# Garmin eTrex Vista HCx not acquiring satellites



## hchchch (Aug 24, 2009)

Anyone have similar problems to this:

I just bought a new Vista HCx a week ago and it worked perfectly then.

However, after taking a flight and carrying the unit with me on board, the Vista HCx is stuck on the "Acquiring Satellites" or "Locating Satellites" screen, with no hint of any satellites popping into view. It was not switched on on the plane.

The unit was not dropped, shaken, exposed to extreme heat or cold - just brought onto a plane for a short 1 hour flight.

I've tried updating the firmware, did a master reset - nothing. I've left the unit under clear skies for an entire afternoon - nothing.

Is there something else I can do or is this unit doomed to be returned under warranty? And how can a simple trip on a plane cause this problem?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

call Garmin. They'll be able to do better to figure out if you need to return it or if there's something you've overlooked than we can.


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## lukey (Mar 7, 2008)

hchchch said:


> Anyone have similar problems to this:
> 
> I've tried updating the firmware, did a master reset - nothing. I've left the unit under clear skies for an entire afternoon - nothing.


Yeah, this is normal.

If you move more that 600 miles (unit shut down), it's confused when it wakes up again.

Here's what to do:
On the satellite page, click the menu button. Select "New Location".

You can let it try to find the satellites on its own now. (select "Automatic")

Or...you can skip ahead a bit and manually click near your new location (select "Use the Map"). Which is faster as long as you're not totally lost. Usually clicking the closest major city will speed up the satellite lock.

It can take much longer than normal even after you select "New Location". Sometimes 15 minutes in my experience. Having a clear view of the southern sky seems to help, and so does setting the unit in a stationary position. All you can do is be patient.

I'm on a Cx, I assume the HCx is identical.


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## hchchch (Aug 24, 2009)

I did that - selected both a new location and let the GPS unit find satellites automatically - and left the unit under clear skies for the better part of the afternoon. Not a single satellite peaked into view. And I'm less than 300 miles away, in the same longitude. Nada.

Anything else less of contacting Garmin directly?


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

hchchch said:


> I did that - selected both a new location and let the GPS unit find satellites automatically - and left the unit under clear skies for the better part of the afternoon. Not a single satellite peaked into view. And I'm less than 300 miles away, in the same longitude. Nada.
> 
> Anything else less of contacting Garmin directly?


Contact Garmin, or take it back to the place you bought it, it less than a week old!


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## lukey (Mar 7, 2008)

hchchch said:


> I did that - selected both a new location and let the GPS unit find satellites automatically - and left the unit under clear skies for the better part of the afternoon. Not a single satellite peaked into view. And I'm less than 300 miles away, in the same longitude. Nada.
> 
> Anything else less of contacting Garmin directly?


Believe it or not, I've seen this before. My friends unit locked up once like this.

Questions:

You never mentioned...is the unit working normally NOW?

Was this a one-time only thing, or did it quit working as far as you can tell, and has never worked since that day?

Is the "Use Indoors" (ie., GPS off) mode selected, or not? Sometimes the Garmin will stop looking for satellites after a few minutes of unsuccessful searching.

Do you have power-saving turned off? I recommend you don't select the power-saver setting.

Have you selected the correct battery type/voltage in the setup menu? Ie. select Alkaline, Lith-ion or Nimh, according to what you're using.
 
Have you installed the latest firmware from Garmin?

What was the weather like that day?

What happens if you choose the "New Location" option and pick your location on a map?

Have you contacted Garmin?

With my friend's unit, the _New Location > Use a Map_ was the only thing that got it working again, and it still took almost an hour to lock the satellites (cloudy day). It wouldn't automatically find its location. I would definitely try the map if you haven't yet.


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## hchchch (Aug 24, 2009)

lukey said:


> Believe it or not, I've seen this before. My friends unit locked up once like this.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> ...


The unit is still locked in acquiring mode and not working, but it's been raining and mostly cloudy the past few days, so I have not tried it again recently.

However, during some clearer days, I did go through your checklist:

- The GPS was always on and in outdoor mode;
- Power-saving was off as I left it outside for hours, and when I retrieved it, it was still on;
- Battery selection was correct (using NimH for my rechargable batteries);
- I downloaded the web updater and installed the latest firmware, moving my unit from 3.00 to 3.10;
- I had sunny streaming down through open patches of clouds. My iPhone could get a lock, so I getting signals from satellites shouldn't be an issue;
- I've selected NEW LOCATION without effect, and also tried under AUTOMATIC mode;
- I have not contacted Garmin as I wanted to exhaust all options first before contacting them.

I'll try the unit again when the skies clear. If it doesn't work again, I guess I'm sending it back to the manufacturer.

