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GPS Secrets
GPS Hidden Secrets
Most electronic devices contain hidden diagnostic screens or setup menus
that are used by the manufacturer to diagnose faults and possibly remedy
them. GPS receivers are no different, but because of their limited number of
buttons, numerous complicated keystrokes are of ten needed to access such
menus so that users don’t accidentally find them.
You are unlikely to get any tech support for any of the undocumented fea-
tures of your GPS unit, and these screens offer plenty of opportunity to
cause problems and mess up your unit. Take care and don’t make any
changes unless you are sure of what you are doing.
If you do make changes, take the following precautions:
Make a note of the changes you are making — that includes any new
settings and their original values.
Don’t make too many changes at once. Better still, make one change
at a time.
If the unit appears worse after the change you made, undo the
change immediately.
If the unit doesn’t allow you to reverse a change, you will have to reset the device (details are provided later in this chapter).
Garmin Secret Screens
In this section, I show you the secrets that are specific to GPS units from Garmin. Icover the
older units, including the GPS III and III+, all the way up to the modern eTrex and Geko
lines. I also include some specialized units, such as the Forerunner, which is designed to be
worn on your wrist for hands-free outdoor activities, and the iQue, which is a combination
GPS and Palm PDA.
Hard Resets
A hard reset wipes out all the data in your GPS and returns the unit to its initial factory set-
tings. If you’re having trouble with your unit and a soft reset doesn’t help, a hard reset may be
your only recourse.
Most of the hard reset sequences are complicated, to ensure that you don’t press them by acci-
dent. Some of these key combinations require an extra hand, or another person, to assist you.
To confuse the issue further, different models of GPS use different terms for a hard reset.
Several models call it a master reset, for example.
The iQue 3600 is an exception. In this case, a hard reset wipes out all data on the iQue, but
leaves any GPS-related data present.
Here are the hard reset keys for the various Garmin products.
Model
Hard Reset Key
iQue 3600
RESET + POWER
Forerunner
RESET + POWER
StreetPilot
Hold down the MENU and FIND and PAGE buttons and switch the unit on
using the POWER button.
Geko
Press down all the keys except the DOWN key and hold that for 5 seconds.
eTrex
For units that don’t have the click-stick, hold the UP and ENTER keys and
then press the POWER button.
For click-stick units, hold the PAGE button down while at the same time
holding the click-stick in the down position and powering up the unit.
GPS 60/60CS
Hold down ENTER and the PAGE buttons while powering up.
GPS 76/76C/76CS Hold down ENTER and the PAGE buttons while powering up.
GPS 176
Simultaneously hold down the button, the NAV button and the QUIT button
and then tap the POWER button. Make sure that you continue to hold all the
buttons until the unit switches on.
eMap
Hold ESC while powering up the unit.
Soft Resets
A soft reset is a way to erase all the data in your GPS’s memory and restart the system. Any set-
tings you’ve changed are kept, but any waypoints, routes, or other data is deleted. You might
want to do this when you’re having problems with your unit. A soft reset isn’t as destructive to
the settings as a hard reset, so if you’re trying to fix your unit, you should try a soft reset first.
Only the Garmin iQue 3600 and Forerunner models have a soft reset feature. On the iQue, a
soft reset deletes all the volatile memory, but any data saved in applications is retained.
Here are the soft reset keys for the Garmin products that have this feature.
Model
Soft Reset Key
iQue 3600
RESET
Forerunner
Switch the unit off. Then press and hold down MODE + ENTER while
pressing and releasing POWER. The screen should turn light gray. Continue
holding the MODE and ENTER button until the startup screen appears.
Warm Resets
The warm reset feature is unique to the iQue 3600. It’s less dangerous than a soft reset, because
it is the equivalent of booting a PC and reloading the applications. Memory management on
handheld devices isn’t as good as on a desktop PC, and periodic warm resets help to solve
problems and speed up operation. This type of reset can be useful for solving operating system
issues with the unit. To perform a warm reset on the iQue, press RESET and SCROLL UP.
Full GPS Resets
The full reset is another function unique to the iQue. This reset wipes out all GPS data on the
unit, but only GPS data. The PDA data remains intact. To perform a full reset on the iQue,
press the RESET, ESC, and DateBook keys simultaneously.
Diagnostic Screens
The diagnostic screens on many GPS units give you access to an array of information about the
unit. The screens available vary depending on which unit you have, but most of them will tell
you the version of the firmware you’re running and the battery voltage. Some will also tell you
the temperature of the unit.
Here are the keys to access the diagnostic screens for the various Garmin products.
Model
Access Diagnostic Screens
Forerunner
Hold down ENTER and switch the unit on.
