Garmin Venture problems?

[marikun]

Recently I bought a used GPS, a Garmin eTrex Legend off of eBay. I haven't got it to work yet. I punched in "New Location" on the satellite menu, but the unit does not lock to a satellite. It will say "locating satellites" and occasionally "tracking satellites" but will not display any navigation as if it were locked to a satellite. It recognizes the satellites, some will turn grey or black, but I don't get any confirmation that it is locked on to a signal. I've tried this in both an urban area and on a tall hill away from the city on a clear day.

 

Am I doing something wrong? Is my GPS faulty? Someone please help me out.

 

-marikun

[Ken in Regina]

How long did you wait after turning it on before messing with it?

 

When a GPS is new out of the box or after a hard reset or if it was last used a long way from where you are now, the receiver has to do a "cold start". That is, it has to locate the satellites it can best see locally and then try to get a fix on its position. It's largely a trial and error sort of situation and it takes awhile. It takes longer if there aren't a lot of easily seen satellites in your current location.

 

On some receivers, the "New Location" function will allow you to manually tell the GPS receiver its new location. That will make it easier to get a new fix than if it has to keep up the trial and error because knowing the current location, even approximately, will help it use a table to get an idea what satellites it should be able to see.

 

The "New Location" function usually gives you the option to manually input the latitude/longitude if you know it, or to manually pan the map and select your current location on the map if you don't know the latitude and longitude. Doing this will shorten the time it takes for the GPS receiver to do a cold start location fix.

 

Once it has figured out where it is, getting a fix after that will be much quicker.

 

You can also use the "New Location" function (with the GPS receiver turned off) if you want to determine a route between two places. Most navigation devices assume you want to create a route from where you are currently to some other place. They don't make it easy for you to check out a route between two places, neither of which is your current location. So you can use the "New Location" function to make the GPS think you are at the starting point of the route you want to check out. Then you can tell it the new destination and it will calculate a route as if you were actually at that starting point instead of where you actually are. But you have to do this with the GPS receiver turned off (disabled, whatever) or it will immediately start trying to find where you really are instead of believing you are somewhere else.

 

I hope that made sense.

 

...ken...

Edited November 13, 2008 by Ken in Regina

[marikun]

How long did you wait after turning it on before messing with it?

 

When a GPS is new out of the box or after a hard reset or if it was last used a long way from where you are now, the receiver has to do a "cold start". That is, it has to locate the satellites it can best see locally and then try to get a fix on its position. It's largely a trial and error sort of situation and it takes awhile. It takes longer if there aren't a lot of easily seen satellites in your current location.

 

On some receivers, the "New Location" function will allow you to manually tell the GPS receiver its new location. That will make it easier to get a new fix than if it has to keep up the trial and error because knowing the current location, even approximately, will help it use a table to get an idea what satellites it should be able to see.

 

The "New Location" function usually gives you the option to manually input the latitude/longitude if you know it, or to manually pan the map and select your current location on the map if you don't know the latitude and longitude. Doing this will shorten the time it takes for the GPS receiver to do a cold start location fix.

 

Once it has figured out where it is, getting a fix after that will be much quicker.

 

You can also use the "New Location" function (with the GPS receiver turned off) if you want to determine a route between two places. Most navigation devices assume you want to create a route from where you are currently to some other place. They don't make it easy for you to check out a route between two places, neither of which is your current location. So you can use the "New Location" function to make the GPS think you are at the starting point of the route you want to check out. Then you can tell it the new destination and it will calculate a route as if you were actually at that starting point instead of where you actually are. But you have to do this with the GPS receiver turned off (disabled, whatever) or it will immediately start trying to find where you really are instead of believing you are somewhere else.

 

I hope that made sense.

 

...ken...

 

I've waited anywhere from 10-30 minutes for it for locate satellites and it has never. Usually after 10-15 minutes the unit will shut down and then I'll have to start the process over again.

My Garmin does have a "Use Map" option for the New Location function. The basic map is far from detailed but I'll attempt to put in my location and pan the map from there.

