USNG) are available for your choice.

Once you change the coordinate display settings, they will be effective in the following components:

• GPS Info bar
• View Attribute page for point feature
• Additional position display on GPS Status page
• Info bar showing the sketched destination for waypoint navigation (refer to the next section for details)
• Waypoint navigation page

Waypoint navigation

In the open area, waypoint navigation can guide you to a destination by showing you the distance and heading direction. You can specify a destination by sketching a point on a map, using known location, using previous destination or identifying a point feature.

Note:

Waypoint navigation is only available for Window Mobile device.

• Sketching on map—Opens the map from the View Map task. Tap Menu > Navigate To > Using Map, then tap a location on the map. As shown below, the destination you specified is represented by a red square. Click Accept at the bottom left to start navigating.
• Known Location—Opens the map from the View Map task. Tap Menu > Navigate To > Using Known Location, then input the Latitude/Longitude in WGS84 DD format or X/Y in map coordinates format.
• Previous Destination—If you performed a previous waypoint navigation, you can navigate to the same destination by opening the map from the View Map task, then tap Menu > Navigate To > Previous Destination.
• Identifying a point feature—Using the View Map, Search or View Work List task, you can first identify, search, or select a point feature. On the Identify Results, Search Results, or Work List page, you can tap the point feature, then select the Navigate To function as shown below:

When you start the navigation, the Navigation page is shown as the image below. The coordinates at the top of the page indicate the destination (in the format defined in the coordinate display setting). Assuming that you stand at the center of the compass, the red dot is your destination and the north on the compass is true north. The bottom of the page shows:

• The distance between your current location and the destination
• Estimated amount of time to get to the destination based on your current speed
• A bearing direction