Garmin can't find satellites anymore

[Marco Flamingo]

I thought I'd post first before trying to call Garmin. It might be something others have faced. When I purchased two years ago, the newly installed Garmin 942sx would pick up enough satellites to lock into position in a minute (even when under the metal roof of my covered moorage). About one year in, I lost satellite reception a few times for a few minutes. A few months ago, it would not find the boat position until we had motored for 15-30 minutes and then still occasionally lost signal. So I bought an external antenna, which the unit recognized, but it didn't help.

Yesterday, when motoring back to the marina (in the snow), I didn't pick up a sufficient signal for the entire trip (three hours). The MFD showed three satellites a few times, but never enough signal to establish position. My unit still shows connection to an external antenna (now disconnected) and I can't find any way to change that back, which might not matter anyway.

Voltage is fine. I've updated the software twice. I even reset to factory settings twice. Radar works fine. Depth sounder is okay (although I lose the bottom at around 50 feet at 6 knots). Before I call Garmin tech (Help me, Jesus!), I just thought I'd ask if there was anything I was missing.

 

[twistedtree]

If an external antenna didn't help then I suspect the GPS in the unit is toast. You could install an external GPS (a full GPS, not just an antenna for the MFD), connect it via N2K or NMEA 0183, and tell the MFD to use it instead of the internal GPS. Most MFDs allow for that.

 

[Portage_Bay]

If you follow twistedtree's suggestion to install an external GPS may I recommend a fully functional hand held unit? Coupled to your MFD by cable not wi-fi or bluetooth. My reasoning is that you add layers of redundancy and reliability.

• The hand held will of course function as a stand alone GPS if everything else onboard dies.
• If powered by replaceable batteries rather than rechargeable then the power supply life time is limited only by the # of batteries you carry.
• If connected via cable rather than wi-fi or bluetooth then the connection to the MFD will be near 100% reliable.

Yes you can do it with a puc. Yes you can do it wirelessly. But you lose the above advantages.

 

[OldDan1943]

my inclination is to suspect you might benefit from a new antenna. I had to replace my antenna on my N46. It was the only antenna effected. No other electronics were effected. No storms in the area either. I have since made it a habit to install 2 GPS antenna in the theory, if one fails the 2nd would take over seamlessly. This is what I have been told. They are about 10-12ft apart on the pilot house roof.
Too narrow things a bit, count the satellites on one or more of your hand held GPS units.

I do know I have some dead spots with my recreational sat radio..... The music, news, etc just stops until I clear the area. The dead spots are less than 20 to 30ft.
I just live with it.

Step 1, verify the # of satellites with your handheld GPS.
Step 2, if the number differs significantly, replace the onboard antenna.
Step 3, suspect the mfd.

 

[High Wire]

Before calling Garmin make sure you have model and serial numbers for any interface equipment you have like the antenna(s).

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,

 

[fgarriso]

https://furunousa.com/en

Call Garmin and then call Furuno to get a unit that works.

https://furunousa.com/en/products/gp1971f

 

[Marco Flamingo]

My Garmin is connected to a Standard Horizon VHF that has GPS and AIS. The Garmin shows that the radio as connected, and I know it is because I can see AIS vessels on the MFD but only when the Garmin has my GPS location. I originally hooked up the VHF using NMEA 0183 in order to get AIS on the MFD, but also thinking that maybe the Garmin could share the radio's GPS. I still lost satellites occasionally, meaning that the Garmin did not switch to using the radio's GPS. So I installed a NMEA 2000 backbone. I still get AIS on the MFD, but it doesn't use the radio's GPS, either. The radio picks up my GPS location within a few seconds of being turned on (the Garmin used to).

Postings on other websites seems to indicate that an external antenna for this Garmin really doesn't add anything. The internal one seems to work fine (obviously when it is working).

I'd already thought about getting all my info together before calling Garmin. Actually, I figured I'd go out and sit in the middle of the harbor with the Garmin running when I called them. Just my luck that then I would pick up 10 satellites.

There's no gremlin like an electrical gremlin.

 

[twistedtree]

If the Garmin can be configured to use an external GPS rather than the internal one, then there will be a configuration setting of some sort. Typically there are "source selection" options for various instruments so you can pick where the data comes from. According to the manual, it's under Settings > System > GPS > Source

 

[SteveK]

Look here, may need software update unless the external antenna connection is lost.

