Magellan Meridian GPS

[Garland Gray]

Just dusted off my first GPS, bought in 1994. Hadn't used it for some years,
but thought i might press it into service.

However, even after initalizing, it didn't pick up enough satellites to make
a fix.

Should it be capable of functioning, or does it just see satellites
programed back then, and those are now "dead"?

Magellan's website doesn't help; maybe that's my answer.

 

[Garland Gray]

Thanks, that might be the problem; seems like I used it since then,but not
sure.
I can check the dates of some trips to see if I can rule that out.

 

[Garland Gray]

I should be covered there. I gave it lots of time, then initialised, and
gave it a lot more time again. No go.
So you think my 1994 GPS should be able to get a fix from the current
satellites ?

When a GPS receiver is operating, it downloads the current almanac of
satellites. The complete almanac download takes around 13 minutes, so
that establishes the minimum operating time for a GPS unit.

The almanac expires, ie becomes out of date, after about 24 weeks
(more or less). You can also render the alamanac useless by turning
off your GPS unit and moving it more than 300 nautical miles and then
turning it on.

You can force your GPS unit to reinitialise and download a new almanac
by a cold start, ie turning it on and specifying your current lat and
long (graphically with some units, numerically with others). Or just
forcing it to look for satellites for 13 minutes. Specifying your
current location is a faster technique

 

[Mark Borgerson]

Thanks, that might be the problem; seems like I used it since then,but not
sure.
I can check the dates of some trips to see if I can rule that out.

Bitten by the curiosity bug, I pulled out my old Magellan GPS 3000
from the early 90s. It also failed to find more than three satellites
and never got a navigational lock. I gave it approximate time and
position to assist in startup and still no luck.

A Magellan GPS315 from 2000 still works fine. It's been relegated to
backup duty in the motor home since I got a Garmin GPSMap 76C a few
years ago.


Mark Borgerson

 

[Lnragan]

how do I download the current almanac?