Garmin 2610 GPS signal problems

[ianm00]

I have just had my 2610 replaced by Garmin due to the screen keep changing in the sunlight.

The new unit however seems to lose the GPS signal much more than my previous unit. Over the last weekend the unit lost the signal and wouldn't regain it! I was in Devon by Princetown on the moors so high up and plenty sky without any buildings trees etc.

I did however update the unit with the lasted sofware version 4.7 prior to the weekend. I have now done a complete reset to the unit to see if this improves things.

Im beginninning to think there is now a problem with my new unit!

My question: Is the GPS signal always available?

Does anyone have any ideas about this?

Thanks

Ian

 

[John Armstrong]

Don't forget it's the US military that operates the satellites, and they can if they wish "play" around with them. The UK military also "plays" with it as well. What was the satellite reception screen showing when you had your problems?

 

[phc1058]

the screen change problem you experienced is a well documented issue and is due to sun light on the infra red detector, on older software models this could be rectified by blanking the detector with insulating tape but you can now deactivate the remote control sensor on one of the set up menus. I have used the 2610 for over a year now and rarely lose signals although I was in Salisbury last night at about 6pm and lost a signal for about 5 minutes for no obvious reason which I thought strange, did you have the drop out at the same time

 

[ianm00]

The satellite screen was searching for satellites. There were the normal bars but hollow (receiving signal waiting for data) but these kept disappearing.

I found that if I turned the 2610 off for about 5-10mins then back on again it would find the signal but then it would lose it after 15-20mins.

I wasn't sure if the GPS signal was there 100% of the time so maybe it was due to no GPS signal available but I had my previous 2610 for about 10months and it rarely lost the signal and when it did it regained it very quickly.

Ian

 

[ianm00]

the screen change problem you experienced is a well documented issue and is due to sun light on the infra red detector, on older software models this could be rectified by blanking the detector with insulating tape but you can now deactivate the remote control sensor on one of the set up menus. I have used the 2610 for over a year now and rarely lose signals although I was in Salisbury last night at about 6pm and lost a signal for about 5 minutes for no obvious reason which I thought strange, did you have the drop out at the same time

I was on my way from Devon to Bristol (I think it was around 5.30 time) via the A30/A303/A37 my GPS lost the signal from the around Shepton Mallot area for the remaining of my journey home!

Ian

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi Ian:

As John pointed out, the problem could be with the satellite constellation, rather than the GPSR.

My suggestion is that you wait until you have used the new GPSR on a few different days - if the problem persists, then it is most likely a GPSR problem rather than a satellite problem. Because there are two variables involved here - your new GPSR and the satellite constellation - it's kind of hard to make a judgement based on one day of experience.

You might also want to try blowing out the non-vol memory in the GPSR, just in case the satellite almanac within the GPSR is corrupt. I can't recall offhand how to do this (reset the thing to the way it was when it came out of the factory), but I am sure that someone else here knows and will supply the details of the magic button-pushing trick.

Before you blow out the non-vol, upload your waypoints, routes, and tracks to your computer using MapSource, because they will be deleted. You don't have to worry about maps, they are unaffected by this reset procedure.

Michael

 

[ianm00]

Hi Ian:

As John pointed out, the problem could be with the satellite constellation, rather than the GPSR.

My suggestion is that you wait until you have used the new GPSR on a few different days - if the problem persists, then it is most likely a GPSR problem rather than a satellite problem. Because there are two variables involved here - your new GPSR and the satellite constellation - it's kind of hard to make a judgement based on one day of experience.

You might also want to try blowing out the non-vol memory in the GPSR, just in case the satellite almanac within the GPSR is corrupt. I can't recall offhand how to do this (reset the thing to the way it was when it came out of the factory), but I am sure that someone else here knows and will supply the details of the magic button-pushing trick.

Before you blow out the non-vol, upload your waypoints, routes, and tracks to your computer using MapSource, because they will be deleted. You don't have to worry about maps, they are unaffected by this reset procedure.

Michael

Hi Michael,

I received your advice a bit too late! I did the reset thing! Press Page & menu then power on!

You are correct it wipes all waypoints etc!

Anyway I used the 2610 today on a trip from Bristol to Poole harbour and the GPS was much better behaved. It did lose the signal at times (under trees & when surrounded by tall buildings etc) but then regained it very quickly.

Maybe the reset has sorted it or maybe the satellites are back! I will try it for a few more trips and make sure its ok.

Thanks for your advice

Ian

 

[PanEuropean]

Maybe the reset has sorted it...

