[C320-list] GPS malfunction

[Michael Leschisin]

Hey Crosby,

I chased this same rabbit two winters ago on my C80 display.  I’m guessing you’re asking about the same unit when you refer to the “C-series” in your email?

First thing to check is that you have power going to your external GPS antenna.  Mine is wired up so that the GPS display is on its own breaker and the antenna actually draws power from the Auto Pilot circuit.  If I have my “GPS” is powered up but the auto helm breaker is off, I get the "satellite with a slash through it symbol" and “No Fix” on my display. (Took me a few headache to figure this out).  I’m not sure if that’s a standard Catalina install or if its wiring I inherited from the previous owner but for what its worth….a pretty easy check by powering up your auto helm.  

The next thing to check is the battery inside your external GPS antenna (the white mushroom shaped antenna that is on your stern rail).  Inside, there is a small button battery that is supposed to last a dozen years or so and once it fails the antenna won’t function.  If this is the problem, it can be replaced but its a bit of a challenge since the battery is spot welded in and you have to rip or split the metal tabs from the battery, while not ripping them from the circuit board of the antenna.  If you can get it out the new battery needs to be attached but soldering is not a good idea since the lithium battery can explode. You might try an electrically conductive glue (amazon) to reset the battery.  I didn’t have any luck with the new battery; I may have damaged the circuit board or according to Raymarine, the antennas have a given life expectancy and at some point they simply give up the ghost.  

I ended up ordering a new antenna from Raymarine.  They no longer make the old antennas that operated on SeaTalk, so you’ll need to replace it with a Raymarine antenna that now operates on NEMA.  You’ll also need a NEMA/SeaTalk converter that brings the signal down to SeaTalk for your C80 display to understand.  The converter is a small strip of plugs that can be easily buried in your NAvPod station so not a real big deal.  I apologize that I don’t have model numbers for the new antenna or the converter (I’m away from the boat for he season) but the technical services at Raymarine were super helpful and they will get you set up and walk you through what needs to be done.  I think it was around $250 for the new antenna and converter.  

As I recall, the new antenna came with the wiring preinstalled so my choice was to cut the old wiring and reattach it to the new antenna or to pull the new wiring through the stern rails, under the cockpit and up the pedestal to the NavPod.  It was a pain, but I opted for the latter since with my luck the connection and GPS would fail at the exact worst time as I’m trying to navigate around obstacles.

Good luck with it all; hope this helps,



Michael Leschisin


Wild Blue Yonder
#995
Menonminee, MI   







> On Mar 1, 2021, at 1:19 PM, Crosby Roper <vmdatsea at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Frank How do I tell if it’s saetalk or nmea0183?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Mar 1, 2021, at 9:39 AM, Frank Yaskin <frankya at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>> The C classic series do NOT have a built in GPS receiver.
>> The data is fed from an external sensor via either the SeaTalk network or NEMA0183. So either your external sensor or the cabling to the C-xx is at fault.
>> Plenty of info on Raymarine clasic units on the web or Raymarines site. If you need a new sensor, Digital Yacht has replacements for the sensor and NEMA to SeaTalk converters at reasonable pricing.
>> 
>> Frank 
>> C-320 #380 Blue Canute
>> 
>>>>>>>>> Hi all,
>> 
>> I have a C-series Raymarine MFD. I went out the other day and the GPS was not fixing. There was no message saying that the unit could not find a fix/satellites, there was just no data being received. Can anyone give me an idea of where to start troubleshooting this? I'm not sure whether the  MFD has a built in GPS module or whether the module is external and linked via NMEA? I checked the C320.org site and someone mentioned that there is a GPS reset menu. I have not tried this yet but will do so next week. The boat was detailed just before this happened. I'm not sure whether that has anything to do with the problem. She looks great, but I'd rather have the GPS!
>> 
>> Crosby  Roper VMD
>> s/v Tethys
>> Hull 1054
>> San Diego, CA