LT-40 won't acquire satellite

[konadude]

I am on my third LT-40 receiver, and still can't get it to acquire satellites. I have a Gateway laptop running Windows XP (Media Center Edition) with latest updates. I have recently installed Street Atlas 2010.

When it is trying to acquire satellites, I see many grey sats....then, a red one...maybe two or three....then they all turn grey again. Now and then...after about 45 minutes, a green one may appear....only to turn grey again.

I have been on the phone with Delorme twice in the last few days and they don not know what is going on. (hence, my third receiver). All my USB ports are working normally with any other device I try in them (external hard drive, WiFi antenna, mouse, TV antenna) I have removed all devices except the LT-40. I have disabled my virus software. Still no luck.

The only thing left that I can think of is adding more memory to my computer. (It has only 512) Would upgrading the memory another 1gb help?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Konadude

[Dan Lawyer]

Dumb question, but are you inside? I ask this because of all the other stuff you said works, and because depending on your house construction, won't work at all, or well inside. Other electronics can cause problems too.

The first time it is turned on takes a while for it to get completely synced with the satellites, it has to download data.

If you are inside, take it outside, under a clear blue sky no tree cover, and try it there. It may take a few minutes.

[konadude]

Not a dumb question at all. I will have to wait until Sunday....going to be raining until then. I'm in my motor home and did have it sitting on the window sil of an open window the other day with no acquistion....*beep* sure going to try again, tho. Thanks.

[xapie128]

Not a dumb question at all. I will have to wait until Sunday....going to be raining until then. I'm in my motor home and did have it sitting on the windowsill of an open window the other day with no acquisition.

Do you have a cab-over that blocks the front view of the sky? If not, you'd be better off placing it on the dash next to the windshield.

The problem with a side window is that the motor home is blocking a good percentage of the sky. To get a good fix, a GPS receiver needs satellites in various portions of the sky. The more spread out they are, the better the mathematical solution.

[alandb]

I have read in some other forums about GPS signal blocking in certain vehicles from "athermic" windows. I don't know if RV's ever have that type of window glazing, but you might ask your dealer about it.

[Dan Lawyer]

Other ideas, depending on your MH setup.....

If your front glass slopes to any degree, that is a good place to put the LT-40, but not right next to it. Rig something so it's just lightly tilted forward, but mostly up, away from wipers blades.

If nothing else works, and you have a fiberglass roof or rubber roof, then try it in an overhead cabinet, the cord should be long enough. Put it as close to the ceiling as you can, even if you have to set it on top of some books or boxes. You could actually use a piece of cloth Velcro to attach it to the roofing material if it's the type Velcro will stick to.

Roof vent or skylights are other options, but normally not convenient at all.

I would get that first fix outside though, after that once you find a place inside that works, you can setup something more permanent. There are long USB extension cables you can get so you can run a line to wherever your computer is, so you don't have to fiddle with it every time you want to use it.

Just some more options...been there, done that, retired;>) RV is rotting in the driveway

[flood]

we drive a semi and the lt-20 would never work when it was on the dash the windshild just doesn't have enought slope to it so we had it in the skylight (riged up a washcloth holder "walmart" for like 1.50) to hold it and a 6ft usb cord. now that we have the lt-40 sitting IN the overhead and it reads right through the roof. most of the time it has a lock by the time delorme has started.

[konadude]

The first two LT-40's I tried were positioned everywhere I could think of, including outside on a clear day. After about 3 hours I gave up. The third one, which I have now (thanks to Best Buy) is working GREAT. I have a Class A and have the receiver sitting on the dashboard and every satellite is green.

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. I'm off and running.