Lowrance charplotter problem

[Fascadale]

My Lowrance 3500c is now saying "GPS module not responding"

The unit is about 5 years old and has an external antenna, a Lowrance LGC 2000. I have already replaced the antenna once before.

Is there any reason for using a Lowrance branded antenna?

If I were to buy one of these,, cut its plug off and put the Lowrance one on would it work?

Any other suggestions?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

My Lowrance 3500c is now saying "GPS module not responding"

The unit is about 5 years old and has an external antenna, a Lowrance LGC 2000. I have already replaced the antenna once before.

Is there any reason for using a Lowrance branded antenna?

If I were to buy one of these,, cut its plug off and put the Lowrance one on would it work?

Any other suggestions?

Almost certainly not. The LGC2000 is (a Google search tells me) a GPS receiver as well as an antenna; your eBay special is purely an antenna without a receiver. The fact the eBay antenna has a BNC connector is also indicative of this. So, the chances of it working are slim to non-existent.

 

[Fascadale]

Any other suggestions before I give up on the Lowrance and get myself a new plotter?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Any other suggestions before I give up on the Lowrance and get myself a new plotter?

It may well be that another GPS receiver will work - but the chances are it will cost as much as the LGC2000. If the connection is a standard NMEA one, then pretty much any GPS receiver COULD be interfaced - but figuring out how might be more trouble than it's worth. If a standard NMEA one will work, then you might get lucky and find that you can interface a GPS "mouse" to it. They are a few tens of pounds, but of course are not waterproof!.

FWIW, the PLOTTER is fine - it is your GPS receiver that is not.

 

[Fascadale]

It may well be that another GPS receiver will work - but the chances are it will cost as much as the LGC2000. If the connection is a standard NMEA one, then pretty much any GPS receiver COULD be interfaced - but figuring out how might be more trouble than it's worth. If a standard NMEA one will work, then you might get lucky and find that you can interface a GPS "mouse" to it. They are a few tens of pounds, but of course are not waterproof!.

FWIW, the PLOTTER is fine - it is your GPS receiver that is not.

Do you think this sort of thing would do?

I could perhaps cut off its USB and try to marry the cable to the Lowrance GPS cable

Whats the difference between a GPS receiver and an antenna, or is that a particularly ignorant question?

 

[aslabend]

Carefully check the cable from the antenna to the chart plotter. If it's getting crushed going through a bulkhead, one of the small wires may have been broken resulting in a loss of signal.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Do you think this sort of thing would do?

I could perhaps cut off its USB and try to marry the cable to the Lowrance GPS cable

Whats the difference between a GPS receiver and an antenna, or is that a particularly ignorant question?

A GPS antenna simply receives the radio signal, possibly amplifies it a bit and sends it down a wire for further processing by a receiver. A GPS receiver has the equipment for detecting and decoding the GPS signal. It outputs a digital signal (typically NMEA) that carries the position information and so on.

I'd guess getting a USB dongle and trying to wire it directly to the plotter won't work- but this is getting well beyond what I know. If I were you, I'd try and find out what the interface between your plotter and the LGC2000 is - I'd guess it is almost certainly NMEA, or one of its variants. That means that USB won't work, but a serial interface might. Is there an NMEA input into your plotter? If there is, maybe the NMEA output from A.N.Other GPS will work.

This Thread may give you some ideas.

 

[Fascadale]

A GPS antenna simply receives the radio signal, possibly amplifies it a bit and sends it down a wire for further processing by a receiver. A GPS receiver has the equipment for detecting and decoding the GPS signal. It outputs a digital signal (typically NMEA) that carries the position information and so on.

I'd guess getting a USB dongle and trying to wire it directly to the plotter won't work- but this is getting well beyond what I know. If I were you, I'd try and find out what the interface between your plotter and the LGC2000 is - I'd guess it is almost certainly NMEA, or one of its variants. That means that USB won't work, but a serial interface might. Is there an NMEA input into your plotter? If there is, maybe the NMEA output from A.N.Other GPS will work.

This Thread may give you some ideas.

Many thanks

 

[mdonnelly]

There was a post that mentioned www.gps-galore.co.uk

 

[EagerV]

My Lowrance 3500c is now saying "GPS module not responding"

The unit is about 5 years old and has an external antenna, a Lowrance LGC 2000. I have already replaced the antenna once before.

Is there any reason for using a Lowrance branded antenna?

If I were to buy one of these,, cut its plug off and put the Lowrance one on would it work?

Any other suggestions?

The same happened on my Lowrance 3500C a few years ago.
Have you done the update on the external antenna? Mine has been perfect ever since. I think they were too sensitive and were been knocked out by close strong radar signals, or so I was told.

It should work again after you do a full unit reset, but you will probably loose any waypoints and other settings on your machine.

 

[Fascadale]

The same happened on my Lowrance 3500C a few years ago.
Have you done the update on the external antenna? Mine has been perfect ever since. I think they were too sensitive and were been knocked out by close strong radar signals, or so I was told.

It should work again after you do a full unit reset, but you will probably loose any waypoints and other settings on your machine.

This sounds promising.
How do you do the update?

 

[EagerV]

This sounds promising.
How do you do the update?

I cannot remember precisely, but explained well on the Lowrance web site. http://www.lowrance.com/Downloads/Product-Software-Updates/. Go into product software updates and scroll down to the antenna type. You will need a blank SD type card, as used in many cameras. Also you will need a card writer, standard on most computers.

Before you do the update I would first try a master reset, worked for me when I had the same problem. You will I think loose waypoints though. I cannot remember how to do it, but is well explained in the manual. Involves holding down a few buttons and turning set on.

Best of luck, after 5 years use with mine I have yet to see anything better in its size.

 

[Fascadale]

I cannot remember precisely, but explained well on the Lowrance web site. http://www.lowrance.com/Downloads/Product-Software-Updates/. Go into product software updates and scroll down to the antenna type. You will need a blank SD type card, as used in many cameras. Also you will need a card writer, standard on most computers.

Before you do the update I would first try a master reset, worked for me when I had the same problem. You will I think loose waypoints though. I cannot remember how to do it, but is well explained in the manual. Involves holding down a few buttons and turning set on.

Best of luck, after 5 years use with mine I have yet to see anything better in its size.

Thanks
I'll try that
I agree, a fine little bit of kit although its a shame you cannot plug an AIS into it

 

[kwb78]

The Lowrance module just outputs NMEA sentences. We have the the monochrome versions of that chartplotter and it failed in a similar way, and prior to that it wasn't uncommon for it to lose the signal for brief periods. It's since been replaced with a different GPS module, but I can't remember the brand off hand. It works very well and is faster to obtain a position and is more reliable than the Lowrance module ever was.