GPS connection

G

gtrfred

Guest
My system consists of a MFD 12 downstairs and a MFD 8 upstairs. with a GP 330B, DFF1 sounder, RD33 and XNI12/A radar.

I used the boat last week and everything worked just fine. I hoped on the boat yesterday and start up the system and get no GPS connection. The icon at the top right of the screen for the GPS had a red X through it.

I checked inside the console and didnt say any disconnected wires. I believe the GP 330B is connected through the NMEA 2k backbone. I was getting depth and water temp data on the RD 33, which I believe comes from the NMEA 2K backbone. I did not have any position data there.

The MFD 8 upstairs did not have position (which I would expect with it out below).

Where should I start with the trouble shooting?
 
I would recommend checking your connection diagram under MENU - SYSTEM and ensure the GP330B is still showing up as a listed item. I would then go into the installation wizard and go to GLOBAL - DATA SOURCES and see if the GP330B is properly setup as you primary source. (then save and exit) If the GPS still has an X then I would have to guess that something has gone wrong with your GP330B antenna. I would ensure that it isn't inside the radar beam, too close to transmitting sources, or stored/used in any position than upright.
 
Thanks for the help Johnny. I will look at that first. I have had the electronics on the boat for 3 years now and just had this issue for the first.

Isnt it weird that it would happen all of a sudden?
 
It is normally about the three year point I see GPS units go bad if they are installed near an RF source or radar beam. Eventually after being blasted with RF, the front end amp in the GPS gets blown. Antenna placement is very important. Not that it is your case, but just something I have noticed.
 
uh oh. That makes me nervous. the gps unit is mounted on top of the t-top with two vhf antennas and the open array radar. its lower than the radar bar, but everything up there is rather close. there is only so much space.
 
You need at least three feet from VHF or AIS transmitting whips to where your GPS is. If you take a string to your antenna stick on the radar, the beam goes down about an 11 degree angle. I would ensure the GPS head is below that string. If you just replace the GPS and it is still being damaged, you will be in the same "Boat" in about three years.
 
Johnny,

So i went down to the boat over the weekend to look at the settings. Now when I turned the machine on, the gps, sounder and radar all have "X"s through them. In the menu - system connection diagram, nothing is listed.

My hope is that it is something stupid. Could low voltage cause this issue? Any other ideas?

While I was there I tried to upload new gps way points and got an error message - "native exception has occured in furuno.blackbox.mfd.exe". Any idea what is causing this?
 
The Native Exception is normally caused by running older unit software and leaving the tides/currents overlay turned on. Newer software changes that. If you run older software please ensure to turn off Tides and Currents overlay when not being actively used.

Having Xs on everything; sounds like your setup configuration has been blow. Run the installation wizard with everything turned on, first from the master unit. NEVER EVER EVER hit "SKIP" when you run the wizard. After the master has been setup; save and exit and then do the same to the slave. If you still have Xs; call into our tech support guys so they can talk you through troubleshooting.
 
So just as a resolution in case others are searching, My GPS connectivity issue was a loose fitting at the bottom of the antenna. I unscrewed the antenna and noticed that the plug was not firmly seated. After fixing that, I was back up and running.

For the native exception on the file transfer, That was caused because the csv file I was uploading had some extra columns outside of the correct import field. Once i modified my csv file, I was able to load the way points without an issue.

Thanks Johnny for walking me through some trouble shooting.

Thanks,

Fred
 
Back
Top