Support / FAQ
End of life notice
Please note that we no longer support or continue to develop nhGPS. Since the software is still popular among current users of UIQ2 phones we have decided to keep the software and this website available to those interested. Also it's still possible to purchase a license, but since we no longer provide support please try the free trial version first and be sure that it suits your needs before purchasing. Before you look any further, please check the download page to make sure that you are running the latest version of nhGPS. TutorialsNo manual is included with the product, but the Quick Tour on this site should help you get started.Italian: Guida italiana a nhGPS Internet resourcesYou may be able to get help from other users of nhGPS by posting your question to one of the internet forums dedicated to your smartphone. MobileMaster.co.uk have an active nhGPS forum.Frequently asked questions1. General 1.1. Where can I find maps? Do you have a map of ....? 1.2. I have created maps for nhGPS and would like to make them available to others 1.3. Where are my tracks, maps and waypoints stored? 1.4. Can I import/export tracks and waypoints? 1.5. How large can the maps be? 1.6. Are tracks limited in size? 1.7. Which GPS receiver should I buy? 1.8. My GPS only has a serial cable, not Bluetooth. Can I use it with nhGPS? 1.9. Does the software offer address searches & and guidance to destination? 1.10. nhGPS displays a wrong altititude 1.11. Can I use nhGPS to navigate along a route? 1.12. Can I follow a route while recording my track? 1.13. In what format should I enter coordinates in nhGPS? 1.14. The data in the bottom of the screen is difficult to read. Can you enlarge the font? 1.15. Can you add a function to show satellite positions and signal strength? 1.16. How does the Auto Switch Map function work? 1.17. Which map datum does nhGPS use? 1.18. When I try to use the compass, the 'compassneedle' keeps turning round. Do I have to be moving around or along in order to get a steady bearing? 1.19. How do I install nhGPS on my phone? 1.20. Can I have an alarm sound when a waypoint is reached? 1.21. What are the buttons on the toolbar in the bottom of the screen? 2. Ordering 2.1. I lost my registration key 2.2. What is your upgrade policy? 2.3. What if I buy a new phone? 2.4. Do you give volume discounts? 3. Map Download 3.1. Can I configure the list of websites shown in the Map Download dialog? 3.2. How can I download maps if my telecom operator does not provide internet access? 3.3. Are you affiliated with any mapping websites? 3.4. We run a mapping website and would like to have our site accessible from nhGPS. 3.5. We run a mapping website and prefer not to have our maps accessible from nhGPS. 3.6. Error: Web page has unexpected content 4. Motorola A920/A925/A1000 specific 4.1. My network operator doesn't support AGPS. Can I still use nhGPS? 4.2. Can I disable the Internet connection dialog upon activating the internal GPS? 4.3. nhGPS keeps saying 'Searching...'. Is my GPS broken? 4.4. The GPS lost fix (after entering a building) but now I don't get a GPS fix anymore! 4.5. Error: 'Program Closed / Program Main / Reason Code Location Agent S' 4.6. Your screenshots show the number of satellites, but I don't see this information 4.7. Why does it sometimes take only a few seconds for my A92x to get a fix, while it can take half an hour at other times? 4.8. Will I be charged by my network operator for using GPS/AGPS/nhGPS? 4.9. I get 'Component failed security check' when I try to install nhGPS 4.10. On my A1000, the satellite icon flashes red/white. Is this normal? 5. Troubleshooting 5.1. Error: 'Cannot load map: Out of Memory' 5.2. Cannot connect to the Bluetooth GPS receiver! 5.3. I am able to connect to the GPS, but no data is received. 5.4. I get an error message: 'Not ready' 5.5. Why is the connection to the bluetooth GPS dropped after a minute or so? 5.6. The coordinates displayed by nhGPS are completely wrong! 5.7. I get Error #-6352 (or another number) when connecting to my Bluetooth GPS 1. General We don't include or provide any maps for nhGPS. There are several ways to obtain maps:
Please don't ask us for maps of your location, we don't have any. We don't know the coverage area of the mapping website; to find out if any of the mapping websites cover your location, please try to download a map yourself. We would be very happy to distribute your map from our website, or post a link to your own website. But we can only do so if the map is not copyrighted. If you have scanned a printed map or downloaded the map from a website, then it's likely copyrighted and redistribution of the map would require permission of the copyright owner. If you are sure that your map can be distributed freely, please contact us:  .
