Garmin GPS problems

[Tron God]

I have a Garmin GPS 45 and I'm having problems getting it to track Sats. It is acquiring Sats, but is not locking on to them. I've tried new batteries, an external 12v power source, checked the antenna, and used an external Garmin Antenna. I've tried contacting the folks at Garmin, and tried what they suggested but still "no joy". If anyone that has used or has any experience with this type GPS please let me know. Please feel free to email me at ([email protected]) with any or your suggestions. Thanks anything would be helpful.

 

[FearlessFreep]

First off, this should be moved to the general message board. You may get more responses there. This is the general interview board. No worries, it is a common misconception.

I am not specifically familiar with that GPS but you might want to try a couple of things. Check your documentation and see if you can update the "Almanac". The almanac is a database of the satellite ephemeris data. This is the orbital data for the satellite constellation. If this data is out of date the unit will be looking for all the wrong sattelites and will have to acquire a signal, receive the information, and figure out a rough approximation of it's location. Updating the almanac usually entails leaving the unit with a WIDE view of the open sky for an extended period of time. Almanacs will go stale if the unit has either not been utilized for some time or has had a great displacement in distance since it has last been turned on/off. The unit will always usually assume that it is being turned on at the last location is was at when turned off.

The other thing is to see if you can insert what some manufacturers refer to as a "seed" position. This is an approximation of where you are currently located lat/long wise. It does not have to be too accurate, just any lat/long of the nearest large city or know location will do.

Try these things, otherwise just make sure that the unit has a good unobstructed view of the sky for a good while.

Note: I have seen problems with some units not getting real good signals in proximity to large metal buildings, like hangers. That could just be the GPS unit, or it might be some kind of signal attenuation. GPS signals are very weak so they might be adversely affected. This is just my conjecture as I am no expert when it comes to this kind of stuff.

 

[BannerTowPilot]

Thats an antique gps, 1 channel i believe. I use a garmin gps 12 http://www.garmin.com/products/gps12/ 12 channel it's 4 years old and still going strong but both of these have an internal lithium battery that won't last forever, you might check into replacing it if you can. or get a new garmin 72 for $130. at walmart
http://www.garmin.com/products/gps72/index.html
, these new garmins don't have the internal lithium battery so i guess they do last forever.