Garmin GPS 90

[bd]

I have a GPS 90 that doe not work. It powers up and seem alright
except for the fact it doesn't pick up satelites. Anybody know if
there is a reasonable fix for this without spending an arm and leg
with Garmin?

[Roy Smith]

In article >,
(bd) wrote:

> I have a GPS 90 that doe not work. It powers up and seem alright
> except for the fact it doesn't pick up satelites. Anybody know if
> there is a reasonable fix for this without spending an arm and leg
> with Garmin?

There is a "cold start" mode which makes it do a full reset, you might
want to try that. I forget exactly how to get into that mode, but it's
on the same page where you can set "battery saver" mode.

The receiver uses the last fix it had as a starting point to converge on
a new fix. If you power it up a long distance from where you powered it
down last, or a few other possible scenarios, the stored last fix will
be bogus and sometimes this confuses the receiver and makes it hard for
it to lock onto a signal. The cold start mode makes it throw away any
stored fix information and start from scratch. It might take as long as
15 minutes to converge on a new solution when you do this.

It may not work, but it's simple enough to do and doesn't cost anything
to try. I've had to do that once or twice with my Garmin-90.

[Roy Page]

You can do a total reset, clear and restart by holding down the page key as
you switch the GPS 90 on.
This will clear the almanac data and start the unit clean. It may take up to
15 minutes to find the satellites and get a new almanac data.
Try that procedure, if it doesn't work then there is another combination of
keys upon start which will put it into a diagnostics mode where each
function can be checked. Let me group know and I will describe how to get
into the diagnostic mode.

--
Roy
N5804F - PA28-181


"Roy Smith" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> (bd) wrote:
>
>> I have a GPS 90 that doe not work. It powers up and seem alright
>> except for the fact it doesn't pick up satelites. Anybody know if
>> there is a reasonable fix for this without spending an arm and leg
>> with Garmin?
>
> There is a "cold start" mode which makes it do a full reset, you might
> want to try that. I forget exactly how to get into that mode, but it's
> on the same page where you can set "battery saver" mode.
>
> The receiver uses the last fix it had as a starting point to converge on
> a new fix. If you power it up a long distance from where you powered it
> down last, or a few other possible scenarios, the stored last fix will
> be bogus and sometimes this confuses the receiver and makes it hard for
> it to lock onto a signal. The cold start mode makes it throw away any
> stored fix information and start from scratch. It might take as long as
> 15 minutes to converge on a new solution when you do this.
>
> It may not work, but it's simple enough to do and doesn't cost anything
> to try. I've had to do that once or twice with my Garmin-90.

[J. Severyn]

"bd" > wrote in message
om...
>I have a GPS 90 that doe not work. It powers up and seem alright
> except for the fact it doesn't pick up satelites. Anybody know if
> there is a reasonable fix for this without spending an arm and leg
> with Garmin?

It could be a bad antenna. It is a passive printed circuit spiral antenna,
soldered to the BNC connector. Borrow another antenna, either passive or
active, as the 90 supplies 5v to the BNC for powering an active gain antenna
(just a antenna with an amplifier in the antenna module).

If it is the antenna, crack yours apart and resolder the printed circuit
foil to the BNC (usually where it fails). It is fairly simple to fix if you
are handy with a small soldering iron.

J. Severyn
KLVK

[Nigel T Peart]

I had a similar problem. Went to the fresh start mode, took about 45 mins,
but eventually
found the sats.
Unlikely it's bust.




"J. Severyn" > wrote in message
...
>
> "bd" > wrote in message
> om...
>>I have a GPS 90 that doe not work. It powers up and seem alright
>> except for the fact it doesn't pick up satelites. Anybody know if
>> there is a reasonable fix for this without spending an arm and leg
>> with Garmin?
>
> It could be a bad antenna. It is a passive printed circuit spiral
> antenna, soldered to the BNC connector. Borrow another antenna, either
> passive or active, as the 90 supplies 5v to the BNC for powering an active
> gain antenna (just a antenna with an amplifier in the antenna module).
>
> If it is the antenna, crack yours apart and resolder the printed circuit
> foil to the BNC (usually where it fails). It is fairly simple to fix if
> you are handy with a small soldering iron.
>
> J. Severyn
> KLVK
>