Where is the GPS antenna?

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Sony Xperia Z3 Compact

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact released in Sep. 2014.

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Hans Druyts @hansdruyts

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Posted: Jun 22, 2015

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Where is the GPS antenna?

I have a sony Z3C and I'm experiencing GPS connection issues. Apparently I'm not the only one, as there are many posts on several forums...

At first sight everything seems ok, as you can see a lot of sattelites when opening a GPS app (gps test, u-center, ...), but it is very hard to get a fix. It seems as if the signal to noise ratio is always too high.

This hasn't always been the case, so I'm suspecting that maybe the connection with the antenna has deteriorated. Could someone point out where it is located?

Answer this question I have this problem too

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3 Comments:

Hi Hans,

could you please tell if and how you solved the problem? Thanks.

Oct 15, 2015 by nose

No, I couldn't solve the problem as of yet... I was hoping to get a more detailed view on the gps antenna inside the phone, but the only thing available is a rough indication of where the antenna should be... That's not enough for me to open the device and start playing around with a solder station or something similar.

So for the moment, I'm using my Z3C without real location info (as I can only use the coarse wifi-based info).

Oct 15, 2015 by Hans Druyts

I just got back from a CPR repair place looking at the GPS antenna problem. The nice guy at CPR took the phone apart and then allowed me to look at it. I found that there is a tiny gold spring loaded contact just below the USB connector that I think is a contact involved with the GPS. There is a plastic frame that fits inside the outside frame of the phone. On this internal frame there are sections of what looks like gray conductive tape around the frame. This gold contact and other silver spring contacts make contact with these sections. The CPR guy sprung the silver contacts up slightly, cleaned all contacts and contact points on the conductive tape of the frame with alcohol and reassembled. It is picking up GPS satellites much better now. I don't know how long the fix will last but it is much better for now. I hope this helps. If you are not comfortable taking the phone apart yourself just take it to a CPR repair place and tell them what needs to be done.

Dec 9, 2017 by jmfreeze2

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2 Answers

Hi Hans,

could you please tell if and how you solved the problem? Thanks. — nose
No, I couldn't solve the problem as of yet... I was hoping to get a more detailed view on the gps antenna inside the phone, but the only thing available is a rough indication of where the antenna should be... That's not enough for me to open the device and start playing around with a solder station or something similar.

So for the moment, I'm using my Z3C without real location info (as I can only use the coarse wifi-based info). — Hans Druyts
I just got back from a CPR repair place looking at the GPS antenna problem. The nice guy at CPR took the phone apart and then allowed me to look at it. I found that there is a tiny gold spring loaded contact just below the USB connector that I think is a contact involved with the GPS. There is a plastic frame that fits inside the outside frame of the phone. On this internal frame there are sections of what looks like gray conductive tape around the frame. This gold contact and other silver spring contacts make contact with these sections. The CPR guy sprung the silver contacts up slightly, cleaned all contacts and contact points on the conductive tape of the frame with alcohol and reassembled. It is picking up GPS satellites much better now. I don't know how long the fix will last but it is much better for now. I hope this helps. If you are not comfortable taking the phone apart yourself just take it to a CPR repair place and tell them what needs to be done. — jmfreeze2