StreetPilot
Hold down the MENU and FIND buttons and switch the unit on using
the POWER button.
Geko
Press OK while powering the unit on.
eTrex
If your unit doesn’t have the click-stick, hold the UP and PAGE keys and
then press the POWER button.
If you have the click-stick, hold it in the down position and then power up.
GPS 60/60CS
Hold ENTER while powering up the unit.
GPS 76/76C/76CS Hold ENTER while powering up the unit.
GPS 176
Hold ENTER while powering up the unit. (This only works with a limited
number of firmware versions.)
eMap
Hold ENTER while powering up the unit.
GPS 76S
Hold OK while powering up the unit.
GPS III and GPS III+ Power up the unit while holding down the ENTER key.
Garmin GPS III Test Screens
The Garmin GPS III and GPS III+ have a number of test screens that warrant special men-
tion here. As mentioned in the earlier table, you enter this mode by powering up the unit while
holding down the ENTER key.
The test screen is used by Garmin for final testing and calibration of the unit, so if at all possi-
ble, only enter this mode when you can avoid getting a signal for the GPS satellites. The best
place to do this is indoors away from doors and windows. Check for satellite coverage before
entering this mode and bear in mind that satellites are continuously moving, so no signal now
is no guarantee of no signal later during the day or night.
If your unit does pick up a signal, it’s not the end of the world and no permanent harm will be
done. The worst that can happen is that you may experience a little longer lockup times, or you
might have to perform a full cold start to get it running again. You might also experience con-
tinued longer lockup times for a while until the unit recalibrates itself under use or from being
left in the open while on.
The Garmin GPS III has a removable antenna, and unplugging it is a good way to ensure that
no GPS signal lock can be obtained.
The test screen may also appear of its own accord — this can occur automatically if the unit
detects a failure during power up.
You can use this mode to verify certain operations of the unit. For example, pressing each key
will cause the corresponding key in the display to darken. Defective buttons won’t cause this to
happen.
Pressing the ENTER key twice in a succession will cause a graphic pixel test to run. This can
be used to highlight any bad pixels on the display. Pressing the ENTER key again will further
test the display. Pressing the ENTER key one more time will return you to the main test
screen.
Pressing the POWER/LAMP key will show up onscreen and actually cause the backlight to
illuminate.
Autolocating
Most units make the autolocate function a default feature. he autolocate feature deletes previ-
ous satellite data (the almanac) and downloads new data. It can sometime be very handy to
force the GPS to download the almanac and “rediscover" where it is in the world. Some
devices, such as the Garmin iQue 3600 and Geko, have an autolocate function that’s plainly
accessible to the user. Others have the feature, but it’s hidden. The following table describes the
keystrokes you can use to force autolocate for units on which it’s hidden.
Model
Force Autolocate Key
Forerunner
With the unit off, press and hold down the DOWN key while pressing and
releasing the POWER key.
StreetPilot
Hold down the PAGE and FIND buttons and then switch the unit on using
the POWER button.
eMap
Hold FIND while powering up the unit.
GPS III and GPS III+ Press and hold down the PAGE button while switching the unit on.
After a Hard or Soft Reset
If you are unfortunate enough to have to perform a full reset on your unit using one of the
sequences I’ve detailed in this chapter, you will need to allow the unit to download a full
almanac from the GPS satellites before you can resume normal use.
To do this, you first need to place the unit in a location where a good satellite lock can be
achieved. This process can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, and I recommend doing this
outdoors in a spot with a clear view of the sky. I also suggest that you keep the unit stationary,
oriented vertically (upright) if it contains a helix antenna and horizontally if it uses a patch
antenna (consult the manual for more details); otherwise, the process can take a lot longer.
After the first lock, you will need another 10 to 15 minutes to get the almanac reloaded.
There’s usually no onscreen indication that the almanac has been downloaded, but you can usu-
ally find out if it has been loaded by checking the date and time on the unit — if it is correct,
or if the unit has a good lock on the satellites and is displaying location coordinates, then the
almanac has been retrieved.
If your unit is a WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System)–capable receiver, you will also have
to allow the unit to download the WAAS almanac too. This can take some time; and if you are
in Europe, you need to place the unit in a location where it has a view of the near horizon.
Without the WAAS almanac loaded, the GPS will still report GPS positional information.
Remember that the time will be shown as UTC time (or GMT) because your local time offset
will have been lost in the reset.
Now you can reload all of your preferences into the unit, including data such as the following:
Time zone information
Daylight saving information
Coordinate format
Battery type
Finally, you will need to upload all your waypoints and saved routes to your unit, so it is impor-
tant to keep a backup of your data.
Information on other brands and other models are coming soon... |
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