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Magellan SporTrak GPS loosing sensitivity?

This is the second time this has happened with a Magellan GPS. The acqisition time when its first powered up gets longer, eventually to the point that its unusable. For this model it should be

2 minutes. Yesterday, it was 18 minutes, and that was in an open area with a clear view from horizon to horizon. I'm guessing its because the receiver is loosing sensitivity for some reason.

Has anyome else delt with this and found a solution? I'd rather try to fix it myself rather than sending it to Magellan.

Steve

Reply to
Steve
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One possible cause for the problem would be RF interference. The GPS signal itself is quite weak, and any (deliberate or spurious) transmissions near the GPS frequency could interfere with the receiver's ability to pick the signal out of the noise and lock onto it.

Consider the following case:

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A malfunctioning TV-antenna preamplifier, powered up but stored inside a paint locker onboard a small boat (!), was radiating enough noise to knock out GPS reception throughout all of Moss Landing harbor and for a distance of at least 1 km out to sea!

I agree that further testing of the "insensitive" Magellan GPS is called for, before it's sent back for repair. The problem may lie in the local RF environment, rather than in the Magellan itself... if so, the problem would probably affect GPS receivers of other makes and models in a somewhat similar way.

--
Dave Platt                                    AE6EO
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Reply to
Dave Platt

Curious. That antenna design has the amplifier inside the antenna loop. Should the antenna pick its own amplified signal it would oscillate like crazy. I wonder how did they (attempt to) aboid that.

Reply to
Jeroni Paul

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