296 Forgets where it is

[Alpi]

Anyone had this.

 

I have a 4 year old 296 that if I havent flown for more than a week, when I switch it on it has the wrong date and takes forever to lock on to satelites.

 

I have downloaded the latest 5.2 update and replaced the battery but still no change. It eventually gets a lock on after maybe 5 minutes and then functions perfectly.

 

I was wondering if there wasent a small battery inside that kept its location and date running when it was switched off.

 

Any sugestions appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Greg

 

 

[ahlocks]

Mine's got the same problem. (it's a bit over 12 months old)

 

I switch it on early, while I'm doing pre flight checks, and then tell it that it was stored without batteries when it bitches.

 

It makes the sync happen a lot quicker and is usually good to go in the time between startup and taxi. Otherwise it can take up to 40 minutes...

 

The fault has something to do with the internal clock not being accurate when the unit is switched off. I haven't chased the issue any further as the workaround has been sufficient for me.

 

Now that you've mentioned it, I'll see if I can find any further developments with the issue.

 

Cheers,

 

Steven B.

 

 

[facthunter]

296

 

I had an occurrence with mine when it wouldn't acquire satellites. It was actually a marginal day as well. (doesn't it happen that way). I believe a shut-down and restart would have fixed it, but I didn't devote the time to it . Just kept a good look out in the murk.. Nev

 

 

[ahlocks]

G'day Greg,

 

Firmware version 5.4 has been recently released, but there is no mention of fixing the timer/sat acquisition bug.

 

I'll bring the GPS home next trip to the airfield, update it and try the master reset sequence and see if anything changes.

 

Nev,

 

2 x car GPSs (not in the same car) and the GPS in the ADI synced up OK. That's how I found out that it's a 296 thing and probably firmware related.

 

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/printthread.php?t=13823&pp=40

 

Cheers!

 

Steven B

 

 

[facthunter]

Thanks.

 

Yes, I love it otherwise. The only thing that upset me was the price reduction after I bought mine. I keep a light coloured (white) cloth around the case to stop the sun heating it up, in the aircraft. Gets too hot otherwise. Be OK in the dash.. Nev.

 

 

[ahlocks]

Update to 5.4

 

Did the update last night and the GPS is back in the budgie after spending some ‘quality time’ with it and playing with some of its features that are seldom used. (which is virtually everything apart from the info page)

 

I did a master reset as per the instructions in the Vans airforce link but with hindsight, I probably should have reset it before carrying out the update. :black_eye:

 

Anyway, nothing significant to report apart from it's working OK. It acquired fairly quickly, but it hasn’t had a lot of time for a clock error to accumulate. The weather is supposed to turn to poop for the rest of this week, so I'll give it a few days and see if the clock and satellite acquisition bug has been corrected.

 

Researching some of the older firmware bugs that have been reported, it could be something as trivial as a custom setting somewhere that is causing the fault. That’s gunna be fun to troubleshoot! :confused:

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Guest brentc]

I run the second last version (not the one released within the last few weeks).

 

Since this second last update, if I haven't been flying for a week, loses where I am and doesn't pick up any satellites at all. The only way to fix it is to turn it on with the quit button pressed which erases all user data and returns to factory default - after this it instantly finds new satellites. On two occasions on this version it has lost satellites during flight, never to show again until a factory reset.

 

I might try the new version and if that doesn't work, downgrade to the third last one.

 

 

[ahlocks]

Brent,

 

When it has the grumbles check what date the unit 'thinks' it is and try forcing it to re acquire with the 'stored without batteries' method rather than the reset. Unless you like resetting everything to the the way you like it. Which leads me to ask, do you redo all your user settings after you have reset it? If you leave it as is (factory default) I'd be inclined to think that it isn't related to 'custom' user settings.

 

Got to get back to work ATM so I'll add a bit more (and check speeling) later.

 

Cheers!

 

Steven B

 

 

[Guest brentc]

I haven't checked the date when it stuffs up, however the time resets to 00:00 hours. The date probably goes to the manufacturing date, but I will check that. The time doesn't come up as correct until the satellites acquire. The only setting I need to change are Timezone, map layout, small columns set to eta etc and north up to get up and running again. Hopefully I'll solve it soon. I don't like being over cloud when it packs up!

 

 

[JayKay]

For the Garmin 296 (and other GPS units) to acquire satellites optimally (quickly) the following conditions must be met when it is powering-up:

 

1. The Garmin 296 has a good connection to the antenna and the antenna has a clear view of the sky (can see as many satellites as possible)

 

2. The CURRENT YEAR is set correctly in the Garmin 296. (The satellites send very accurate time and date data but they don't send the year)

 

3. The stored last location is close to the actual current location from which the Garmin 296 is being powered-up.

 

The Garmin 296 stores information which it uses to predict the location of each satellite in the sky. When it is powered on it assumes that it is being powered on at the same location where it was last powered off. It checks its internal clock (including year) and mathematically works out which satellites should be in the sky (based on location and time/date). It then goes looking for them (that's why the antenna needs a clear view of the sky). If you've met all 3 conditions you get quick acquisition (unless your unit is faulty).

