Raystar 120 GPS sees satellites, but gets no fix

[nwh10]

We have a Raymarine C80 display with radar, depth sounder, and GPS connected to it. Everything worked fine last season. After winter layup, the Raystar 120 GPS is not getting a fix. The boat had this equipment when we bought it three years ago. I believe it was installed in 2005.

A week ago, we disconnected and reconnected the cables and tried various displays. Just as we pressed the power button to turn the dang thing off, the GPS got a fix. All was well for the rest of our outing.

Yesterday, the GPS was again not getting a fix. Disconnected and reconnected. Nothing.

In Menu/GPS Setup/Status, satellites and the time are displayed, but with a No Fix message. I tried the restart function - no joy. Started googling when we got home.

I've learned that the soldered battery in the GPS unit may have gone bad. We're willing to try replacing it if that seems logical. But how do you remove the GPS unit? Isn't the cable hard-wired into it? So that means we have to find the other end. I went looking for it today...it is not readily accessible...might have to remove a window. YIkes.

Any input would be welcome.

Nancy

[sailorboy1]

I first had this problem 4 years ago and to date have done nothing. I just power the system up well before I need it and it seems to work. Every once in a while I restart the GPS track in the chartplotter.

But if yours really dies the real answer is a replacement GPS unit that you connect via your NEMA

[smac999]

the 120's are all dead. even the newer 125's are all now dying. time for a new one. you can get the 130 with a seatalk converter kit.

[nwh10]

Originally Posted by smac999

the 120's are all dead. even the newer 125's are all now dying. time for a new one. you can get the 130 with a seatalk converter kit.

The 130 and kit are pricey! If it comes to that, I may seriously consider adding a GPS to an iPad and running Garmin or Navionics software.

Are you familiar with the Digital Yacht GPS150 DualNav Sensor? Supposedly, it's a replacement for the 125.

[nwh10]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I first had this problem 4 years ago and to date have done nothing. I just power the system up well before I need it and it seems to work. Every once in a while I restart the GPS track in the chartplotter.

But if yours really dies the real answer is a replacement GPS unit that you connect via your NEMA

We ran for an hour yesterday and never got a fix.

[sailorboy1]

Before you spend a bunch of money on a new GPS antenna consider that your C80 is pretty old and it may make more sense to just replace it with a newer unit that has internal antenna.

But everything I've read the Digital Yacht unit is the way to go for replacement antenna

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by nwh10

We have a Raymarine C80 display with radar, depth sounder, and GPS connected to it. Everything worked fine last season. After winter layup, the Raystar 120 GPS is not getting a fix. The boat had this equipment when we bought it three years ago. I believe it was installed in 2005.

A week ago, we disconnected and reconnected the cables and tried various displays. Just as we pressed the power button to turn the dang thing off, the GPS got a fix. All was well for the rest of our outing.

Yesterday, the GPS was again not getting a fix. Disconnected and reconnected. Nothing.

In Menu/GPS Setup/Status, satellites and the time are displayed, but with a No Fix message. I tried the restart function - no joy. Started googling when we got home.

I've learned that the soldered battery in the GPS unit may have gone bad. We're willing to try replacing it if that seems logical. But how do you remove the GPS unit? Isn't the cable hard-wired into it? So that means we have to find the other end. I went looking for it today...it is not readily accessible...might have to remove a window. YIkes.

Any input would be welcome.

Nancy

I had to replace mine because the battery died. I went to a local Raymarine dealer. This was a local marine electronics shop, not a mass marketer, and he gave me a $100 credit on the purchase of a replacement. He said this was a Ray Marine program, not his local shop's. It did soften the blow a little bit. This was two years ago and I don't know if the program is still running, but maybe you should check it out.

The built in GPS systems sometimes work great and sometimes don't. It kind of depends on where it's mounted and what kind of stuff is between it and the satellites. A lot of metal or wiring tends to be not good and an external receiver/antenna with a clear view of the sky is needed. On the other hand modern receivers are much more sensitive than they were a few years ago and have no trouble with a bit of fiberglass or wood in the overhead.

