Garmin GPS Antenna not communicating

[Vincentc]

It has been one problem after another since I attempted to simply upgrade the software for my Garmin 4212 helm and 4012 flybridge network. Since the attempted upgrade the helm unit keys stopped working but the FB unit worked fine, for a while. I have a backup 540c on the FB and decided to move the FB unit to the helm and send the 4212 helm unit to Garmin for repair.

Now the 4012 (FB and now Helm) unit indicates it is not getting a gps signal. The "boat symbol" on the screen shows a flashing "?" and does not move when the boat moves. A couple of weeks ago, the GPS antenna ( GPS 17) mount came loose and the antenna fell about 4 feet and struck the deck, but the antenna continued working fine until this Friday. I also checked the wire connections (NEMA 183) and reconnected the power wires for the antenna cable and everything appears to be good, but still the question mark on the screen.

I will try to contact Garmin this week, but wonder if anyone has any experience with this kind of problem. Wonder if I should go ahead and buy a new antenna. I don't know if there is any way to test the antenna.

Thanks for any experiences/suggestions.
Regards,

 

[DeeRow]

Was the GPS 17 always wired to the 4012?

I would guess that the insulation on the antenna wire got nicked when it fell to the deck and it has taken corrosion this long to break the connection. Chase the wire, and make sure that it is not damaged.

How long did the antenna spend on the deck? Could it have gotten water in it?

Since the 540c has an internal antenna, you could wire NMEA out from it to NMEA in on the 4012.

On the 4212, all the Garmin units ship a chip that contains the complete system software, so you should be able to "reinstall" the base system if an upgrade fails. I don't remember when they began shipping this chip with all units. I do remember having to ship back a unit to get the software system reinstalled prior to this. It seems that Garmin could have either shipped a chip to you, or sent the code to you in an email if the only problem you had was software.

Mark

 

[Vincentc]

Mark,

The antenna had always been wired to the 4212 at the helm. When the 4212 keys quit functioning, I moved the 4012 from the FB to the helm and simply plugged in the NEMA plug. Since then I followed the wire connections to to the antenna wires.

The antenna was only on the deck for a few minutes. I did not think to check the cable for damage in the area of the mount and will do that.

Your comment about the software chip is interesting news. It was never mentioned in several emails with Garmin customer service. I'll check on that.

Thanks,

 

[DeeRow]

...I moved the 4012 from the FB to the helm and simply plugged in the NEMA plug. Since then I followed the wire connections to to the antenna wires....

Did the antenna ever work with the 4012? If it has never worked, it could also be that you have not configured the comm port correctly.

This is not related but I'm curious, when you had the 4012 and the 4212 both installed and functioning, were you able to view the preloaded charts from the 4212 on the 4012?

Mark

 

[Vincentc]

Mark,

The 4012 had never been connected directly to the GPS antenna. The antenna was connected to the 4212 which was connected to the 4012 by a network cable.

There was a point where the 4012 was still connected and showed the chart and my position and the 4212 did not. Then the 4012 stopped receiving the gps signal and showed the "?" on the boat symbol while it was still networked to the 4212.

"Configure the com port" what is that?

When everything was working properly, which it did for almost 2 years, the 4012 would read the charts off of the 4212. I had a G2 vision card inserted in the 4212. When I discovered that the plotter chart showed 15 feet of water in a place just south of Dauphin Island where there was hard dry sand I decided to upgrade the chart, which led to the sofware upgrade, followed by the 4212 no longer working.

Thanks

 

[DeeRow]

I just remembered that it is easy to plug in the NMEA cable incorrectly since the alignment "nubs" (that's a technical term!) are small and located every 120 degrees. I believe that there is a triangle on the cable that must be up. The installation manual shows the pin locations, be sure that they are lined up correctly.

...."Configure the com port" what is that?...

Page 33 in this manual, http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/3112_OwnersManual.pdf , describes how to configure the communication port. page 32 describes how to view diagnostics for the communication as well as how to view the number of GPS satellites that the antenna is picking up. If you have no satellites, you could have either a communication problem or and antenna problem. If you have any satellites at all, then I would think that it is an antenna problem.

Do you have a covered slip? Satellite reception is seriously degraded under a metal roof.

Have you tried to call Garmin tech support? Their number is 1-800-800-1020. They will be able to talk you thru the menus and the diagnostics. I believe that they are staffed until 8pm EST.

 

[Vincentc]

Thanks,
Calls to Garmin have encounted a stated 30 minute wait, and so far I've been too impatient. Email support has not developed anything but the suggestion I send the 4212 in for repairs.

The slip is in the open. I will try your suggestions.
Regards

 

[lumina]

Hi All,

I just received notification from Garmin today about a known "serious" problem with the radar/GPS interface.

Tomorrow I'll fax it in for all to see.

 

[DeeRow]

Hi All,

I just received notification from Garmin today about a known "serious" problem with the radar/GPS interface.

Tomorrow I'll fax it in for all to see.

I would be amazed if the interface to the radar affected the NMEA 0183 communication with the GPS antenna. You didn't mention that you have radar on the system.

 

[sgharford]

Not to derail thread- but has anyone else had a problem updating their Garmin chart plotters while updating to latest version of software (July 14,2010)? I've updated a few times in past with SD card without much trouble. Not gonna do it if this release problematic.

If you want to see all Garmin Service Alerts go to http://www8.garmin.com/marine/servicenotices.jsp

 

[Vincentc]

It was a software issue. I re-installed the software upgrade on the 4012, with the gps connected to the plotter and with the gps upgraded, they now talk to each other and I have my location.

Apparently the accessories have to be upgraded so they can communicate with the plotter.

This has been an ordeal and I would hesitate to upgrade without first taking to Garmin and being sure that they will stand behind any resulting problems.

 

[DeeRow]

Glad that you have it worked out.

Did your first attempt to upgrade the entire system fail?

Seems that your upgrade caused more problems than it solved. Garmin's upgrade process is the best compared to Raymarine, Furuno, and Northstar. It generally updates everything that is connected and your good to go.

I had one "hang" once but it worked after a restart.

Mark

 

[Vincentc]

The first attempt failed seriously and since then, the 4212 keyboard does not work. In that attempt I used a blank SD card on which I had downloaded the upgrade, and had everything on the network connected. The upgrade process appeared to go well then froze at "58%" according to the indicator. It did upgrade the 4012 on the FB but not the 4212 at the helm. At that point the FB unit would work still reading the charts off of the 4212 and since the 4212 was still sw version 5.20 it could still talk to the gps antenna and in turn give that info to the 4012 on the FB.

Garmin suggested I try to upgrade the 4212 with the networked items disconnected. I unplugged everything but the power cord and using a software card purchased from Garmin succeeded in upgrading the 4212, but that did not cure the keyboard problem. In addition, in hindsight, I suspect that once the 4212 was upgraded it could no longer talk to the gps 17 antenna and likewise when I moved the 4012 to the helm, the upgraded 4012 could not talk to the gps antenna. After I re-upgraded the 4012 with the Garmin card, and the gps, GSD and GSM attached, the gps antenna apparently was upgraded and can now talk to the 4012.

For some reason the 4012 froze during this upgrade, with the screen indicating "updating software" for over 12 hours. I shut it off restared with the G2 vision chart card working and I now have one working plotter.

Garmin has advised of one more possible "fix" for the 4212 involving a reset of the unit and I am going to try that before sending the 4212 to Garmin.

Aren't computers and networks wonderful?

Regards,