nhGPS stores all user data in the directory document\nhGPS, either on the internal disk or on the
memory stick, depending on the configuration setting.
More information is available on the import/export page.
Additionally, preferences are stored in c:\documents\nhGPS\nhgps.prf on the phone. Yes, see the import/export page. nhGPS supports two types of map images: regular JPEG/GIF images and the MJP image format. JPEG/GIF maps need to be loaded entirely into RAM memory before they can be displayed. Therefore the size of such maps is limited. The MJP file format overcomes this limitation by storing the map image in smaller chunks, which are loaded dynamically. A free Windows utility is provided for converting images to the MJP format. For more information, see large maps. For JPEG/GIF images, the phone should have enough free memory to accommodate the uncompressed map image data. The uncompressed image size equals the number of pixels times the number of bytes per pixel (1 byte is 8 bits). For example, a map image of 1000x1000 pixels at 16 bits per pixel occupies 1000x1000x2 bytes (approx. 2 megabytes). If the map is too large, you will see an Out of Memory error message. In that case, choose a different color mode with a lower number of bits per pixel in the Map Properties, or convert the image to MJP format. Track size is limited by available memory only. We have succesfully created tracks up to 36,000 points, which would equal 100 hours of continuous recording at a record interval of 10s. The record interval can be set in the Preferences screen. For such large tracks, screen redraw will take a little more time, so the response to moving and zooming may become a bit sluggish. Besides the built-in GPS of the Motorola A920, A925 and A1000, nhGPS is designed to work with any Bluetooth GPS that supports the NMEA-0183 standard (and actually we don't know any GPS that doesn't support this standard). A list of current Bluetooth GPS receivers is available at the GPSPassion website. We have not tested every available Bluetooth device, but the following devices have been reported to work with nhGPS:
We cannot recommend any specific GPS, but you will find product reviews at the site www.pocketgps.co.uk and www.gpspassion.com No, unfortunately. According to our information, applications do not have access to the serial port of SonyEricsson UIQ phones. No, it does not. Although nhGPS can show an arrow pointing to a destination point, it does not know about roads or addresses. nhGPS simply shows the altitude as reported by the GPS receiver. Most GPS units, including the A920/A925 built-in GPS, report the altitude above the WGS-84 geoid, which is a simplified model of the earth's surface. The error between the geoid and sea level may be tens of meters, depending on your location on earth, but the offset is constant for any given location. Yes, nhGPS 2.0 can guide you along a pre-defined route. Create a new track (in nhGPS, routes and tracks are the same) by selecting 'New empty track' in the Track menu. Then add points to the track by tapping on the map and selecting 'Append to track' from the popup menu. To follow the route, choose 'follow track' in the track menu. The arrow box will show direction and distance to the next trackpoint. You will hear a sound when the next trackpoint is reached. Please understand that nhGPS is not a route planning application; you have to define a route yourself. Yes, this is possible. First start recording a new track, then select the track to follow. The recording of the first track will continue in the background. Since version 1.0 you can choose between three coordinate formats in the Preferences dialog. Coordinates should be entered in the chosen format, respectively:
Please see Q4.9 if you get a 'Component failed security check' error during installation. Yes, this is possible since version 2.0. Alarms can be defined for an entire category of waypoints. Choose 'edit categories' in the GPS menu, select the category and press Edit. Here you can configure a sound, distance and speed. The alarm will sound when you are at the configured distance from a waypoint. The alarm will only sound if you are traveling faster than the configured speed.
