Overview of activating GPS
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Before you activate your GPS in ArcPad, you need to ensure that the GPS receiver is correctly connected to your mobile device and that the GPS protocol and communication parameters in ArcPad match the settings on the GPS receiver. You also need to turn your GPS receiver on before activating it in ArcPad.

The GPS can only be activated if there is a projection defined for the current ArcPad map. The GPS Active tool is disabled if the current ArcPad map does not have a projection defined. The default projection in ArcPad is latitude–longitude using the WGS84 datum. The default projection can be changed by placing an arcpad.prj file in your My Documents folder.

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Activating your GPS with the GPS Position Window button: You can also activate the GPS by tapping the GPS Position Window button. A message box will be displayed if the GPS is not active. Tap Yes to activate the GPS and open the GPS Position Window.
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Deactivating your GPS: If the GPS is activated, you can deactivate it by tapping GPS Active.
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Activating your GPS with the worldmap.jpg sample data: ArcPad includes WorldMap.jpg, a sample JPEG image. The WorldMap.jpg file has an associated worldfile and aux file (with projection information) and covers the whole world in latitude– longitude coordinates. This is useful when activating a GPS for the first time since it provides a quick method for determining if the GPS communication parameters are set correctly.

The WorldMap.jpg file is automatically installed on your PC under the C:\Program Files\ArcPad 8.0\Samples\World folder. The WorldMap.jpg file is only installed on your Windows Mobile device when the sample world data is installed. To install the world sample data on your Windows Mobile device:

  1. Establish a synchronization session between your PC and Windows Mobile device.
  2. Use the ArcPad Deployment Manager on your desktop PC, located at Start > All Programs > ArcGIS > ArcPad 8.0.
  3. Select the World sample data and click Deploy.