GPS

[Guest]

After not owning a boat for a number of years I have recently bought a boat with a Navstar (or Navistar) 2000 GPS system. I have a feeling that this model and satellite system is no longer functioning. Is this correct?

 

[Guest]

Yes, that system was retired about 10 years ago.

It did not work very well although at the time it was a technological breakthrough. You sometimes had to wait hours to get a fix and the accuracy was nothing like we get from modern GPS.

 

[Guest]

It's old, but it might just work.

Before GPS there was another, simpler, satellite navigation system called Transat I think, and most Navstars were designed to use that. It was turned off about 6 years ago.

But some later Navstar 2000's were adapted to use GPS instead. It sounds like yours may be one.

An additional complication was that in 1997 there was a 'date roll-over' on GPS and some older systems could not cope with this. Also, the electronics in the receiving arial of some early GPS systems seemed prone to fail after a few years. I don't think they liked thunderstorms.

So it might work, but don't count on it.