Hi Ian:

I kind of suspect it was a corrupt satellite almanac, likely a result of the unit not being turned on for more than 6 months.

The GPSR will download an 'almanac' from the satellite constellation, and use that almanac as a reference to determine where the satellites should be (what their travel schedule is), so it can then determine - by triangulation - where you are. The GPSR updates the almanac every time it is turned on, and it can store 6 months (forward) of information. In theory, if the GPSR has not been used for more than 6 months, it should just discard the existing almanac information it has and start fresh again. But, sometimes they don't do this. Who knows why...

Michael

 

[Greg Masters]

Do you use a Touratech mount. These are known to shroud the internal 2610 antenna, so the easy fix is to glue an external antenna with an MCX plug onto your front master cylinder.

Greg

 

[ianm00]

Do you use a Touratech mount. These are known to shroud the internal 2610 antenna, so the easy fix is to glue an external antenna with an MCX plug onto your front master cylinder.

Greg

I use the standard BMW navigator mount with the garmin holder.

How do you connect an external aerial to the 2610 anyway? I didn't think there was any connection for this?

Regards

Ian

 

[PanEuropean]

How do you connect an external aerial to the 2610 anyway? I didn't think there was any connection for this?

There is a little tiny connector on the back of the 2xxx series GPSRs that will accept an input from an external GPS antenna. This connector is called an MCX connector (MCX being the specification for the size and shape of the connector).

Also - on that topic - if you always have something plugged into the antenna connector and the USB connector when you are riding (I use an external antenna, and a GTM 10 FM traffic receiver), then you might as well remove the rubber cover, which can be accomplished by removing the tiny Phillips screw. The rubber cover is only there to keep dust and dirt out of the antenna and USB plugs, it is not needed for waterproofing. As you can see, I took the cover off mine - it was just getting in the way when I had stuff plugged in there.

Michael

Antenna Connector (BMW Nav III shown)

 

[Taff]

I have just had my 2610 replaced by Garmin due to the screen keep changing in the sunlight...

I assume that Garmin wouldn't have changed the unit without checking, but did you switch the "Auto Brightness" off?

 

[PanEuropean]

Better, I think, to make sure that auto-brightness is ON, not off.

I sometimes switch auto-brightness off if I am riding at night in really remote areas, such as Northern Canada. This is to allow me to reduce the screen illumination to a lower level that would be automatically set by the GPSR. There's nothing wrong with the GPSR - but the light-sensor picks up stray light from the instrument panel of my moto, and this causes the GPSR display to be brighter than I want it to be.

Anyway - if I forget to turn auto-brightness back on when I finish riding, I always have a problem the next morning - when I turn the GPSR on, the illumination level is still set at manual - 5%, and I can't see anything on the screen unless I put my jacket over the top of the GPSR like an old-fashioned photographer, and then switch back to auto-brightness.

For what it's worth.

Michael

 

[ianm00]

Michael,

Thanks for the picture. I have a External GPS antenna which fits direct using this MCX connector. I never new this existed under the rubber!

The screen changing that I originally mentioned in my earlier post was not the brightness. It was changing to different screens like when pressing on the buttons or touch screens. The screen change was random but on a few occassions the screen just froze and would not respond to any button or touch screen the only way was to power on/off. This was a faulty unit so Garmin replaced it for me.

Thanks

Ian

 

[PanEuropean]

...It was changing to different screens like when pressing on the buttons or touch screens. The screen change was random but on a few occassions the screen just froze and would not respond to any button or touch screen the only way was to power on/off...

Hi Ian:

Ah, thanks for clarifying my misunderstanding. Just for your info, if you ever encounter that kind of problem again (screen changing around or acting like you are touching it when you are not actually touching it), take the GPSR into the kitchen and rinse the screen under the tap, using warm water (not too hot) and a little bit of liquid dish detergent. Rub your fingers around on the screen after you squirt the dish detergent on it - don't use a cloth or anything else that could scratch it. Pat the screen dry with a Kleenex, then leave the GPSR in the dish-rack with the connectors facing down and let it air-dry.

I encountered that same problem once, and I found that the cause of the problem was a tiny bit of dirt that was trapped at the edge of the screen, where the screen borders on the case (the plastic screen surround). The easiest way of getting this kind of dirt off the GPSR is to just wash it in the kitchen sink like it was a dinner plate. FYI, washing it this way also gets all the fingerprints, oil, etc. off the screen, and thus makes it a lot easier to see the screen image in bright sunlight.

Michael