GPS Fix Lost

[Idiens]

Originally Posted by maddata

So, I figure the issue is a hardware failure with the receiver. The only issue is the GPS receiver blinks green as if it has a fix, but again, no data comes to the chart plotter.

Does your GPS have a display page indicating satellites received and their signal strengths? You might try changing the antenna and/or the antenna cable in a temporary rig. My oldest GPS is a wonderful anxiety tester, it starts to loose satellites the moment it is really needed. The other two are OK. However, I know its problem is a poor antenna cable, coax doesn't seem to live long on my boat, it doesn't like being sea washed frequently and salt air soaked, I guess.

[AtEaseNYC]

I had a similar problem. I found that the fault was in the wind instrument transducer (a shorted cable?). when I disconnected it from Seatalk, the chartplotter receives the GPS signal. Reconnect it and I lose the GPS fix on the plotter. Try disconnecting other instruments from Seatalk and see if this solves the problem. So now I can either know where the wind is or where I am but not both.

[sailingdog]

AtEaseNYC-

There might be a firmware update to fix that. I'd contact Raymarine to see if that is the case. I know other GPS units, from Garmin et. al. have software updates that can be user uploaded .

[yotphix]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Sapperwhite...
I think i remember reading about this type of senario in a thread called Celestial Navigation?....Forget It! I don't have an answer for your problem, sorry,, but this is a case in point for that other thread.

Yeah...it belongs on the part of the thread where I said you need multiple GPS's. A Celestial Fix on lake champlain will put him somewhere in the adirondacks..since it is pretty darn hard to get a horizon there!! (G)

Buy yourself a three arm compass and turn that sextant on it's side and you can place yourself very accurately by measuring the angles between known points. How do you know the points? Accurate DR will give you a very good idea of how the chart you are working with corresponds to what you see. I have found my way quite accurately all over the great lakes using nothing little else. (Occasionally and RDF for an LOP, and the odd measurement of known object heights to get a distance off.) It is certainly less convenient than a plotter but waaay more entertaining!

Edit: And have a couple of GPS around.