Garmin Little Yellow Can't See Satellites

[+AuntieWeasel]

Last year, I bought Uncle Badger a Garmin little yellow, which he's never much used because he has an excellent innate sense of direction (bastich!). This year, I buy him local Fugawi maps and a data cable, so we can track ourselves driving around the countryside. I am SO trying to addict him to the joys of GPS.

 

This is, of course, excruciatingly cool. Today, we drove a couple of hours Northwards to a nature preserve (martens, badgers and stoats -- oh, my!). All was well on the way, and I stowed the gear for the several hours we were exploring. When we got back to the car, I discovered I'd left the Garmin switched on in the case with the laptop, but it seemed to have plenty of juice left. Except...it couldn't get a lock on a SINGLE satellite. Two hours, all the way home. When we got back, my Legend picked up half a dozen within moments of being switched on.

 

All the menus work, it gives the normal error messages it would give if you tried to get a signal in a shielded space like the living room, we've tried changing the batteries several times, switching it on and off, checking the Garmin FAQ. No soap. I keep telling him this is the Ubermustelid's way of letting us know I should give him my Legend and buy a 60C, but he's not buying.

 

So! This was the first time this unit has been used with a data cable...and, moreover, a data cable hooked to the cigarette lighter for external power. Could I have burned it out in a way that only affects satellite lock? It was a handmade cable off eBay, but the references and instructions seemed good. Any other theories? Is this a known break-down symptom?

 

Really, it doesn't do to break his toys. Any help would be appreciated.

[+AuntieWeasel]

Special bonus question: do you recognize this noble, majestic animal?

 

 

Or these silly clowns?

 

[+greyhounder]

Can't help you with your GPS question, but I think the top photo is a mongoose (makes me think of Riki Tiki Tavi!) and the bottom look like badgers to me.

 

But that's only my guess...

 

Bec

Edited September 30, 2004 by greyhounder

[+LordSaw]

I keep telling him this is the Ubermustelid's way of letting us know I should give him my Legend and buy a 60C, but he's not buying.

Well, you could just by HIM a 60C or maybe a 76C then just borrow it when you want to go caching.

 

Don't know anything about the Yellow thing, but I don't think that anything you could do through the serial port that still allowed it to communicate with the laptop, would cause this problem. Was the unit warm when you took it out of the case? I get the idea that something happened to the antenna connection.

 

Sorry I couldn't bemore helpful.

Cache Well

[+Team Shibby]

You ought to give Garmin a call. Even if ol yeller is out of warranty, they can at least assist you with trying a factory reset. A factory reset is a series of keypresses while powering up the unit which will "reset" the unit back to the way it was when you first took it out of the box. Can't hurt to try it, but be prepared to lose all your saved waypoints and such, cause a factory reset wipes everything clean

 

Good Luck!

 

Kar of TS!!

[+Nero]

did you turn it off and wait a minute or two and turn it back on??

 

i know if my etrex's cant geta satt lock they go into use with gps off mode where you can do most stuff, it just doesnt try and track sats.. i dont know about the yellow guy, im sure its the same..

[+AuntieWeasel]

We gave Garmin a ring (and got through to someone helpful instantly). They recommended a hard reset, which gives it amnesia, and then letting it sit outdoors for four hours and "refresh its almanac."

 

It picked up one satellite when we switched it on this morning, without the reset, so we're going to leave it in the window until the batteries run out and see if it refreshes its almanac sufficiently that way.

 

And...it was a bit of a trick question, Bec. The noble animal at the top is a weasel (actually a stoat, by name Socrates), and the two smelly boys at the bottom are, indeed, badgers.

 

Thanks to all!

[Neo_Geo]

If that doesn't work, here is the procedure for a MASTER RESET

 

Warning: The Master Reset sequence will delete all routes, user waypoints, and tracks from memory

 

With power off, press and hold UP+PAGE+ENTER+ON (Must be held for 5 seconds).

 

Release all four buttons after 5-10 seconds when the welcome page is displayed

All memory is now clear.

 

Place the unit outside with a clear view of the sky until satellites are acquired (The unit will display "3D GPS Location.")

[+Sputnik 57]

Special bonus question: do you recognize this noble, majestic animal?

 

What, no Mushrooms? Snake!!

[justinthornton]

What, no Mushrooms? Snake!!

That gets really old fast

[+greyhounder]

And...it was a bit of a trick question, Bec. The noble animal at the top is a weasel (actually a stoat, by name Socrates), and the two smelly boys at the bottom are, indeed, badgers.

Well, 50% is not bad.....

 

 

I had an albino rat named Socrates.

 

Bec

[+Nero]

What, no Mushrooms?  Snake!!

That gets really old fast

i actually like the badger badger one. although me and the kids like the kenya one better..

 

WARNING: shows cartoon images of lions and tigers eating giraffes and zebras.

 

Lions in Kenya

 

and while looking for that link i found this which almost made me fall over in my chair laughing!!

 

Lions in Kenya LIVE

 

or how about badgers invading kenya??

 

Badgers Invade Kenya

 

Sorry for off topic, but funny..

 

Chris

Edited October 1, 2004 by KF6JAX