FINDING YOUR POSITION
Auto Search
To lock onto the satellites, the GPS receiver needs to know it’s current position, UTC time, and date. (Elevation (altitude) is also used in the equa- tion, but it’s rarely required to determine a position.) It needs this data so that it can calculate which satellites should be in view. It then searches for only those satellites. When your GPS receiver is turned on for the first time, it doesn’t know what your position or elevation (altitude) is. It does know the current UTC time and date since these were programmed into it at the factory and an internal clock keeps the time while the unit is turned off. (If the time and/or date are incorrect, you can set it using the “Set Local Time” menu. See page 23 for more information.) It begins searching for the satellites using the above data that it acquired the last time it was turned on. This probably was at the factory. Since it’s almost certain that you’re not at our factory, it’s probably looking for the wrong satellites. If it doesn’t find the satellites it’s looking for after five minutes, it switches to Auto Search. The receiver looks for any satellite in the sky. Due to ad- vanced technology, the auto search time has shrunk to about five min- utes, so the longest time you should ever have to wait is ten minutes from the time you turn the unit on until it locks onto the satellites and shows a position. Once the unit locks onto the satellites, it should take less than a minute to find your position the next time it’s turned on, provided you haven’t moved more than approximately 100 miles from the last location it was used.
The Auto Search function can be started at any time. Press the MENU key twice, then select “GPS Auto Search”. A new menu appears, “Perform GPS Auto- Search”. Highlight “Yes” and press the ENT key. The menus disappear and the unit will begin the auto search.
Manual Initialization
If you don’t want to wait for the Auto Search, then you may be able to speed up the initialization process by using the manual initialization fea- ture. Using this feature tells the unit it’s approximate position. Once it knows it’s location, it determines exactly which satellites should be in view and starts looking only for those satellites.
To manually initialize the unit, press the PAGES key. Using the arrow keys, select “Status” . Press the EXIT key to erase the menu. The screen at
30