My LX5000 is starting to freak out. It gives "BAD GPS' messages with
frequency, has given up on the initialization process entirely because
it thinks it's always in flight. And the traces, when there are traces
are a scribble of zigs and zags, although the general directions and
positions are surprisingly correct. Flying a task, it tries to send me
off on impossibly random courses, probably because it thinks it's in a
different location.

Clearly, this is a bad situation, especially at the start of a
promising soaring season. Everyone I've consulted advises me to send
the logger back to Slovenia for repairs, but I'm also advised that
it's likely to stay there for the entire season.

I tried replacing the antenna, but that did no good. And then I heard
from a Swiss pilot who flies with an LX5000 that there's a small
battery somewhere within the GPS, and when this battery starts to
fail, all manner of strange events ensue. I thought maybe replacing
this battery might get me back in the air, but nobody seems to know
anything about it.

This forum is my last resort.

Could someone please tell me (1) whether there is a repair facility
somewhere in the US that might handle this (the Canadian distributor
says "go back to Slovenia where you came from") (2) is the bad battery
solution a real possibility or just an old pilots tale (3) if I have
to send the logger away, what's the best/cost effective temporary
replacement that would output a certified IGC file?

Help!