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Waas?

223Larry

By 223Larry
in GPS technology and devices

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storm180

+storm180

Posted
Posted

If its a new Magellan you just bought, you need to go return it because even though it says it is WAAS compatible, you will no longer be able to get WAAS because WAAS sats have been changed last year which the signal that was sent out to tell gps units it was being changed and where to look for them. If you just bought this one it will look at the old waas sats and you will never get a signal for waas and the waas change signal has been shut off so you won't get the new update. Magellan will probably offer you a triton model if you call them up and complain about it.

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Woodstramp

+Woodstramp

Posted
Posted

How can you tell if your GPS has WAAS in it?

 

Use the search box function here and type in "WAAS" or "Magellan WAAS problem". There is a lot of info in the archives about this subject. Thanks to the good folks here I was able to restore WAAS on two of my Explorist 400's a few months ago. You could use this info to either restore your WAAS function on your current unit or use that info for when you call Magellan to get an exchange for a new Triton. When/if you call them for an exchange be firm (and extremely patient). :D

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storm180

+storm180

Posted
Posted

How can you tell if your GPS has WAAS in it?

 

Use the search box function here and type in "WAAS" or "Magellan WAAS problem". There is a lot of info in the archives about this subject. Thanks to the good folks here I was able to restore WAAS on two of my Explorist 400's a few months ago. You could use this info to either restore your WAAS function on your current unit or use that info for when you call Magellan to get an exchange for a new Triton. When/if you call them for an exchange be firm (and extremely patient). :D

 

Most of the newer 500LE have the new firmware that prevents the upgrade to the 2.57 EU firmware to fix the waas problems. The only unit able to be upgraded are units with the 2.03 firmware anything else won't work.

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user13371

+user13371

Posted
Posted (edited)

How can you tell if... ?

 

Turn it on, leave it on your back porch for an hour or two, then look at the Location screen and see what it says in the Accuracy field. If it gives the measurement followed by "WAAS" then it's using it. Note that in some cases the GPS might be able to RECEIVE the WAAS signals, but not get enough valid data to USE it.

 

Should you care... ?

 

Strangely enough, if you search forum archives going back a few years you'll find many asking how to turn it OFF on various models. Some felt WAAS provided no real advantages and that it decreased battery life.

 

Explorist 500LE cannot be upgraded to firmware 2.57... ?

 

Truth or fiction? I'd like to take a shot at making that work. If you have a 500LE that does not get WAAS and have been unable to upgrade the firmware, PM me on this.

Edited by lee_rimar
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storm180

+storm180

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Posted (edited)

 

Explorist 500LE cannot be upgraded to firmware 2.57... ?

 

Truth or fiction? I'd like to take a shot at making that work. If you have a 500LE that does not get WAAS and have been unable to upgrade the firmware, PM me on this.

 

Well many people have tried on the newer 500's and the firmware seems to upgrade but when the unit restarts it goes back to what it was. This has been discuused and tried many times on here and in the explorist forums and it does not work. The only firmware that can be upgraded is the 2.03. Also you cannot put 2.03 firmware on top of the 2.17 firmware the newer units are shipped with.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...158222&st=0

Edited by storm180
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user13371

+user13371

Posted
Posted
... This has been discussed and tried many times on here and in the explorist forums and it does not work...
Well, if you read it on the Internet it must be true :D

 

I'd like to get my hands on a supposedly non-upgradeable model and see if I can find an alternate truth, that's all.

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user13371

+user13371

Posted
Posted
Lost base map when downloading 2.57
Probably not. I'm guessing you used a Euro or Aussie firmware download and replaced your US basemap with the one for whichever continent you "upgraded" for. Scroll over to the part of the worl you got the firmware for, and see what it looks like...

 

So... find a US basemap download and replace that separately from the firmware. I seem to recall postin instructions for that here myself some time ago, I'll try to find them for you...

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Woodstramp

+Woodstramp

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Posted

OK now I did it .Lost base map when downloading 2.57.Now what?

 

If you didn't save your original US basemap (looking at the GPS's file system through your USB connection to the PC) before you burned the new firmware then you can fix that. If it's like Lee said you can fix that by replacing the EU map with a US one. Just drag out the EU and drag in a US while looking at the GPS through your USB connection. You may have to set your PC to see hidden files in order to do this. I did.

 

You may have to reinstall the original FW files with a download from Magellan (if you did not save them), THEN save your US basemap file on the PC, THEN redo the Euro FW 2.57 upgrade, Then drag out the EU basemap and drag in the save US basemap. That's the way I did my 400's.

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Woodstramp

+Woodstramp

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Posted (edited)

OK now I did it .Lost base map when downloading 2.57.Now what?

 

Shoot, after I posted that last reply I recalled that I'd saved a "RE-WAAS" procedure for myself. It's a mix of info I'd collected from here to do my 400's. Here it is.

---------

 

eXplorist 400 Firmware Upgrade Version 2.57

 

Before doing anything.......back up the unit's factory basemap......Also backup the unit's other files and store all on the PC. (Just in case)

Note: you may not be able to see these two files through the PC unless you set up windows to see secret files.