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/web...UID-1C7436B2-380F-494C-95A7-C2C48EF8A0FA.html

 

[Marco Flamingo]

If the Garmin can be configured to use an external GPS rather than the internal one, then there will be a configuration setting of some sort. Typically there are "source selection" options for various instruments so you can pick where the data comes from. According to the manual, it's under Settings > System > GPS > Source

I have Settings>System>GPS but then no Source option for an antenna. I'll reinstall the remote antenna and see if that gives me Source choices. I do have some GPS "Transmit" settings that aren't explained in my owner's manual. All I could find on the internet is that it may be related to a European VHF system.

I guess I should update the software (for the third time) before calling Garmin. Thanks everybody for the help.

 

[OldDan1943]

How many satellites are displayed on your hand held GPS

 

[BruceK]

A GPS I had years ago had a "Search the Sky" prompt I could use. It worked, the thing soon found the necessary satellites. No idea whether current ones have such a facility.

 

[OldDan1943]

A GPS I had years ago had a "Search the Sky" prompt I could use. It worked, the thing soon found the necessary satellites. No idea whether current ones have such a facility.

my new Garmin has something similar but, it is so new and new to me it might take me 30 minutes to find it again.
I am on a long almost flat learn almost flat learning curve. I would call it, 'Stumble on features' curve.

 

[BruceK]

my new Garmin has something similar but, it is so new and new to me it might take me 30 minutes to find it again.
I am on a long almost flat learn almost flat learning curve. I would call it, 'Stumble on features' curve.

30 minutes is nothing. It was sheer luck with my Lowrance I discovered that "Display Overlay" meant showing depth on the map "page".

 

[OldDan1943]

30 minutes is nothing. It was sheer luck with my Lowrance I discovered that "Display Overlay" meant showing depth on the map "page".

LOL Took me days, part time, to stumble on the way to put the AIS on the separate radar mfd and remove it from the nav chart display. The nav display is cluttered with necessary stuff. Dont ask me to do it again.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

How many satellites are displayed on your hand held GPS

My Standard Horizon GX2400 picks up 9 or 10 satellites in 15-20 seconds and provides time, Lat Lon, and AIS vessels. My handheld HX890 picks up 8 or 9 in the same time, but seems to take a minute to get 10. Both of these were when under metal covered moorage.

The Garmin MFD can spend an hour working on getting/losing 2 or 3 satellites, but not enough for a location. A few months ago it would have enough for a location/track but then beep that it had lost satellites and the boat icon would freeze where we were (with no track) until it found enough satellites again, which sometimes took half an hour or more. Last weekend, a three hour cruise wasn't enough time for it to get location.

 

[OldDan1943]

My Standard Horizon GX2400 picks up 9 or 10 satellites in 15-20 seconds and provides time, Lat Lon, and AIS vessels. My handheld HX890 picks up 8 or 9 in the same time, but seems to take a minute to get 10. Both of these were when under metal covered moorage.

The Garmin MFD can spend an hour working on getting/losing 2 or 3 satellites, but not enough for a location. A few months ago it would have enough for a location/track but then beep that it had lost satellites and the boat icon would freeze where we were (with no track) until it found enough satellites again, which sometimes took half an hour or more. Last weekend, a three hour cruise wasn't enough time for it to get location.

Marco Flamingo, change out the GPS antenna. I'll bet you a dollar to a donut, your problem will disappear.

 

[Hobbit]

When you need it to work Furuno will always come thru. My 30 year old gps still going stong...had to have new internal battery installed. (25.00 three years ago). Still works my back ups are all Furuno as well.
Good Luck

 

[rwidman]

I suggest going ahead and calling Garmin. It's difficult to present your information on a forum such as this in a form that everyone will understand. In a call (to Garmin), the other person can ask questions tho make sure you are both on the same page.

I have a 14 year old (two of them) Garmin 5208 plotters. A couple years ago I realized that the unit no longer "remembered" the satellites if it hadn't been used for a few weeks. Since I had an extra antenna from when I bought them, I installed the unused antenna. It took several minutes for it to find the satellites but then it was fine.

Now, the new antenna is beginning to show the same symptoms (forgetting the satellites) if unused for a while. It's fine if I use it every few days.

One might suspect a dead memory battery, but my understanding is, there is no battery in the antenna. As a former electronics technician, I suspect there is a capacitor used to maintain power to the memory and it might have failed.

 

[jimdavi]

I’ve also had good luck with Garmin chat function on line. Might try that as well. Need to be by your equipment though.