No GPS fix

Hello there,
As GPS units are used, data is gathered which helps them acquire satellites quickly at the start of each use. If a device is used daily it should be able to acquire satellites in a minute or less. Using a GPS device while it is outdoors with a clear view of the entire sky is the ideal condition for acquiring satellites. Please know that there can be several different factors that may cause a GPS unit to not acquire satellites:
If your unit is trying to acquire satellites for the first time, it may take longer than normal to establish an initial position. If the unit is powered on and outdoors with a clear view of the sky this should not take more than 3-5 minutes. If your unit has not been used for an extended period of time (more than a month), it may take 3-5 minutes to acquire satellites. If your unit is indoors, it may not acquire satellites. Even standing next to a window indoors will block a majority of the sky which is needed for a device to locate and lock onto a satellite signal. If you have just finished updating the software in your unit or you have performed a master reset, your unit may take 3-5 minutes to acquire while outdoors as the data that is used to locate satellites may have been erased. If your unit has traveled over 500 miles while turned off or not tracking your travel, it may take 3-5 minutes to acquire even in ideal conditions. If your vehicle has a protective coating on its windshield or electronic devices which interfere with the unit receiving signal, your unit may need an external antenna* in order to acquire satellites. If you suspect this to be an issue, try taking the unit outside of the vehicle with a clear view of the sky for 3-5 minutes so that the unit can acquire satellites. If your unit loses satellites once moved back into your vehicle you will most likely need an external antenna*. If your unit is still having trouble acquiring satellites, please ensure that it has the latest version of operating software by using our WebUpdater program. Once your unit is updated please allow the unit to acquire satellites outdoors in a stationary position with a clear view of the sky.
*Note: Some units may not be compatible with an external antenna. Please check the Compatible Devices tab on the external antenna's page to see if your unit is listed.
Hope this was helpful to you. Goodluck Elect_Comp

Hi,

There is a possibility that the antenna is defective. Sometimes a factory reboot helps or re-burn of the firmware. One way to confirm an antenna problem is to go into the tools menu and select "about". If the screen says "GPS S/W = 0.0 (should be a real number like 2.9 or 3.0) then this indicates that your antenna is not communicating with the main board.In this case, you need to send the unit to the manufacturer.

Let me know,if needed further assistance.

Hope i helped you.

Thanks for using ' Fixya ' and have a nice day!!

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• If your unit is trying to acquire satellites for the first time, it may take longer than normal to establish an initial position. If the unit is powered on and outdoors with a clear view of the sky this should not take more than 3-5 minutes.
• If your unit has not been used for an extended period of time (more then a month), it may take 3-5 minutes to acquire satellites.
• If your unit is indoors, it may not acquire satellites. Even standing next to a window indoors will block a majority of the sky which is needed for a device to locate and lock onto a satellite signal.
• If you have just finished updating the software in your unit or you have performed a master reset, your unit may take 3-5 minutes to acquire while outdoors as the data that is used to locate satellites may have been erased.
• If your unit has traveled over 500 miles while turned off or not tracking your travel, it may take 3-5 minutes to acquire even in ideal conditions.
• If your vehicle has a protective coating on its windshield or electronic devices which interfere with the unit receiving signal, your unit may need an external antenna* in order to acquire satellites.
• If you suspect this to be an issue, try taking the unit outside of the vehicle with a clear view of the sky for 3-5 minutes so that the unit can acquire satellites. If your unit loses satellites once moved back into your vehicle you will most likely need an external antenna*.

If your unit is still having trouble acquiring satellites, please ensure that it has the latest version of operating software by using our WebUpdater program. Once your unit is updated please allow the unit to acquire satellites outdoors in a stationary position with a clear view of the sky.
*Note: Some units may not be compatible with an external antenna. Please check the Products tab on the external antenna's page to see if your unit is listed.
Good Luck. Did this help?

Do you have a heat reflecting windscreen? These are a total barrier to GPS signals. It may be getting the odd satellite through the side windows if you have such a windscreen. An external antenna, such as the ones supplied by Gilsson.co, would be ideal but you need to have an external antenna socket on the GPS. Not many car units have this feature. Another option is to try a re-radiating antenna but I've not seen these for ages - bought my last ones from www.rnrplace.com

The error means it can't pick up valid GPS signals. In other words, bad reception.

Has the unit ever worked? Does the unit have an internal or external antenna? Are the batteries fully charged?

Try the unit outside with clear view of sky instead of in the car. This will give it the best chance of picking up a GPS signal.

If it still doesn't then suggest something broken inside.

It fixed my garmin Nuvi 660:
With the unit off press firmly on the upper left hand corner of the screen with the tip of your finger.

2. Press the power button. When you see the screen light up let go of the power button but continue to press on the upper left hand corner of the screen until you receive the message "Do You Really Want to Start Up In Maintenance Mode?"

3. Say Yes and then select the third Option "Clear All User Data" and then say Yes.
4. The unit will then start up and ask you to set some preferences.

5. Once the unit is on the Main Menu please sit it in a safe place outside with a clear view of the sky for about 10 minutes and let it lock on to the satellites.

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External antenna - Garmin 25MCX low profile remote GPS antenna

I have been experiencing the same problem many have been having with the Nuvi 6xx and 3xx series giving an error message “Lost satellite reception”.

