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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Got a Garmin GPSMap 276C?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/01/2011 : 21:58:57

My 276C was acting up, having a really hard time getting satellite locks, etc. I'd noticed that it'd lose lock relatively often, to where it would drift several hundred yards away from where I really was. I would also see it frequently (half the time) get a satellite lock from 19 years ago. I'm not sure of the significance of the 19 years, but it's very consistent at every other power on. To fix it, I've learned to simply power it back down and on again, which always works.

It's done this before, and I updated the firmware then by downloading it from Garmin's site. I just went and found out I was five minor revisions behind, including several that improve satellite acquisition. If you've got one of these older work horses, it might be worth your time to update the firmware. It's really easy to do and takes only a few minutes.

When you first turn it on, in the lower right hand corner, you'll see the revision number. Mine was on 5.10, now it's on 5.60, and I'm hoping to have improved performance tomorrow. I'll report back later.It

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Edited by - on

Admin
Forum Admin

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460 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 04:16:53

Good points David, we have the Garmin 192C, it has been suffering from Power outages. The power connector on the back was difficult to connect/disconnect and I suspected that was the cause (giggle, turn on, good for a while)

Just purchased a new cable from Garmin, can't believe how much better the connection is. Plan on installing the new cable prior to next trip.

OBTW, thanks for the BD wishes. We went out to The Pirates Republican Bar last night to celebrate on the edge of the New River.

Paul

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pastmember
Master Marine Consultant

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2402 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 08:04:03

Thanks, I ran the updater on my 76CS and it took it from 4.1 to 4.2.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 08:21:40

A boat in our fleet went down a couple years ago while following a GPS which had not been updated. They hit a rock that was shown as being some distance away and were completely baffled as to how they could have hit it, going so far as to contact transport Canada and requesting the survey of teh lake be updated.

In the ed the GPS was at fault, or more precisely, they were at fault for not updating the GPS.

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 10:03:47

My 276C started having to do a lengthy "autolocate" process on every power-up, sometimes ending up with the wrong date and in night-mode at mid-day. Also, the power/data plugs in both my car and boat were coming apart, and "she" wouldn't speak to me any more. Software is 5.5--I'll try updating...

Anyway, I got myself a 640 for Christmas--considerably larger screen (no buttons), touch-screen interface, build-in coastal charts and street maps for the whole US, switches from car to marine mode with a couple of touches, and my maps and charts needed updating anyway (for several boat units). It uses the Nuvi interface for entering addresses with minimal keystrokes, shows speed limits, etc... (No FM traffic warnings.) Caught it on sale (actually one day late) so took the impulsive jump. So far, I like it.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 02/02/2011 10:08:10

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 11:57:49

Mine loses it's time as soon as it's powered off, so it has to do the auto-locate thing each time, unless I use it in my truck which powers it's 12 volt jacks all the time, even when the ignition is off. This morning, it took longer than usual to find itself, but with the new ephemeris for the satellites, this might be expected for the first auto-locate, I'll see how it works at lunch.

As far as the cables, the one in my car, which gets by far the most use, was a bit ragged, and had separated at the plug end and was hanging by the wires. Over the weekend I located some "shrinks by 2/3 heat shrink" tubing with hot melt glue inside. I wrung the cable down back over the wires and snugged it up as best I could to the plug. It took some doing to get the tubing over the 90° bend in the plug, but with the application of the alcohol based hand sanitizer as lube, it finally went (with some pushing from the back side). I shrunk the cable side first and allowed it to harden, then went back to shrink the plug side, so it couldn't as easily squirt itself off the plug taper. This worked pretty well, and it's got a nice solid connection now (I hope).

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 14:30:51

My car cable plug has pretty much fallen apart--I've been trying to push it back together, but without much luck. If I can get it, I might try the shrink-wrap idea. But I don't expect to use the 276 in the car any more--just have it on the boat as backup. I can charge it occasionally in the house--my AC charge has the only plug that isn't falling apart. I was glad to see they didn't use that kind of connector on the 640.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 16:18:45

Dave,
If you want I can send you a few inches of the stuff that fit, I bought a 4' stick of it, so I've got tons left.

Let me know & I'll get some off to you in the mail tomorrow.

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4304 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 19:16:10

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 Mine loses it's time as soon as it's powered off, so it has to do the auto-locate thing each time, unless I use it in my truck which powers it's 12 volt jacks all the time, even when the ignition is off. This morning, it took longer than usual to find itself, but with the new ephemeris for the satellites, this might be expected for the first auto-locate, I'll see how it works at lunch.

As far as the cables, the one in my car, which gets by far the most use, was a bit ragged, and had separated at the plug end and was hanging by the wires.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My GPSMAP378 started doing the same thing a year or so ago. As long as I keep it plugged into the car adapter it will boot quickly but if I unplug it it has to auto-locate taking up to 2 or 3 minutes sometimes.

I went gone through 2 car adapters in the 1st couple of years but the 3rd cable has held up for a couple of years now. Maybe because I'm now very gentle when connecting or disconnecting the cable.

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 20:45:28

The Garmin 640 plugs into the car or boat bracket--sort of a "docking" system, rather than a fragile plug on a cable. The cables are hardwired to the brackets. I'm hopeful they'll last longer.

David--thanks! But I'm not confident I'll be able to re-assemble the cable, and not sure I care. If I do, I might have some heat-shrink that fits--or a friend who works on marine electrical systems will. My 276 is now on second string--"warming the pine." (I have an old Garmin 48 in my ditch-bag as the back-up back-up.)

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 02/02/2011 : 22:26:51

Hah, I understand. I have two Garmin GPS 12's I keep around for back up back ups. And Rita has her own Garmin 550 for her car. Counting our two iPhones, we only have six GPS units.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 02/03/2011 : 10:26:04

Well, good news, so-so news. It no longer seems to wander hundreds of yards off course, which is good news. The so-so news, it seems to take just as long (after a 12 hour power down) to auto locate as it did before, but it doesn't try to do it 19 years into the past (or at least not yet). Overall, I'd say it's better, and I'm glad it no longer wanders, or at least I haven't seen it do that yet, which was my biggest concern. On a road, it's not so bad, because you (usually) know what road you're on, but out to sea, it's not so obvious that you're off course, particularly in the dark or fog. Things can go bump when that happens if you're trusting your GPS.

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