2. Ordering No problem; we can resend your registration key to you. When you buy a license for nhGPS for your phone, you will get a registration key that unlocks the trial version. Your unlocked copy of nhGPS will never expire. Additionally, you will be entitled to free downloadable upgrades for at least one year after your purchase. Upgrading is as simple as installing the latest trial version, which will be unlocked by your existing registration key. The license for nhGPS is bound to the phone, it will not work on another device. If you would like to use nhGPS on your new phone, you will need to buy another license for nhGPS. We are aware of the fact that users upgrade to a new phone model relatively often, therefore we offer registered customers one additional license at 50% discount. We don't give quantity discounts to end users. We do have OEM licensing options for nhGPS, for example to handset manufacturers and network operators. Please inquire for more information: .
3. Map Download Yes, the map download feature is configurable. To do so, edit c:\documents\nhgps\nhmapwebsites.xml (on the phone) in a texteditor. See Configuring map download for the file format. Your phone can use your PC's internet connection to access the internet. For SonyEricsson phones, simply place the phone in the cradle. On Motorola phones also start the Desktop Suite application on the phone and connect it to the PC. That's all: your phone will now use the PC's internet connection. Choose Download Map from the Map menu in nhGPS to download a map. Be sure to disconnect any active GPRS connection, since it will take precedence over the PC internet connection. No, we (i.e. New House Internet Services bv) are not affiliated with any mapping websites. nhGPS provides a means for accessing publicly accessible websites from your mobile device. Maps downloaded from these sites are usually copyrighted, which means that you may not distribute the downloaded map. Other conditions may apply and you should review the terms and copyright restrictions of the website in question before downloading any maps from it. Great! If your site provides a means to show a map based on the GPS coordinates, we can probably include it. See Configuring map download for technical requirements. For more information, please contact us: .
No problem; requests from nhGPS can be easily blocked on your server.
Please contact us for more information, or to have your site removed from the list shipped
with nhGPS: .
The webpage that was downloaded from a mapping website does not contain the expected text. Possibly the website has changed its format; make sure that you have the latest version of nhGPS. The mapping website may be temporarily unavailable.
Another possible cause of this error: some network operators (such as '3' in the UK) do not provide full internet access and instead show an error message if a website outside their network is accessed. If this is the case, downloading maps with nhGPS will not be possible. Finally, some network operators modify any downloaded web content, for example by removing all whitespace from the HTML source. While this may speed up the downloading of websites, nhGPS will no longer recognize the HTML code since it doesn't match the expected contents. If this is the case, you may be able to work around the problem by modifying the nhmapwebsites.xml file, so that it matches the actually downloaded web page: Use Opera to view the mapping website and save the downloaded html page to the phone. View the source on a PC, and modify the nhmapwebsites.xml accordingly. This requires some familiarity with xml. 4. Motorola A920/A925/A1000 specific Yes, the Motorola phones contain a full featured GPS receiver, which can be used without any network support! The AGPS (Assisted GPS) feature in the phone attempts to download assistance data (such as the current position of the GPS satellites) from an AGPS server in the network, to speed up the initial GPS fix. If it is unable to find an AGPS server, it will revert to regular GPS operation and acquiring an initial fix takes longer (typically a few minutes). As far as we know this is not possible. But the GPS works fine without an internet connection, so you can cancel any requests to connect to Internet. If your network operator supports AGPS, then an Internet connection may speed up the time required to obtain a GPS fix, but your operator may charge you for the data traffic used. Make sure that the internal GPS is activated. You can check this by clicking on the GPS status icon at the bottom of the screen. GPS generally does not work indoors and the fastest fix is obtained under a cloudless sky with no obstacles such as buildings or trees. Under good reception a fix should be obtained in a few minutes. If