 

If any one of the conditions are not met (eg. You've moved location substantially, or you have the wrong year set as default, or you are parked right next to a metal hangar) then it won't find the satellites it expects to find in the sky, so it starts a tedious 'searching' process with which it tries to find any satellites and then work out from those satellites its location. This can take quite some time. Even when it finds the satellites and finds its location, it still won't be able to upate the correct YEAR, so next time you power it on, it will be hunting for satellites that aren't there because it will be assuming their locations based on a different year. Again you have long acquisition times on next restart.

 

I hope all this makes sense.

 

So now you have to work out how to set the YEAR on a Garmin 296 (ciritcal) and how to set your power-on location (not so critical - as it can self correct).

 

I won't explain these here as this post is already too long. If you need the info let me know and I'll post it (or you could read the manual) :)

 

 

[ahlocks]

G'day Jaykay,

 

Thanks for a very informative post! :thumb_up:

 

The issue I and GSA are chasing is the internal clock running slow while the unit is switched off - the alleged cause of the issue. Conditions 1, 2, and 3 are being met but the GPS still reports a failure to acquire satellites on start up.

 

The unit's battery has been suggested as the cause by Garmin tech support, but as GSA and a few others have found, replacing the (expensive) battery has not solved the issue.

 

I'd be interested to learn who else has;

 

Experienced (or never had) the problem and an estimate of the time since the GPS was last switched on if it does occur.

 

What firmware is on their units and whether they have changed the default settings on their unit.

 

Any takers?

 

Cheers!

 

 

[JayKay]

Ahlocks,

 

It may be useful to actually measure the amount of time drift you are getting. Maybe draw up a table where you plot 'Total time unit was off' against 'Drift (= difference between the Time and Date it shows when you first power it on and the real Time and Date)'.

 

Always make sure it fully acquires satellites before switching it off.

 

This would show if there is a pattern to the rate of drift or if it is erratic. Very useful info when trying to diagnose the problem.

 

 

[ahlocks]

Thanks JayKay, Will do.

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

My 296 is about 8 months old and there appears to be no issue with the internal battery. However today I turned it on after not having it on for a month. It thought that today was 2 June 2008. It has software version 5.30 installed.

 

It would not get a fix until I chose new location -> automatic.

 

I'm reasonably comfortable that this is a bug in recent software. It did not previously have this problem and in one of the (regular) software updates I've done it has acquired this problem.

 

I'd suggest we all log a support issue with Garmin and see if we can get them to do something.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest Ken deVos]

I'm still running version 5.2 and having no problem despite the unit not being used for nearly two months.

 

 

[JayKay]

I have two Garmin 296 units. Both 11 months old running version 5.3 and have not seen this problem.

 

 

[Guest brentc]

I took the beast out for a spin today. Cranked up the GPS and sure enough absolutely no signal was being received. Checked the time and it was 3am Friday (it was 12pm Saturday at the time). There is an option to manually set the time, however once changed, this had no effect on the system time. It seems that until satellites are received, the time simply does not update.

 

I held in quit, pressed the power button, selected yes to delete all user data and away she went.

 

 

[ahlocks]

Version 5.4 hasn't made any difference.thumb_down

 

The clock was slow after switch off at ~ 17:30 on 29 July. Today it showed 1st Aug 2008 ~ 21:44. Actual time was 3 Aug @ 14:35.

 

I haven't ever had to do a user reset to get it to acquire though.

 

The usual gripe about no satellites came up. Hit 'stored without battery' and it's good to go by taxi time - about 3 - 4 minutes.

 

My unit has had the issue since day dot, but I did do an update when it first arrived. I just can't remember precisely whether it was to version 5.0 or 5.1.

 

I'm pondering if it is an incremental update issue and a factory reset and then reloading the firmware without using the web updater might help.

 

Cheers!

 

Steven B.

 

 

[JayKay]

GPSMAP 296 software version 5.70

 

Garmin have released version 5.70 firmware for the GPSMAP 296. (GPSMAP 495 firmware has a similar functional update).

 

It can be downloaded directly from Garmin at:

 

Garmin: GPSMAP 296 Updates & Downloads

 

With this version of software the internal real time clock battery is no longer used to acquire satellites. This also means that you no longer have to hold the [OUT] button whilst powering up the GPS to speed up satellite acquisition.

 

 

[facthunter]

New Download.

 

Just done that and for the first time my times are correct. Thanks. Nev

 

 

[harley]

Anyone had this.I have a 4 year old 296 that if I havent flown for more than a week, when I switch it on it has the wrong date and takes forever to lock on to satelites.

I have downloaded the latest 5.2 update and replaced the battery but still no change. It eventually gets a lock on after maybe 5 minutes and then functions perfectly.

 

I was wondering if there wasent a small battery inside that kept its location and date running when it was switched off.

 

Any sugestions appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Greg

Had the same problem.If you hold down the zoom out button when you power on ,it will quite quickly aquire satelites and reset the date

 

Hope this helps

 

Harley