 

1. To update your Firmware, it will require you to clear all internal memory; hence, suggest you back up your user created POI's/Route/Tracks/Geocache to your PC or SD card.

2. Turn On eXplorist, goto Preferences, then Clear Memory, select All. The unit will then power down.

3. Remove SD card from device.

4. With your eXplorist turned off, connect your USB/Data cable to your PC.

5. Connect your eXplorist special USB connector to the back of your unit.

6. Turn On your eXplorist.

7. The unit will start up and then go into Communications Mode once it detects connection to the PC.

8. Select File Transfer Mode and press the enter key. The unit will take several seconds to connect to your PC in file transfer mode and may display the units file folder.

9. Download and save Explorist_400_2_57.zip file to your Desktop, then unzip it.

10. Run Explorist_400_2_57.exe. It will go find the eXplorist unit connected to the PC.

11. Once Explorist_400_2_57.exe has found the eXplorist, click on Continue to Upload.

12. Once the upload is complete, the unit will restart. If the unit doesn't turn on automatically, please turn on the unit .

13. After the update has been completed, press the power key on the eXplorist unit to perform the five second shut down.

14. If the unit doesn't go into File Transfer Mode automatically, select File Transfer Mode on the communications screen.

15. Once the "upload completed" message appears on the Explorist_400_2_57.exe application, then you have completed the update.

 

Ammendment....

 

Then after FW update look at it through the PC's E drive.......it will have a Euro Basemap. This needs to be copied to the PC and then remove it from the

unit and replace it (drag-n-drop) with the NA basmap file.

 

Ammendment.... Secret menu to see new sats...

 

One thread here said you could turn WAAS on or off by going to a "secret menu" (Menu, L,R,L,R,L) and entering 03. When I do that the Sat are shown as 120 and 122. That same post said that these were the OLD sats. The new ones are 135 and 138.

 

-----

 

Hope it helps. Be careful in the "Secret Menu" stuff. I understand you can goof things up easily there.

Edited by Woodstramp
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223Larry

223Larry

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Posted

First of all I would like to thank all that responded to cry for help.I got the 500le working again.I was able to get the frimwear installed and down loaded the basemap to my desktop and drag and dropped it into the unit.I'm not good with computers so that diden't help.Again thanks alot

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storm180

+storm180

Posted
Posted (edited)
... This has been discussed and tried many times on here and in the explorist forums and it does not work...
Well, if you read it on the Internet it must be true :)

 

I'd like to get my hands on a supposedly non-upgradeable model and see if I can find an alternate truth, that's all.

 

It just so happens I have I actually tried it on a 500LE with 2.17 on it. I can also tell you that s guy who lives in canada who actually repaired explorist for a living and was associated with magellan says its impossible. I may have read it on the internet but those people who posted have actually tried it and failed. What makes you think you can do it? Are you a technician for magellan, or a software designer who is going to make some new firmware code? There is no alternate truth ask anyone on here who has attempted it.

 

You must be like one of these people who can watch 10,000 people do the same thing and fail and insist on trying it only to fail like them. I mean if this was like physical challenge I would be like go for it but this is a technical challenge and I know there have been a lot of people who have tried including myself and get the same results. I can guarantee your results will be the same. I hope someone can send one to you because I would like to hear what your results are.

Edited by storm180
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user13371

+user13371

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Posted
...I hope someone can send one to you because I would like to hear what your results are.
Not sure why., but you sound really, really angry about this. In its original context, even one line quote above sounded more like "I dare you" than "let's see if there's a way to fix this."

 

I'm not saying that I can make it work, just that I want to give it a shot. If it won't work, I want to know why, and if I can make it work I'll detail the instructions for anyone who needs them.

 

Know anyone who has a working 500 or 500LE with 2.17 firmware installed?

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storm180

+storm180

Posted
Posted
...I hope someone can send one to you because I would like to hear what your results are.
Not sure why., but you sound really, really angry about this. In its original context, even one line quote above sounded more like "I dare you" than "let's see if there's a way to fix this."

 

I'm not saying that I can make it work, just that I want to give it a shot. If it won't work, I want to know why, and if I can make it work I'll detail the instructions for anyone who needs them.

 

Know anyone who has a working 500 or 500LE with 2.17 firmware installed?

 

I apologize if it sounded really angry, was not meant to be. I went through the frustration trying to get a friends 500 working to grab waas info. He bought it on clearance at a local sporting goods store for a good price. Spent a better part of a week emailing techs, forums, etc.. Finally called magellan and they ended up sending him a triton 500 as a replacement. He currently hates the triton because of all the issues and lock ups he has been having. Due to all these issues he hates geocaching now and as he put it "I am stuck with this piece of garbage" I told him to put the triton on ebay but he doesn't believe in selling off problems to someone else. Hopefully I can find him a deal on a 60CSx in the near future or maybe a firmware fix from magellan.

 

I consider myself lucky I have a explorist 600 that got the info from the waas sats last year about the change so it knows about it. If I ever have to hard reset that unit, I will have to do the 2.57 update to it becuase I will lose the info on the new waas sats. Mine is about 2 years old and has the 2.03 firmware on it.

 

Once again I apolgize if I came across as angry.

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