etrex vs. laptop issues

[BigAl]

I just bought a etrex legend with pc cable. I connected it to a crappy laptop running NG backroads explorer. It worked fine for a day. I accidently un plugged the laptop and the battery went dead. Now the etrex will not acquire satalites. Coincidence? or does the etrex get power from the laptop via the comm cable and did I somehow fry the etrex?

 

[Tucson T4R]

I'm not sure on the Etrex but most Garmin GPS receivers do get power from the PC attachment if they are connected with a mini USB cable. Either way, I would be surprised if the Etrex was damaged through the connection.

Try powering off the Etrex and then after powring it back on, let it sit for at least 20 mins stationary, with a good view of the sky. It may just have to reaquire the local satellite locations again from scratch.

 

[BigAl]

Try powering off the Etrex and then after powring it back on, let it sit for at least 20 mins stationary, with a good view of the sky. It may just have to reaquire the local satellite locations again from scratch.

I was connected via a serial port, I'm not sure what caused my problem, I'll try again tonight.

 

[Tucson T4R]

If my suggestion doesn't work for you, try this GPS related forum. It's packed full of GPS gurus that will be able to offer more in depth advise.

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=11

 

[jg45]

My Etrex does not get power through the cable. There is a cable that also includes a cig adaptor to power it. I suggest disconnecting the Etrex from the Laptop, take it outside and power it on and let it sit for a few minutes. It should acquire satellites then. Once it is acquired, boot the laptop then reconnect the Etrex. I left mine connected and on when I rebooted once and my laptop went haywire.

 

[edgear]

I was connected via a serial port, I'm not sure what caused my problem, I'll try again tonight.

To my knowledge, Serial Ports to not provide power to external devices, but USB ports do.
Also, did you check the settings of your eTrex to see if the GPS is turned off? It's possible to operate the handheld unit with the GPS turned off (like if you're indoors, and don't want it to waste batteries searching for satellites). Or perhaps the WAAS setting is turned on, and that would require being outdoors with a good line of site to find those 2 satellites in North America.
Like Tucson T4R said, try going outside where there is a good view of the sky to see if the unit can find satellites. The Garmin website might provide some better ideas specific to your unit.

 

[BigAl]

Thanks for all the replies, I got it working again, it took ~30 minutes to acquire. I cycled it on/off 3 times after that and it acquired in ~20 seconds.

New question, I'm using NG backroads explorer. Yesterday I tracked myself thru about 10 miles of stipmines. The going was very slow and it was auto taking readings every 15 seconds I think. Anyway the map had so many coordinates diplayed on it that I couldn't even see the route line. Is there a way to turn off the coordinate display when tracking? I couldn't figure it out.