[nwh10]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Before you spend a bunch of money on a new GPS antenna consider that your C80 is pretty old and it may make more sense to just replace it with a newer unit that has internal antenna.

But everything I've read the Digital Yacht unit is the way to go for replacement antenna

You make a good point on the age of the C80. I've always said that if I had to replace the electronics, I'd choose something other than Raymarine due to the high price and the difficulty of integrating with equipment from other manufacturers. But if I could replace just the display with one that includes GPS, and keep the existing 4D radar and depthsounder units, I'd consider sticking with Raymarine.

The other possibility is to equip my iPad, which sits unused, with a Bad Elf GPS and Navionics or Garmin charts. That seems almost too easy.

[nwh10]

Thanks, Captain Bill. I have a call in to Raymarine, and will ask whether the trade-in program is still in place.

[hamburking]

I had a similar problem with my Raymarine CP. Fixed it by doing a factory reset...its a button sequence you can do on startup. Worked great for a few months, then had to repeat. I can live with it.

On my CP you hold down "clear" and power on. Only a few settings are lost, and all my waypoints. Beats buying a new CP.

[skipgundlach]

Your C80 (not specified as to classic or wide) may well be just fine - but if it's the classic, it won't talk to the current radars, nor, if you replace it with current gear, will your radar talk to it.

It's why we went with a C120Classic after installing a new (at the time) radar to go with our freebie RL70CRC which we used for the first couple of years until it just got a bit too small for these old eyes; it worked just fine and is, still, with the guy who bought it and all our chart chips.

Restarting with new radar and plotter is a very big price tag for us. So, we went with a newly-discontinued, used, C120Classic.

Back to original, there are good threads on replacing the battery in the Raymarine forum; it may be worth the effort, even if you have to cut the current cable and make a terminal block or some other after-makeup, to try that first.

Also to the original, when my 125 died (presumed, I was never able to find a working buddy boat to mount it to (the line in that case came off a connector)), I went to Raymarine's recommendation of the then-current Digital Yacht 125. So far, it's working...

[canyonbat]

Went through all that last year, including spending lots of time on the Raymarine tech service board and trying resets, etc. Eventually replaced our C70 display with an a70 with internal GPS. The difference is astounding! Not sure what to do with the old 120 now. If I take it off there will be a noticeable circle with holes and faded area. Maybe paint a smiley face on it?

[Sinbad51]

I Was having the same problem with mine. I got an Evermore replacement GPS that attaches to the NMEA input of the Plotter and it works better tha the 120 ever did.

[nwh10]

Skip, Canyon, Sinbad - Thanks for your input. Our C80 is the classic format.

I had a very helpful conversation this morning with Chris at Raymarine. The first thing to try is replacing the CR2032 battery in the GPS unit. If that doesn't work, it probably means that the receiver sensitivity has degraded over time. In that case, he suggested the Digital Yacht GPS150 unit.

One of my concerns was how to disconnect the 120 and reconnect. Chris assured me that the cable can be cut and successfully spliced as long as it's done with care. That will make it a lot easier as the existing splice seems to be inaccessible. Well, I guess everything is accessible somehow, but this splice is not *easily* accessible. A window might have to come out.

As for swapping out the C80 for a new model, that would mean replacing the radar as well. The existing radar is analog; new technology is digital. I'm not excited about an expense of that magnitude. For the cost of this equipment, it should last a lot longer than ten years.

[sainted]

It is a shame that Marine electronics are so expensive, but you have to consider the special environmental issues they face (water, daylight viewing) and economies of scale. Just think of how many iPads Apple makes compared to raymarine makes multifunction units. Unfortunately, technology marches on for the Marine electronics companies seem at the same rate it does for computer companies. That's life. Anyway, I'm not wild about iPads as navigation devices. Poor daylight viewing mostly.