951x northstar gps when tied to slip gps reads 256 knts & location is often incorect & sat coes from 3d to tracking

Http://www.retrevo.com/support/NorthStar-951X-GPS-manual/id/539ci755/t/2/
manual Above.

Here's the Northstar technical bulletin if by any chance you were the last person to miss it. http://www.northstarnav.com/About/Ne...-Announcement/

Could well be faulty connector installation . When you turn it on do all the intial self-tests say Passed or OK, including GPS Rx Self-Test" & "Beacon RX Self-Test"? (You can use the Star key to access the Service Information page to review the results & SW versions if you missed it at start-up.) If so , when it is trying to acquire sufficient number of satellites to lock on in 3D is the Sat page showing any satellites being fully acquired. Is the unit showing the proper date?

Fwiw- the latest and last ever Main Board SW version is 4.10 I beleive- released many years ago.

If it is a 951 XD ( there would be a "D" on the end of the ser. # on back of the 951 & on the Service Info page mentioned above) , does the differential station lock on with good SNR ?( If not, try switching manual input of your usual DGPS station's frequency and baud rate you ma have recorded in your log. Access is thru Star key "Receiver Options page, Beacon Frequency & Baud Rate (ie., Acushnet,MA is 306 KHZ at 200 baud .) You should be able to acquire the satellites without DGPS lock but sometimes punching that in in Manual mode can actually help.http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/navinfo/d...tusBySite.aspx

When you get the Acquire or Sky Search message at the top of the GPS Position scree hit the Star Key once and then the Clear Alarm soft button. That won't hurry anything along towards lock but at least that Exclamation point alarm icon should stop flashng at you.

You might use the Star key to find the Time Of Day page and ensure yours is set for the correct Eastern time zone and confirm "Daylight" is not on or showing (until Mar 13 for 2010.) Not sure about these Northstars but some GPS's will look for the wrong satellites in the wrong place if initial time zone & DST setting is incorrectly input.

Make sure radar and other electronics are off to rule out interference. It supposedly should only take 2-5 minutes to acquire "cold" but I've had my 952's take up to 45 minutes to settle down an lock on during 1st installation of the season if the set was moved even a few miles since last on , then were OK after that.

Sometimes it can really be a faulty antenna of course . The 951's self-test should indicate if an internal board was bad. I doubt a slightly shorter cable is critical.



Just found a note in my manual from the N/S techs (it may depend uopon which antenna you have):
Antenna problems?
1. Disconnect antenna leads & measure voltage from inner wire to external ground. 2.The GPS BNC connector should have ~ 5 vdc
3. The DGPS PL-259 connector should have 7.5 vdc.

Check, the antenna resistance, also ensure that ALL software is updated.

However N/S does have available the 19.75 mb software download
http://www.northstarnav.com/en/Downl...tware-Updates/ ,

and the GPS to PC loader cable is Northstar # 1100-LC which also supposedly works with their Waypoint Loader downloadable program
http://www.northstarnav.com/en/Downloads/ .

I have the #1100-LC cable I think I bought long ago from N/S and can see a label on it that has that same part # , plus "rev A", plus "L-tronics", so I would suggest giving these folks a call to see if they would sell direct: http://l-tronics.com/ . Has a plastic 18-female pin connector on one end to connect to the 951/952 and a metal serial (I think) port connector on the computer end , so you might also need a serial/USB adapter for a late model notebook. .

Good luck, hope it works.

Versions to look for: http://www.northstarnav.com/upload/N...etin_FINAL.pdf

There is a problem with the GPS, there are no user serviceable parts in this unit, the only thing u can do is have it repaired by a factory approved repair facility. below is a GPS repair center.
http://www.portatronics.com/product_info.php?info=p432_GPS-Repair-Service-Standard.html