Navman Tracker 5100i

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larson250

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Hi,

I've got the above plotter with an internal gps receiver. At the minute it will not locate sattelites it just says "aquiring" on the screen.

The clock runs but starts at 23:59.50 on 12/Apr/03 and then continues as normal.

Is the internal receiver had it?

Can I fit a plug onto the PCB to fit an external receiver? if so how?

Or could it be something else?

Any advice, other than chuck it away would be gratefully accepted :-)

Regards,

Dean
 
I have the Navman 5500i and have had it since 2004. It stopped working in 2006 with the same message you have and I had it repaired via the Service Centre www.marineelectronicservice.com.

It had a common fault in that the internal antenna connection was a bit dodgy. This was resoldered and it is still working perfectly.

If its an old plotter and you don't want to go to the expense of a repair, you could open it up (12 screws) and see if resoldering the antenna connection makes a difference before chucking it away.
 
We had one of these and it took forever to properly aquire after any long duration switched off.

This is because it needed a full almanac download from the satellites which takes between 30 mins and an hour.

Check on the satellite map page whether its even seeing one satellite.

Martin
 
RIN said:
I have the Navman 5500i and have had it since 2004. It stopped working in 2006 with the same message you have and I had it repaired via the Service Centre www.marineelectronicservice.com.

It had a common fault in that the internal antenna connection was a bit dodgy. This was resoldered and it is still working perfectly.

If its an old plotter and you don't want to go to the expense of a repair, you could open it up (12 screws) and see if resoldering the antenna connection makes a difference before chucking it away.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies,

It has been to marine electronic services in the past as there is a sticker on the back with a refrence number on.
I opened it up to have a look at the antenna and it seems well soldered, however I do have a small puck type antenna that I would like to try and connect. But is it as simple as taking one off and soldering the other on. It has coax cable with the centre wire and shield. Would it matter which goes to which?

In reply to the screen, it does not recognise any satellites whatsoever.

I presume the 5100 with external antenna would be the same PCB, it would be nice to know where the antenna plug is wire onto the board.

Regards,

Dean
 
As Gary says, disabling/enabling the GPS section 13.3 of the manual is worth a go. http://www.navmanmarine.net/upload/Marine/Internet_Manuals/5500_5100/5500_5100_eng_web.pdf

Also section 13.3 refers to disabling the internal receiver if an external one is fitted. This is not very clear in the manual but if you look at the wiring diagram at the end, page 35 it does seem to indicate you can use an external NMEA2 input on the blue wire (presumably in conjunction with the ground). A bit out of my depth here but it may be something to consider
 
mlines said:
We had one of these and it took forever to properly aquire after any long duration switched off.

This is because it needed a full almanac download from the satellites which takes between 30 mins and an hour.

Check on the satellite map page whether its even seeing one satellite.

Martin
Click to expand...

As above. How long have you left it turned on for, with a full view of the sky?
 
I dont think you can add gps coax to the NEMA input.

You can add gps location via nema input from another plotter/gps steering engine etc. but you cant just add a coax.

soldering an external coax to the internal one will work but you would need a water proof entry/exit making it unreliable , I dont think a B&W plotter is worth the trouble when there are so many secondhand colour ones on ebay going for £200-£300


If it does find itself after an hour or so left with clear view of the sky then you need to replace the 3v button cell inside which holds memory when turned off , easy to do.

I have a spare as new Northstar 550i I could sell (£300), basically the same but much newer (navman turned into Northstar) colour too.


edit
one here going for £100 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Navman-Tr...tEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item1c262ffa84

Odd too as it comes complete with useless gps antenna :confused:
 
Last edited:
DAKA said:
I dont think you can add gps coax to the NEMA input.

You can add gps location via nema input from another plotter/gps steering engine etc. but you cant just add a coax.

soldering an external coax to the internal one will work but you would need a water proof entry/exit making it unreliable , I dont think a B&W plotter is worth the trouble when there are so many secondhand colour ones on ebay going for £200-£300


If it does find itself after an hour or so left with clear view of the sky then you need to replace the 3v button cell inside which holds memory when turned off , easy to do.

I have a spare as new Northstar 550i I could sell (£300), basically the same but much newer (navman turned into Northstar) colour too.


edit
one here going for £100 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Navman-Tr...tEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item1c262ffa84

Odd too as it comes complete with useless gps antenna :confused:
Click to expand...

Due to being a tight a**e and boating on an extremely tight budget i'm afraid I couldn't afford another at this time.
I have a GPS receiver that I thought I could solder in, but looking at it I don't know whether it matters which wire goes to which terminal so to speak when replacing the existing one. (confused yet? I think I am)

I appreciate the NMEA/Coax scenario won't work, so I will most likely try a smart antenna with NMEA output.

I have put a meter across the internal battery as this was my first thought and it reads over 3v but that was after it had been connected to a power supply for a while.

Thanks for the advice,

Dean
 
I also had one of these which had an identical problem of being unable to find satellites. Sent it away as common fault .Was repaired & worked 'till boat sold.
 
larson250 said:
I left it for about an hour with no success, not even a glimmer of hope.

Dean
Click to expand...

I've got an old Magellan handheld with a dud internal battery. It has taken 2-3 hours before to find a fix. If you can, try leaving it connected up to power and searching for longer. If the battery inside is dead it will need to do this each time it is turned on, but if there is life in it and it gets a regular charge by being turned ion, it may only need this once.
 
I have had the plotter running in the yard for over two hours today and the screen has not changed other than the time.
 
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