External antenna on Nuvi 760

 

Has anyone tried to use the rear external antenna on the their Nuvi? My Nuvi takes several minutes to acquire Sat signal and I was wondering if using an external antenna would help. Did you buy one from Garmin?

Adding an external antenna

Adding an external antenna may not increase the boot-up speed. It's a function of the GPS processor and the amount of data you have in the unit If it has a clear view of the sky, it's proably going as fast as it can. These things are not real powerful, - or fast - computers.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

I put an external antenna on

I put an external antenna on a c320, seemed to make the reception worse. not sure if it was because it was one of those cheap ebay antennas??

As A_User says, it won't

As A_User says, it won't decrease boot time, but it may help sat aquisition time, some. But it still takes time for it to receive the ephemeris information and the satellites control how often that is sent, so you will have to wait on that anyway.

If you can find one fairly cheap, you can try it, but I wouldn't pop $40 just to find out it didn't help.

Here is a quick test to see if it will help. After letting it set turned off for 24 hours or more, Stand out side with the unit screen facing you, and the top edge facing the clear sky, with no trees, or houses close, turn it on and see if it aquires any faster. Time it, don't guess.

Then the next time you want to turn it on after being off overnight, turn it on in the car. Don't move till it aquires, and again, time it. See if there is any noticible difference in aquisition time.

If you are moving when you turn it on, it will take 2-3 times longer to aquire than if you are sitting still. Example, if I turn my on in the am and leave the house, I can drive 3/4 of a mile before it aquires. This takes me about 45-60 seconds. If I sit still, it will aquire in 30 seconds or less. This is on a cold start.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

Just curious

What version of software are you using? Version 4.80 released in May 2009 improves sat acquisition considerably.

Not necessarily satellite related

pungo wrote:

.... My Nuvi 760 takes several minutes to acquire Sat signal ...

Your startup delay might have nothing to do with satellite acquisition. If the status display during your startup delay says "loading maps" you are probably experiencing a known 760 problem. While the exact cause is not known, many of us have found that periodic (like every couple days) clearing of the Trip Log can seem to allow our 760's to boot up MUCH faster. There is more going on than just the Trip Log, but it helps. This behavior started with the 4.6 firmware and has continued with the 4.8 firmware. What seems to work best for me is when I arrive at my destination, I clear the Trip Log and then immediately shut it off when it's done.

let me know

I have not tried it yet. Let me know what your results are. My 760 takes a while to aquire sats as well.

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Beechcreek

No difference

I'm using an external antenna because I have my 760 mounted low on the center console, and I don't get a good signal otherwise, but when I have it in "view" of the satellites without the antenna, I don't see any difference in start up or acquisition time.

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The Moose Is Loose! nuvi 760

external antenna on 760

My GPS is low in my console, and gets poor reception without the external antenna. With the external antenna, accuracy is with 15-17'. The only other aid is that the GPS has an easier time locating itself in proximity to the satellites. I find that, with 1/4 mile (and approximately 30-40 seconds after starting the car) I have a satellite lock by my GPS.

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Cleveland, OH Nuvi 780

Boot time

pungo wrote:

Has anyone tried to use the rear external antenna on the their Nuvi? My Nuvi takes several minutes to acquire Sat signal and I was wondering if using an external antenna would help. Did you buy one from Garmin?

An external antenna might give some minor improvement in accuracy but probably won't reduce the time needed to 'acquire' the satellites. Most of that time is spent downloading data from the satellites. If the unit has been off for more than about 8 hours, it needs to download completely new data. The satellite bandwidth is low so the data speed is low, don't be surprised if your GPS takes as much as 15 minutes to reach full rated accuracy. It can navigate using only 4 satellites but it needs the full data set on all 12 of it's channels (satellites) to reach full accuracy.

Jack j

clear track log

Make sure you clear the track log regularly. The log holds a lot of data that needs to be cleared and it will improve satellite acquisition.

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etrex vista, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 650, Nuvi 750(3)

Enternal Antenna / Poor Sat. Signal

I went from Atlanta, Ga to Knowville, Tenn on business last week. Weather was overcast with a little clear sky every so often. I could not acquire a sat. signal for 100 miles on I-75 North no matter when I did to reset my 350. I tried everything. When I did get a signal, it would drop off after 5 or 10 miles. Yesterday, I was driving in blinding rain and the unit acquired the sat. signal in a few minutes and never dropped it the enrire 100 mile trip. I would have thought that a rainy day would be worst for reception then a partly cloudy day. I have even had poor reception on a clear day. I have read that the Gilssen Antenna that Fisher GPS sells on Ebay is a quality product. I just may try it.

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JG - Nuvi 2460