Comments on: Acquiring Satellites

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:32:37 +0000

I fly and drive with quite a few different GPS units. Some are mobile, many are “built in”. A few years ago, I noted that, as I tried to depart some airports a few of the GPS units would Lose Lock “they were working on the flight in and now they just lost all signal”. After seeing this happen from time to time I noted that it happened only at some airports with some aircraft with some GPS?. I tracked the problem down to the other radios in the aircraft. When the radio was tuned to receive on ground frequencies. In this case the ground frequencies at some airports (always AM 121.xx caused the radios in some aircraft to create a 3rd Inter-modulation frequency that swamped the “computer” in the GPS. If I used the secondary radio or changed the frequency or moved the GPS antenna to a different location the GPS would work fine. I pointed this out to several friends and we all found some interference level on some frequencies if the GPS receiving antenna was close enough to the radio bodies. So try your GPS out of the CAR and away from the AM / FM radio or the car’s other computer / electronics in the dash.

Steve

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:35:54 +0000

Help! I need a basic unit for a trip to Ireland, and England. I can get a garmin 205 or 750 for good prices, but the reviews I’ve read (CNET + bloggers) occasionally say that the 750 is sluggish to mention turns or acquire satellites. Any suggestions-which one to buy? I will likely not use it much once I return to the US but will use it every minute and hold onto it like a bible when I’m driving on the left and listening to my “navigator” in the seat next to me telling me where to go… Do you have any experience with either of the units for speed and reliability issues? Don’t think I care about features too much, just something that’s reliable and won’t miss a turn! Thanks for any suggestions.

By: ron

ron — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:18:33 +0000

i wrote before about loosing satellite connection and have found out later if i try using it before i get into car to go it will work. just several times i lost connection and it came right back. also i just had antenna 1/2 way up or out and doing both things the problem has stopped. don’t know which way was problem but it is all but solved. thanx for all the help.
thanx again.

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:55:52 +0000

Hi Pam, did you resolve your issue, i am experiencing exactly the same thing on my new navman S150. Can’t acquire any satellites unless i reboot the thing, then i finds satellites for 15 seconds and looses them

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:43:24 +0000

Tom, you should call the support department of the manufacturer.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:34:41 +0000

i lost sat signal and never got it back even leaving it on and resteing it what do i so

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:55:46 +0000

I just purchased a Nuvi 750 and was talked into buying an ac charger. I have owned a Streetpilot 340 for 4 years and have always just used the car power cord to run the unit. The batteries in the streetpilot died 2 years ago. Is it better to run the unit on it’s battery or is just using the power cord ok?

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:12:52 +0000

Mac, no– that won’t impact your device at all, it will be just fine.

By: Mac

Mac — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:29:10 +0000

I’ve been searching for a while and this is the closest post/thread/article I could find regarding my question (you guys do a great job clarifying things =p).

While my unit (60Cx) was acquiring satellites for the first time, I moved it in-and-out of the house a couple of times, and it was left indoors for the most of the time.

Is that going to affect the “calibration sequence” of my GPS , or its “accuracy” in the future?

Thanks in advance.

By: Sergio (mexico)

Sergio (mexico) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:46:18 +0000

I have the same problem with nuvi 255w and Camry 2007, if you take it off the dash (ej. rear seats) it works well…I’m guessing if bluetooth is conflicting and looking for taking it off in the camry but could’nt do it…