the GPS completely fails to obtain a fix, temporarily switching off the GPS or rebooting the phone seems to help sometimes. The GPS seems to fix more easily while the phone is connected to the charger. On the A920/A925, reception apparently can be improved by pointing the GPS antenna (the little bulb at the top left) to the sky. Don't move the phone while searching for a GPS fix. The A920/A925 GPS sometimes seems to be unable to reaquire a fix if it has lost signal for more than a few minutes. Temporarily switching off the GPS (click on the GPS status icon) may help in such a case. This appears to be a problem in the A920/A925 firmware. The error occurs when the GPS has been active for a few hours, and other GPS (Java) applications suffer from the same problem. There's no known workaround, other than rebooting the phone when the error occurs. The number of satellites is only visible in combination with a Bluetooth GPS. The built-in GPS of Motorola phones does not provide this data. If the power to the GPS chipset has been switched off, the GPS will need to fetch the position data from the satellites again. This takes a few minutes at least. If the GPS has been disabled temporarily, but the GPS chipset was not powered down, the satellite position data is cached and will be used to get a subsequent fix. This can be done quickly. The A920/A925 will keep the GPS chipset power on while the phone is connected to the charger, even if the GPS is not used. The AGPS receiver of your Motorola phone will attempt to connect to the network to download AGPS assist data. If you let the phone connect (or if the phone is already connected while activating the GPS), this will cause some data traffic. Depending on your contract, your operator may charge you for any data traffic used. If no AGPS server is found, the data traffic is probably very small (although we cannot guarantee this). If your network operator does support AGPS, you may be charged for the use of their AGPS server as well. Ask your operator for details. Other functions of nhGPS, such as the Map Download function, access the Internet. Depending on your contract, the network operator may charge you for any bandwidth used. If you want to be sure that you are not charged for using (A)GPS, stay disconnected from the GPRS/UMTS network at all times while using nhGPS. The GPS will still work even if you cancel any attempt of the phone to make a network connection. The A920 and earlier versions of the A925 were restricted and only allowed installation of software that was signed by the network operator (Three). The nhGPS installer does not have such a signature. This limitation has been removed in recent versions of the A925 firmware. Supposedly the A920 can be upgraded with A925 firmware as well. We have no information about the upgrade procedure; please contact your supplier or network operator for details. Yes, this is normal behaviour. It means that the GPS has not yet found a satellite fix. 5. Troubleshooting Please see Q1.5 above. First of all, make sure that Bluetooth is switched on on the phone: Go to Control Panel/Connections/Bluetooth and set the operation mode to either Auto, On or Discoverable. Be aware that Bluetooth is disabled when your phone is set to flight mode! Next check whether bluetooth is switched on on the GPS receiver. Occasionally it helps to reboot both the phone and the GPS receiver. If you have a computer with bluetooth, check whether the GPS is visible from the computer. If all of this does not help, please let us know at .
Make sure that the GPS is in NMEA-0183 mode and not SIRF mode. See your GPS manual for details (usually NMEA mode is the default after power up). Send an email to if you cannot resolve the problem.
nhGPS stores its data files to the memory card. When the memory card cannot be accessed, the above error will be shown.
Check whether the memory card is inserted properly. On the A925 we've seen cases where we had to remove
and re-insert the memory card to get it working.
Although the phone is able to have multiple simultanous bluetooth connections, this appears to degrade the
link quality. Therefore make sure that the phone is not connected to the PC or to a bluetooth headset
while using nhGPS with a bluetooth GPS.
This may happen if the date of your phone is set incorrectly. Please make sure that your phone's
date/time settings match the actual date.
Error numbers in the range -6300 to -6500 are generated by the Symbian operating system and indicate
a bluetooth connection problem. A detailed list of error codes can be found here. Usually the problem can
be solved by either un-pairing or re-pairing the phone and GPS, and selecting the GPS receiver again.
Follow these steps:
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