Anyone else having trouble with time/date display on Simrad MFDs?

[cjheath]

Hello all, having emailed B&G (et al) a few days ago i go this reply (their typos not mine)....


****************
Hi Chris,

Greetings

Our researcha nd development team is aware of the issue and tehy are currently working on it.

Regards,

Thank you for choosing Navico products!
APAC Technical Service Team

Australia 1300-628426 | Local Number: +61 2 99361000
New Zealand 0800 4 628426 | Local Number: +64 9 9254500
apac.support@lowrance.com | apac.support@simrad-yachting.com | apac.support@bandg.com
Web: www.navico.com



*************


So i guess it's fair to say it's a known tech problem with their product and all we can do is wait for a solution (software upgrade?) from Navico. Hopefully we wont be waiting too long!

[billknny]

A little update on this ongoing GPS issue.

It started on October 22, 2018 when the "week code" cycled from 999 to 1000. This code is broadcast as a 10 digit binary number, but the calculations to turn it into a human readable date are done in decimal. Apparently the manufacturer of the GPS engine did not allocate enough memory to handle a week number of >999.

This affects several different makers of instruments, none of whom make their own GPS chips. I haven't seen the name of the offending party yet. If you are a clever lawyer looking for a class action lawsuit this might be an opportunity for you!

In my case, the malfunctioning device is a B&G Zeus Touch, T12.

I was able to partially fix the issue by installing a ZG100 standalone GPS on my NMEA2000 network and set the "GPS Source" to that device.

Unfortunately, the T12 still insists on sending out what it thinks is the correct time on the network. Today (Dec 4, 2018) it is broadcasting the date as April 21, 99. Some devices on the network interpret this as "1999," some as "2099," and others recognize it as invalid and ignore it. Depending in what the device is this varies from a minor annoyance, to incapacitating. For example, I use software on my computer to log sailing data, and it relies on the network time stamp to sort the data. When it rejects the time as invalid, it can not longer time stamp the data.

I did call Navico Tech Support today. As I expected, "Engineering is working on it." But what I really wanted to do was find a way to turn off the GPS engine inside the T12 so it would stop contaminating the network with invalid dates. Unfortunately, that can not be done.

There is another one of these vulnerabilities to poor coding coming up in April 2019 when the 10 digit binary code for the date goes from 1024 to 0000. That one actually is more widely anticipated, so MAYBE has been better addressed...

We were lucky--this time. The software error did not affect the reported position--only the date output. Another kind of mistake could easily be waiting for us that will disable some, most or all of our GPS devices.

If you are one of those who thinks that paper charts and traditional navigation skills are archaic and irrelevant, maybe you should think again.

[Jeffmer]

Hi ! Anybody found a solution for this ? Any new updates from Simrad technical service or R and D department? My friend has Simrad NSS 8 and start to have this problem at the end of October.

[continuouswave]

Originally Posted by Jeffmer

Anybody found a solution for this?

There is a very good probability that if you wait for the GPS WEEK EPOCH to rollover to 0 on April 6, 2019, your affected GPS receiver will resume properly indicating the date. A boating enthusiast with access to a GPS simulator and several NAVICO chart plotters has tested and found that they begin to work properly after April 6, 2019.

I wrote a concise explanation of the problem in a recent article. See

GPS Week Rollover Is Coming in April 2019 - CONTINUOUSWAVE

Not all NAVICO products are affected. The likely cause of the problem is not in the firmware of the chart plotter but in the embedded firmware in the internal GPS receiver chip in use. I doubt there will be a solution available for that.

You might want to look at the NMEA-0183 data coming from the GPS receiver; look at the sentences RMC or ZDA. They contain the date information.

Also see this very good article about the week rollover situation:

https://www.spirent.com/blogs/positi...-rollover-week

[Jeffmer]

Thank you very much for your answer ! Very well explained

[continuouswave]

Update:

NAVICO has begun to release updater packages for the GPS date problem. From what I can tell (by peaking at the shell.script embedded in the updater file package) the update DOES attempt to alter the firmware in the GPS receiver chip by communicating with it over an internal serial port connection.

Here is an article that gives URLs for some pages for various Lowrance chart plotters:

https://www.thehulltruth.com/12085080-post84.html

I have not tried any of these myself.

[capblasters]

The thread on the SIMRAD knowledge base indicates they have a solution a will post a firmware update 'soon'.
"We are aware of an issue affecting the date shown on displays received from the GPS module.

This issue has been confirmed by our GPS chip provider, ST Micro. New firmware has now been developed by ST Micro and proven to correct the date.

The new firmware has now been integrated in the software programs for the affected products. As there are no other changes, the software version will remain unchanged, but the platform number will increase. For example, 28289-r1 to -r2.

New software will soon be available to download from our websites for affected products. Meanwhile, we apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused."

https://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-a...6-acd11db3813d

[deep_coolman]

Software fix available for date and time issue. Contact Navico.

[stevej519]

Howdy, I have a NSS8. Navico Sydney advised me that an Addendum dated Jan 2019 has been added to the 2014 software Update which addresses the problem. It worked for me!!!

[waterman46]

Iran tbe update on my Zeus 12 but wben it got to RESTARTING the unit turned off and did not restart.. Now default date is Nov 12, 2018 but at leazt the tide tables seem correct when I manually enter current date.

[capblasters]

Updated reply from the SIMRAD support people:

'We became aware of this issue affecting the date shown on chartplotters using data from the integrated GPS module. This issue was confirmed by our GPS chip provider, ST Micro. New firmware was developed by ST Micro and proven to solve the issue. New firmware has been successfully integrated into the software for affected products. Upgrading to the latest version will ensure the date is shown correctly. https://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-a...6-acd11db3813d

I will test this weekend.

[PJHoffnet]

SIMRAD has put out a software update for the older NSS. Another boater has reported it works. I can't get to the boat for a few days, but will report back after I give it a go.
Software

[Reefmagnet]

I updated my B&G Zeus Touch and can confirm the update fixes date and time.

[PJHoffnet]

Originally Posted by PJHoffnet

SIMRAD has put out a software update for the older NSS. Another boater has reported it works. I can't get to the boat for a few days, but will report back after I give it a go.
Software

Installed update on 18 JAN on my NSS12 (old, pre EVO) and worked. Back to normal ops.

[pitlaw]

Where did you find the update? I do not see a reference to it on the Simrad site. In fact I dont see anything for the now unsupported NSS series. Thanks