Garmin StreetPilot C330 GPS Receiver Logo
Posted on Apr 30, 2008

Trouble acquiring satellites

Had my c330 for about a year (since 12/06) and had no problems. Last fall we started having trouble acquiring satellites...but it would usually pick them up after 5 minutes or so. Now we can't pick up a signal at all...neither in the car nor outside. Battery is strong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  • Anonymous May 03, 2008

    I am having the same problem acquiring satellites. I have had the unit for about a year

  • scoops6 May 10, 2008

    I am having the same problem, had my unit after about 2 years

  • jaystew May 15, 2008

    I updated the firmware (available from the garmin website)

    http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_...

    ...and now it works fine.


  • Anonymous May 19, 2008

    does not connect satelite..

  • Anonymous May 26, 2008

    I have had the Garmin C330 for 18 months. Two months ago it took 20 minutes to find the satellite. Now it no longer finds the satellite. My battery is fully charged. The signal strenth indicator has no bars. I am in a location that normally acquires a satellite. Garmin wants $70 to update my maps. I am not sure this will help. Any suggestions?
    Murray Berkowitz

    My e-mail address is [email protected]

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  • Posted on Mar 10, 2009
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Previous post correct. Garmin suggests software update, purchase of new maps or hard reset.

Neither the free nor $70 map update fixed my acquiring satellite problem.

The hard reset work (turn power off, push and hold lower right corner of screen, turn power on. this purges your favorite locations). But it only found satellite for that one session and I had to keep resetting the unit.

But I noticed that, during the reset, my unit was "Locating satellite" rather than "Acquiring satellite". I found that there was a simple way to force the unit to Locate rater than Acquire.

After the unit fails to Acquire satellites, it asks "Are you indoors" and "Are you still in STATE". If you answer "NO" to both, the unit attempts to Locate the satellite (without purging favorites) and has been working for me for the last month or so.

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I went to the Garmin site and clicked on Support and Frequently asked questions. I found the problem " problem acquiring satellite". Garmin offered two solutions. The first solution is the free updating of the software. There is an updating tool that you download and it looks for all software updates for your particular model. The tool downloaded a software update (software updates are no cost) and the Garmin C330 is now acquiring the satellite. Either my Garmin needed a software update or else my software somehow got corrupted and the fresh software fixed the problem. Either way, this is an inexpensive way to fix this problem.

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  • Posted on Apr 30, 2008
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Garmin c330 says trouble tracking satelites, not acquiring signal. what to do?

If your StreetPilot c300 or c500 series device is no longer acquiring satellites please read the article linked below to ensure that this is not being caused by something in your environment:

Why won't my unit acquire satellites?

If after reading the above article your unit is still having problems, please ensure that your unit's software is up to date. You can do this by using our WebUpdater® program.

If you have tried all of the above suggestions and your unit is still not acquiring satellites, you can perform a master reset by doing the following:

Note: A master reset will erase all waypoints or favorites and will restore your unit to the default factory settings.
  1. Start with the unit powered OFF and unplugged from power.
  2. Touch and hold the bottom right corner of the touchscreen.
  3. Power the unit ON and continue pressing the screen until a new message displays, "Do You Really Want To Erase All User Data?".
  4. Touch Yes and go through the set up again.
Take the unit outside and let it set with a clear view of the sky for 3-5 minutes to acquire satellites. If the unit still does not acquire satellites after this, please contact Garmin Product Support.
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Did not want to pay since your ad said free and then it was bait and switch to have to pay. Thanks
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Hi,
use the web-updater at garmin
or update the firmware at garmin,
turn WAAS on

turn GPS signal off
go outside after the update
turn GPS signal back on ( takes upto 15 mins to locate satelites )

should be good

Regards
Richard.
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