My problem started mid April 2008 and got progressively worse. I would use my GPS on weekends and it would work perfectly for the first 10 – 30 minutes and then would loose satellite reception, rendering it useless.

I bought my Nuvi 660 when it first came out in October 2006 for just under $700 and is now out of the 1 year warrantee.
I called Garmin Technical Support and we checked my Software version (4.40) and more importantly my GPS SW version (3.00). According to the tech I had on the phone, the GPS SW version was more important then the Software version. It was in fact already updated to 3.00, I did master reset, after master reset, but regardless, nothing helped.

I contemplated what I should do.
Return mine and get a refurbished unit from Garmin for $225 with only a 90 day warrantee?
Buy a new Nuvi 660 for around $300
Buy a new Nuvi 2xx series with fewer features for $200 to $275.
Buy a Megellian GPS?

I read through this forum and came across one person that was told by Garmin “that they are aware of an issue with some Nuvis involving the failure of a diode in the unit that senses whether or not an external antenna is connected.” Apparently this diode failure is caused from the high heat these units experience from being left in a hot car for long periods of time. This would explain why mine would work in the beginning and then die.

So my thinking was, if the diode “thinks” there is an external antenna attached when it isn’t, what would happen if I “did” connect an external antenna?

Garmin recommends the Garmin GA 25MCX low profile remote GPS antenna for the Nuvi 660 and costs $31.49 (not sure about additional costs for tax and shipping)

So I purchased the NEW antenna from a seller on eBay for $25.90 total and IT WORK FLAWLESSLY.

Just to make sure it really was the new external antenna that was working and not the unit coming back to life, I started my 3 hour journey with the external antenna NOT connected. As usual it lost satellite reception in about 15 minutes. I plugged in the GA 25MCX and it immediately connected to the satellites and never lost them.

I repeated the same process coming home and once again, I connecting the external antenna after the unit reported loosing satellite reception, and it worked perfectly.

Conclusion: if your unit is experiencing loosing satellite reception, and is under warrantee, return it ASAP. If it’s out of warrantee, get an external antenna. There are other manufactures of external antennas and all should work as long as it has an MCX connector.

Side Note: This external antenna also worked perfectly on a friend’s Nuvi 350 with the same problem.

I wanted to share this with everyone because I’ve been racking my brain for months over this. I hope this helps.

Hello, I currently own a Garmin quest myself, and some time ago I had some strange problems myself, I am a electronics technician, and I do have a work around for you. I will explain the problems and a cure for you to try, none of the work arounds depend on any parts to be removed.

1. NO RECEIVING SATELLITE TELEMETRY. I beleieve this could be due to a number of reasons, but more so at sometime corrupted telemetry was the problem to fix this,
a turn GPS on when booted (initialised)
b. depress menu
select settings
select Time Setup
when in Time Setup depress MENU
Select SET DATE
Depress OK button
Depress OK button again on the numberic keypad that appears on the screen (DONE)
what this seems to do is resets the internal date/time clock and the unit starts to work again.
the Second workaround is this but takes hours to perform.

Simply turn the Guest on and allow the battery to fully discharge, usually this works to TOTALLY flush the Memory again, but on my unit I have to setup all the maps again, this is easy to perform, but just takes time. I hope this helps you.
phil

Hello, I currently own a Garmin quest myself, and some time ago I had some strange problems myself, I am a electronics technician, and I do have a work around for you. I will explain the problems and a cure for you to try, none of the work arounds depend on any parts to be removed.

1. NO RECEIVING SATELLITE TELEMETRY. I beleieve this could be due to a number of reasons, but more so at sometime corrupted telemetry was the problem to fix this,
a turn GPS on when booted (initialised)
b. depress menu
select settings
select Time Setup
when in Time Setup depress MENU
Select SET DATE
Depress OK button
Depress OK button again on the numberic keypad that appears on the screen (DONE)
what this seems to do is resets the internal date/time clock and the unit starts to work again.
the Second workaround is this but takes hours to perform.

Simply turn the Guest on and allow the battery to fully discharge, usually this works to TOTALLY flush the Memory again, but on my unit I have to setup all the maps again, this is easy to perform, but just takes time. I hope this helps you.
phil

Hello, I currently own a Garmin quest myself, and some time ago I had some strange problems myself, I am a electronics technician, and I do have a work around for you. I will explain the problems and a cure for you to try, none of the work arounds depend on any parts to be removed.

1. NO RECEIVING SATELLITE TELEMETRY. I beleieve this could be due to a number of reasons, but more so at sometime corrupted telemetry was the problem to fix this,
a turn GPS on when booted (initialised)
b. depress menu
select settings
select Time Setup
when in Time Setup depress MENU
Select SET DATE
Depress OK button
Depress OK button again on the numberic keypad that appears on the screen (DONE)
what this seems to do is resets the internal date/time clock and the unit starts to work again.
the Second workaround is this but takes hours to perform.

Simply turn the Guest on and allow the battery to fully discharge, usually this works to TOTALLY flush the Memory again, but on my unit I have to setup all the maps again, this is easy to perform, but just takes time. I hope this helps you.
phil