Nexus 5 GPS fix confirmed:UPDATE

UPDATE : while the Antenna fix helps, I ended up RMA'ing the phone back to LG - the new phone is now out performing my old Nexus4. So I now conclude that the only REAL fix for a poor GPS is a new phone.... 

Since upgrading to the Nexus 5 I've been happy in every respect EXCEPT for the GPS performance which was so bad it made me second guess leaving the Nexus 4. It often took minutes for the phone find its present location and position accuracy was horrendous.  Playing Ingress was pretty much impossible and doing any sort of navigation was a true test of my patience and had me wishing I still kept a Thomas guide in my truck.
Both my wife and I have Nexus 5s and both have the same terrible GPS performance so I was convinced it was inherent to the phone but the rest of the internet was silent on the issue. It wasn't until digging through the XDA Developer forums did I stumble upon a post that gave me some hope. Apparently there is a fit up issue between the back cover that contains the GPS antenna and its spring loaded connector on the main board.  That was all the excuse needed to break out the case cracking tools give this potential fix a try - and I'm glad I did - while I haven't performed any extensive field test my initial post fix comparison in the video above do indicate a positive affect.

Running Studio Strobes on a UPS for Location Shooting

Well, before spending the $170 in parts for the DYI Vagabond posted on myJTP.com's youtube channel. I always wondered why I couldn't just use my computer's UPS. It's 725VA, self contained, built in charger, really cheap (<$100) why wouldn't this work? Well I got some time to do some testing and found out the following. Using my Photogenic 600ws monolights I was able to get 125 full power pops off of my fully charged UPS (battery in the UPS was about 2years old) til it cut power when the battery reached about 19% charge. Recharge time on the strobe was about 3.5 seconds, so not really as fast as pluging into a good 'ol AC outlet. Not really enough for a full shoot but I could do in a pinch. The battery in the unit is about 1/3 the size as the one in the Vagabond, so that explains why it didn't last that long.
So it worked but there is alot of chatter on the flickr groups about the need for a pure sine inverter to power strobes. I believe my strobes have a transformer rectified front end that charges the capacitor bank which is the worst ones to run off a approximate-sine inverter like my UPS - I didn't fry anything in the process, and nothing even got too hot in the process, but I think to be safe, I'll build the DYI kit with a pure sine.

DYI Vagabond

Was planning on doing this for a long time, nice to see someone proved it out - and doesn't need as big a batter as I was going to use. Still want to see if a simple UPS would work as well. They can be had for cheap and have a built in charger. But this DYI has a nice look to it as well.

Dirty G9? - Have screwdriver, will clean...or brick

From MkIIshooter

Ain't this pretty? My G9 seems to have a major spot on the sensor. And of course not in a inconspicuous corner, but right smack in my 'Rule of Thirds' line. I'd know how to handle this on my DSLRs but things like this aren't supposed to PS cameras, right? Isn't one of the design advantages of a fixed lens camera supposed to be the isolation of the sensor from the elements? I've never had this happen to any of my other (cheaper) PS cameras. So with less than 2,000 images of use I got a camera not worth using. I checked with Canon and of course my unit is out of warranty but they'll gladly clean it for $150...I don't think so.

Apparently, from the traffic on the Flickr G9 groups, this is a pretty common problem that comes from a poorly sealed lens that sucks in dust every time it extends and retracts. Some have reported sending their cameras to Canon for a cleaning only to have the spots show up a couple months later.

So armed with some small screw driver, pec pads, sensor brush and some eclipse, I gathered up the nerve to tear this sucker apart. - what could go wrong? It's basically useless now anyway right? Anyway here's video evidence it survived the surgery (warning- even though I sped up the video, it's still extremely boring!):

Post operation thoughts? Well, with these small sensors, this really should be done in a clean room the slightest dust is visible - It took two tries to get the image spot free (or at least usable). There are some really small components in there that could easily get lost or broken which may result in a $500 brick but with all that said, would I do it again? - heck yea, I'm not giving Canon another $150 for something that is a result of some poor engineering on their part.