I bought a Garmin 12CX in 1999 to use for recon, and it's been a faithful -- if quite outdated -- friend ever since. Yesterday I took it out for the first time in several months, and found that it wouldn't initialize. I tried a master reset, but got the same results. It would see SVs, it just wouldn't fix a position. I'm wondering if it's suffering the same fate as TGO -- an inability to deal with time values exceeding 1 billion seconds since 1980.
Any other users of old Garmin handhelds experiencing the same problem?
IMHO it is a firmware problem.
Had similar problem with a Garmin III Plus which I got for recon when they came out.
I broke down and upgraded to Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and was able to put the 24k Topo maps on it.
Haven't checked my old garmin, But I'm definately going to check out the onboard GPS in my Nomad.
Here's another thought I'll throw out there..... I have found that if I let my Garmins sit unused for more than a few months, they aren't able to download the latest location.
I have to choose the top menu, then choose "new location" and give it a few minutes (typically under 5 minutes) to re-situate itself and re-find the satellites. Then the units work great until I let them sit unused for another few months.
I think this is due to the ever changing positions of the satellites in relation to where we are.
I just checked my Garmin IIIPlus and it came right up. Not sure exactly how long I've had it, but it's been a bunch of years.
I have a Garmin 12 out in the truck, will check it out later, hope it still works, it was working the 25th of September, wasn't that after TGO quit? That is one fine old friend, tough and still works just fine, fits in a vest paocket, really does all I need for recon. Not sure what I would replace it with if it dies?
SHG
My Garmin GPS MAP 76S is about that vintage and still works fine.
My 12cx works fine and had a fix in under 2 minutes. If it has not been used for a long time it can take quite a bit longer (such as with a reset or dead batteries or new).
Some units had a problem wiht weak backup batteries, but I forget the message you get.
Latest firmware is also available on the Garmin site I believe, but I have not checked for years sent it has not been updated. (1999)
A great unit.
http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-00179-00
If it hasn't been used in a while, the ephemeris is out of date.
If it has had no battery power for a while, it may have no ephemeris. In order to get an updated ephemeris, it will need to track at least one satellite continuously for about fifteen minutes. My Garmin GPS III of about 1998 can take a while to get oriented when it hasn't been used for a while. It will ask for a position on a map or ask to go into "autolocate" mode to get a satellite and a usable ephemeris.
> If it has had no battery power for a while, it may have no ephemeris. In order to get an updated ephemeris, it will need to track at least one satellite continuously for about fifteen minutes.
My 12CX tried to autolocate for about 8 hours yesterday, without success. The SV screen showed plenty of satellites, but they were greyed out, which normally means the unit hasn't got a fixed location yet. Normally, if my 12CX doesn't autolocate within 10 minutes or so it'll ask me to put in a position, but yesterday it never did so. It also showed bogus time.
I'll try another master reset and see if I can get it to stop autolocating so I can set the time and position.
My units have both experienced the same issue and I posted the solution provided by Garmin above....... and it worked a few times for me.
Update: I discovered that when an external antenna is plugged in, the unit works fine. So I concluded that there must be something wrong with the internal antenna. Since I really had nothing to lose -- I have GPS in my phone now, fer cryin' out loud -- I decided to open up the unit and have a look-see.
Opening the 12CX isn't intuitive. There are no exposed screws, and a cursory look suggested that the housing was either one piece or glued. Only after a bit of poking around did I discover that the main seam that runs all around the case is filled with a semi-soft glue. At first I used a toothpick to remove it, but soon found that a small flat-blade screwdriver worked better. After removing all the glue, all that's necessary to open the case is to gently pry in the glue slot.
What I found inside is that the antenna, which appears to be a ceramic patch design, was connected to the motherboard by a single wire, but was otherwise free to slide on the ground plane. It looked like maybe the back side had been soldered to the ground plane and had come loose, but my knowledge of antenna design and construction is almost non-existent, so I don't know if the looseness is a feature or a sign of breakage. I tried (re)soldering the antenna back to the ground plane via a couple of holes in the latter, but that didn't fix the problem.
Anyone know if the antenna is supposed to be loose (not floppy loose, just free to slide around a bit) on the ground plane?