I thought a unit with a high sensitive receiver should not have problems getting a reception. And traveling without it on will confuse the unit? Not everyone uses the unit every day. I'm using it mainly for my riding - I can travel over 100 miles for a ride and don't switch on the GPS receiver during the car trip to save on battery. To have it confused when I reach the destination is simply not acceptable.


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## lukey (Mar 7, 2008)

hchchch said:


> - I've selected NEW LOCATION without effect, and also tried under AUTOMATIC mode;


Meaning, you did go though the New Location > Find on a Map option, or no?

I'll say this again...if the unit isn't finding the satellites automatically, the map selection seems to help. The one time my friend's unit locked up as you're describing, the Map selection was the fix. Try that, then give it 10-15 minutes and post the results back. You might want to try re-calibrating the electronic compass as well.

Like you, I often drive a great distance to ride. The unit can usually catch a satellite within a couple of minutes at most in that type of scenario. Every time I get off a plane, it seems to take quite a while. But that doesn't mean the unit is broken or something. I think the fact that it has these menu options is a kind of acknowledgement that a major shift on the ground is a special case for recontacting the satellites.

EDIT:

You might want to try a factory reset on the garmin as well. This will set it back to the way it was when you first bought it. I think you hold "page" (top right button), push and hold the click-stick straight in (enter) and turn it on (power) for a reset. This should cause the unit to look at the whole sky again.

More special key commands on this page.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

You may want to check the specs on your iphone or any other gps-enabled cell phone first. A great deal of them get help from cell towers. Put them in a place with no cell reception and THEN see how the GPS works.

This particular receiver clearly has some trouble. This is hardly a glaring example of how all GPS receivers with a high-sensitivity receiver work, or even how other receivers of your particular model work.

The thing froze. Call Garmin. They might have a specific fix, or they might exchange it for a new one. This is obviously not how it's supposed to work. My two recent models both get a strong signal in my house. 

Are you afraid that Garmin might handle your problem well and make you happy or something? Just give them a call.


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## homer8 (Nov 5, 2007)

Had the same issue with my Vista HCx.....finally called Garmin and dealt with their great customer service! After running through a bit of a checklist, they said to send it in. Even though I was over the warranty period by two months they replaced the entire unit for free:thumbsup: .

This company has been great to deal with and this isn't the first time I have dealt with their customer service. They are not outsourcing the customer service to India, etc. I will continue to buy Garmin in the future.

Paul


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## dtownmtb (Jan 20, 2004)

hchchch said:


> I thought a unit with a high sensitive receiver should not have problems getting a reception. And traveling without it on will confuse the unit? Not everyone uses the unit every day. I'm using it mainly for my riding - I can travel over 100 miles for a ride and don't switch on the GPS receiver during the car trip to save on battery. To have it confused when I reach the destination is simply not acceptable.


I've flown across the country with my vista HCx. Other than having to recalibrate the compass, it worked exactly as it did before the trip. Yours is broke.


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## Keninoz (Jun 24, 2010)

*Same problem*

I am having exactly the same problem. I bought the unit in Australia about 3 months ago, I have been cycling through the UK & Europe for the pst 6 weeks & it has been working.

Yesterday it started doing the same as others have commented on.I´ve tried the New Location process as well. I´ve lef the unit outside for several hours with no success.

I am now in Germany. I don´t speak or read german & i bought this unit to help me out bwith navigation, lodgings, etc & now it´s not working.

I have no idea how to find a Garmin service centre in this country.

Did anyone come up with a fix for the previous posts?

Thanks.


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## hchchch (Aug 24, 2009)

I guess an update is long overdue.

I finally went to the Garmin service center, from which they told me they will have to send my unit to Taiwan to get it fixed. They told me it would take 3 - 4 weeks.

A month later I returned after they emailed me to collect my unit. The customer service rep told me Taiwan replaced the unit with a brand new unit and proceeded to give me what appeared to be a fully functional new unit with a plastic film covering the screen, sans new box. But on closer inspection, I recognized a friction blemish on the plastic casing that my bag made before.

Therefore, I can conclude that Taiwan repaired my old faulty unit, but now it works perfectly, locating satellites very quickly. Why they told me I got a new unit could be one of two reason: 1) The rep was misinformed, and/or 2) They didn't have to tell me what was wrong to begin with.

Nevertheless, it's been working perfectly ever since, soaked in rain, splashed with mud, taken hits from falls on my bike.


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## GPSUSER234 (Oct 12, 2010)

*chipset problem*

Something like this: http://www.roaminggecko.com/2008/06/09/gpsmap-60csx-wont-acquire-satellites/


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