Filter
Top Products
30
FINDING YOUR POSITION
Auto Search
To lock onto the satellites, the GPS receiver needs to know it’s current
position, UTC time, and date. (Elevation (altitude) is also used in the equa-
tion, but it’s rarely required to determine a position.) It needs this data so
that it can calculate which satellites should be in view. It then searches for
only those satellites. When your GPS receiver is turned on for the first
time, it doesn’t know what your position or elevation (altitude) is. It does
know the current UTC time and date since these were programmed into it
at the factory and an internal clock keeps the time while the unit is turned
off. (If the time and/or date are incorrect, you can set it using the “Set
Local Time” menu. See page 23 for more information.) It begins searching
for the satellites using the above data that it acquired the last time it was
turned on. This probably was at the factory. Since it’s almost certain that
you’re not at our factory, it’s probably looking for the wrong satellites. If it
doesn’t find the satellites it’s looking for after five minutes, it switches to
Auto Search. The receiver looks for any satellite in the sky. Due to ad-
vanced technology, the auto search time has shrunk to about five min-
utes, so the longest time you should ever have to wait is ten minutes from
the time you turn the unit on until it locks onto the satellites and shows a
position. Once the unit locks onto the satellites, it should take less than a
minute to find your position the next time it’s turned on, provided you
haven’t moved more than approximately 100 miles from the last location it
was used.
The Auto Search function can be
started at any time. Press the
MENU key
twice
, then select
“GPS Auto Search”. A new menu
appears, “Perform GPS Auto-
Search”. Highlight “Yes” and
press the ENT key. The menus
disappear and the unit will begin
the auto search.
Manual Initialization
If you don’t want to wait for the Auto Search, then you may be able to
speed up the initialization process by using the manual initialization fea-
ture. Using this feature tells the unit it’s approximate position. Once it knows
it’s location, it determines exactly which satellites should be in view and
starts looking only for those satellites.
To manually initialize the unit, press the PAGES key. Using the arrow keys,
select “Status” . Press the EXIT key to erase the menu. The screen at