GPS No Fix

A

Aguyindallas

New Member
Apr 11, 2012
108
Lake Lewisville Texas
Boat Info
2004 320 Sundancer
Engines
8.1 Merc with BIII
We have the factory installed SL70C plotter system on our 320. I don't always turn the plotter on as it's not needed on our lake, especially during the day. We mainly use it at night. At any rate, some days it will work fine, others will not. In the upper right corner of the display, it will show No Fix.

Common problem or fix? Bad GPS receiver, bad connection....any ideas? This is my first boat with a chart plotter so I am fairly inexperienced with proper function etc.
 
The gps unit for that vintage display was the ray star 120. These have hard wired batteries. The batteries keep the gps memory live Unless there's some physical damage, most likely issue is dead battery.

The replacement is the 125. I'm not sure these are even made any more. Considering this will require installation wiring you might consider replacing the whole thing with a self contained plotter gps. Best source of advice on this would be BOE.

Henry.
 
The battery is in the GPS receiver, soldered to the circuit board. Don't give up hope just yet. Shut off all 12v power to the unit then restart. Basically a cold start reboot. It may, or may not correct the issue. You could also hard wire the receiver direct to 12V power, add a toggle switch to turn it on and off manually each time you need it. Easy to try this at least. You still may end up replacing the recever. Here is an old thread concernig the same issue.

http://clubsearay.com/archive/index.php/t-35673.html
 
Something I guess that is related....

We keep our boat in a covered (metal structure/roof) slip so its hard to test any of the GPS electronics in the slip, or even get familiar with how things work.

While we were anchored in a cove, I turned on my VHF radio. About a minute after starting it, it began to chirp and the display had an "NMEA" indicator on. I assume this is also because of the lack of GPS fix?...assuming the VHF radio is networked with our electronics.

I guess I will attempt a cold start, but I am pretty doubtful this will fix anything. Its hard to justify a $3000.00 electronics upgrade for something that on our waters, is really only needed at night. The boat also has a Radar dome so I dont want to lose any function there either.
 
Just a quick comment: My GPS (same one) once in a while will do the same thing. Its due to a slightly corroded connection to my fuse panel (at the helm). If it happens, I can pull the wire (labeled I believe as chartplotter) and put it back on, sometimes pull the small fuse-- it always gets the fix at that point. .
 
Is your radar transmitting at the same time the GPS will not get a fix? If so you may want to insure that the GPS head is not in line with the
radar transmitter pattern.
 
I only use the radar at night, so no, it should not have been transmitting when I was playing with the plotter. I was having a hard time in the middle of the day yesterday.
 
Hey Dallas, this very thing happened to me last year. I replaced the ray star 120 with the newer 125 unit, powered it up and still got the same "NO FIX" :smt013.
I checked behind the actual monitor and discovered one of the wires had wiggled it self from the back of the unit. So after all that, I didn't even need a new antenna!!!
Goes to show you, check even the simplest thing before spending money. That $325 I spent on the antenna could have went in the gas tank:smt089
 
Kreole Kid said:
Hey Dallas, this very thing happened to me last year. I replaced the ray star 120 with the newer 125 unit, powered it up and still got the same "NO FIX" :smt013.
I checked behind the actual monitor and discovered one of the wires had wiggled it self from the back of the unit. So after all that, I didn't even need a new antenna!!!
Goes to show you, check even the simplest thing before spending money. That $325 I spent on the antenna could have went in the gas tank:smt089
Click to expand...


Somehow I doubt I will be this lucky. With that being said, I will still try to power down everything and check my connections. I emailed Raymarine to see if they will honor any sort of upgrades like they used too.
 
Trust me Dallas, it's worth a try. Just open up the hatch under the steering wheel and stick your head in there and look up at the wiring. You would be surprised at the sh!t that wiggles itself loose on these boats. I felt like a complete jacka$$ after not listening to a few friends telling me to check my connections...
 
I got a different explanation than has been posted so far, both from the marina "expert" and another marine site. That explanation is that there were a batch of Raystar 120 receivers that had a buffer overflow problem. If left powered on for long periods of time then the buffer would offerflow and not allow a fix to be made. The solution was to cycle power to the 120 and essentially "reboot" it. I have a 2004 vintage 120 connected to a SL70CRC. My batteries are on 24-7 so the 120 is powered at all times. I get NO FIX when I turn on the SL70CRC if its been powered off for a long while (remember the 120 is still getting power and is "on"), like a week and maybe longer. When this happens I simply turn my battery switch off for about 20 seconds and then back on again. Works great from that point forward until the next long SL70CRC dormant period. I don't consider it a hassle at all and just another pre-trip check to make.

Not sure if this is your issue - but it may be.
 
Well, I couldn't find any loose wires and a cold restart didn't do anything for me....guess I have to replace the GPS receiver. For those that have done it, how hard is it o run the wire?


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Well....enough is enough....I just got around to ordering s Ray Star 125 from BOE Marine.

Wish me luck!

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Turns out despite the BOE website indicating a 125 being available....they are sold out. Luckily I called my local MarineMax and although they are high priced, they have one in stock. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow and hopefully install it this week sometime.


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Just finished installing a C95 with a RS130 this past weekend. Only problem I had with the sensor cable was getting it thru a small bulkhead. It took some pushing and pulling, but I finally got it. Luckily the cable was by itself and not bound with anything else. I removed the access panels (top and base of arch), and the speaker. Also removed the small storage cubby along the helm seat. Before you start pulling, tie twine to the cable end thats at the back of your display. Now you can start pulling short sections of cable thru. If you look to the right inside the storage cubby you'll see the bulkhead with cables running thru it. Once you get it thru that bulkhead it should be easy the rest of the way. Once you get the old cable out, tie the twine to the new cable and start pulling. Remember to tie twine to the new cable before you start pulling so you will have a "fish" in there in case you have to do anymore wiring. Good Luck
 
I got mine done today. Replaced the original SeaTalk Raystar 120 with the last new 125 in the world....FIXED!


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