Explorist 310 slow to connect... except at home?

[+charlieromeobravo]

Has anyone else had this experience? I'm hoping that someone can explain it...

 

Out in the field, standing in an open meadow with nothing but Mother Nature's big blue sky above me and no trees within 100 feet of me, it can take as long as 10 minutes sometimes for my Explorist 310 to acquire a signal. Typically it's closer to 5 minutes. BUT when I'm at home, it gets a signal within a minute of booting EVERY time. Does that make any sense to anyone? I exchanged some emails with Magellan support and they're cross shipping me a new 310 after declaring that mine is having issues connecting to the satellites. I'm happy to take a new unit from them but I'm skeptical of their diagnosis because my dad bought an Explorist GC and he has had a very similar experience. Does this situation sound familiar to anyone out there?

 

thanks

CRB

[+Bear and Ragged]

Once the unit gets the sats, if you turn it off and back on again it starts looking for sats where it last found them.

 

If that was at home, and you are still at home, it's quicker to find them than if you turned the unit off at home then moved a couple of miles.

[+charlieromeobravo]

Once the unit gets the sats, if you turn it off and back on again it starts looking for sats where it last found them.

 

If that was at home, and you are still at home, it's quicker to find them than if you turned the unit off at home then moved a couple of miles.

 

would it speed thing up to reset the unit if I turn it on in the field? I understand that the reset would drop the last satellite coordinates and it would start fresh. It sounds like I should just turn it on at home before I leave but that's just a big waste of batteries.

[+Bear and Ragged]

would it speed thing up to reset the unit if I turn it on in the field? I understand that the reset would drop the last satellite coordinates and it would start fresh. It sounds like I should just turn it on at home before I leave but that's just a big waste of batteries.

No.

It has some idea of where to look for the sats, if it can't find them quickly, based on information it downloaded last time.

Once it gets the first sat, it can start to gather the correct information as to where it is.

 

If you reset, it has to start from scratch.

 

I usually get the car parked, turn on the GPS (Garmin) and by the time I've got everything ready and locked the car it's ready to go. (Usually within 5 minutes)

[+mpilchfamily]

Personally i turn the unit on at home, upload the latest PQ then head off caching. No reason to turn it off for a little 15 to 20 minute drive out to the caching location.

[+charlieromeobravo]

So this situation, taking a long time to get a location in the field is typical though? It's not a defective unit or I'm not using it incorrectly, that's just the way these GPS's behave?

[+splashy]

no trees within 100 feet??????????????? Very bad spot to have initial sat lock.

 

That's what I call narrow air sight, if these trees keep much watter no wonder, the 'lock' at home, does it really shows you the right spot on the map?

Edited June 18, 2011 by splashy

[+charlieromeobravo]

no trees within 100 feet??????????????? Very bad spot to have initial sat lock.

 

That's what I call narrow air sight, if these trees keep much watter no wonder, the 'lock' at home, does it really shows you the right spot on the map?

 

100' from trees, 200' it doesn't seem to matter. it if no trees around me for a 100' radius is narrow then my house may as well be in a hole because I've got several large trees in my yard, as do our neighbors to the east of us and the lot to the west is essentially undeveloped woods.

 

Yes, it does mark my yard accurately. Even when I'm inside my house it's accurate to ~20 feet.