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Etrex 20 won't track if off


Shakes1349

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The Etrex 20 is my first GPS and I’ve been using it for 1½yrs. It’s been a steep, slow learning curve greatly helped by this forum. I’m hoping you can help again. My unit tracks me when I have it turned on but not if I turn it off. I did an Auto Locate and a Reset. Left it for an hour to find the satellites, made sure the memories were cleared and started a new track at the trailhead. It still only tracks when turned on. Software is 4.10. The repair costs with taxes and shipping will be slightly more than ½ the cost of a new unit and no guarantee that it can be fixed! Can anyone help?

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The Etrex 20 is my first GPS and I've been using it for 1½yrs. It's been a steep, slow learning curve greatly helped by this forum. I'm hoping you can help again. My unit tracks me when I have it turned on but not if I turn it off. I did an Auto Locate and a Reset. Left it for an hour to find the satellites, made sure the memories were cleared and started a new track at the trailhead. It still only tracks when turned on. Software is 4.10. The repair costs with taxes and shipping will be slightly more than ½ the cost of a new unit and no guarantee that it can be fixed! Can anyone help?

 

None of the Garmin devices will do anything if you turn them off. This is not a bug. Perhaps you are confusing what MANY people call "off" on their smartphones, that of turning the screen off but the rest of the device is fully functioning. If you want to record a track file, your eTrex must be turned on.

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My unit tracks me when I have it turned on but not if I turn it off.

When you say turn it off, do you mean pressing the power button for ~1 second until it goes off?

 

If so, you are cutting off power to the eTrex 20. This is similar to removing the batteries from the unit. It will not track in this mode.

 

Some of the Garmin models (e.g. Oregon) has a "screen off but still powered on" mode where it will continue to track. I took a peek at the eTrex 20 manual, there doesn't seem to be such a mode.

 

To reduce battery consumption due to the screen being on, you can adjust the backlight timeout as well as screen brightness.

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My unit tracks me when I have it turned on but not if I turn it off.

When you say turn it off, do you mean pressing the power button for ~1 second until it goes off?

 

If so, you are cutting off power to the eTrex 20. This is similar to removing the batteries from the unit. It will not track in this mode.

 

Some of the Garmin models (e.g. Oregon) has a "screen off but still powered on" mode where it will continue to track. I took a peek at the eTrex 20 manual, there doesn't seem to be such a mode.

 

To reduce battery consumption due to the screen being on, you can adjust the backlight timeout as well as screen brightness.

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