Thinking out loud: Are there downloadable maps for the Garmin Venture that show street level detail?

Thanks for your help.

[+oldfunseekers]

Recently I bought a used GPS, a Garmin eTrex Legend off of eBay. I haven't got it to work yet. I punched in "New Location" on the satellite menu, but the unit does not lock to a satellite. It will say "locating satellites" and occasionally "tracking satellites" but will not display any navigation as if it were locked to a satellite. It recognizes the satellites, some will turn grey or black, but I don't get any confirmation that it is locked on to a signal. I've tried this in both an urban area and on a tall hill away from the city on a clear day.

 

Am I doing something wrong? Is my GPS faulty? Someone please help me out.

 

-marikun

[Ken in Regina]

... Thinking out loud: Are there downloadable maps for the Garmin Venture that show street level detail?

Thanks for your help.

The simple answer is yes.

 

There are somewhat different detailed answers depending upon whether we're talking about a Venture, Venture HC, Legend or Legend HCx.

 

The Venture and Venture HC don't have memory card slots so all you can use is the internal memory. That doesn't allow you to download very much coverage for detailed maps.

 

The Legend HCx has a memory slot for a micro-SD card. I'm using a 2GB card in mine. As you might guess, I can get very large amounts of map data on it and still have room left over.

 

I don't know if the original Legend has a card slot or not.

 

When you ask about "downloadable" maps, do you mean maps you can download from the internet or are you asking if you can download to the handheld? ... Now that I think about it, the answer to both questions is yes.

 

Obviously, there are lots of maps you can buy from Garmin for use on their handhelds. There are also maps that you can get for free from the internet. If you google "Ibycus" you will find find an excellent example.

 

Q -- What sort of indication are you looking for that the eTrex has a position lock? When you turn it on, does it simply stay on the satellite screen, with the words "Acquiring Satellites", forever?

 

Q -- When you say the unit "shuts down" after awhile, does it actually turn itself right off? That sounds like it needs fresh batteries.

 

...ken...

Edited November 16, 2008 by Ken in Regina

[marikun]

... Thinking out loud: Are there downloadable maps for the Garmin Venture that show street level detail?

Thanks for your help.

The simple answer is yes.

 

There are somewhat different detailed answers depending upon whether we're talking about a Venture, Venture HC, Legend or Legend HCx.

 

The Venture and Venture HC don't have memory card slots so all you can use is the internal memory. That doesn't allow you to download very much coverage for detailed maps.

 

The Legend HCx has a memory slot for a micro-SD card. I'm using a 2GB card in mine. As you might guess, I can get very large amounts of map data on it and still have room left over.

 

I don't know if the original Legend has a card slot or not.

 

When you ask about "downloadable" maps, do you mean maps you can download from the internet or are you asking if you can download to the handheld? ... Now that I think about it, the answer to both questions is yes.

 

Obviously, there are lots of maps you can buy from Garmin for use on their handhelds. There are also maps that you can get for free from the internet. If you google "Ibycus" you will find find an excellent example.

 

Q -- What sort of indication are you looking for that the eTrex has a position lock? When you turn it on, does it simply stay on the satellite screen, with the words "Acquiring Satellites", forever?

 

Q -- When you say the unit "shuts down" after awhile, does it actually turn itself right off? That sounds like it needs fresh batteries.

 

...ken...

 

Checked out the Ibycus maps - thanks!

 

I own a plain Venture, no bells and whistles, unfortunately. But it was cheap, and it works. So I can't really complain. In fact, today I went out to a nearby supermarket to go grocery shopping. I brought my GPS along and when I turned it on in the parking lot, it locked on to a satellite right away! Problem solved. My area was too dense for satellite signals, it would appear. I had a film canister on hand, so I even hid a cache in the area as well.

 

I even tested out the navigation and routes. Works like a charm!

 

Thanks a bunch.

-marikun

[Ken in Regina]

I'm glad that things are working for you. If you want to learn a little more about the Ibycus maps and keep tabs on progress with the US version as it evolves, there is a thread in here that the author participates in.

 

...ken...