Is my Navman icn520 duff?

[QUARKS7]

Hi Folks,

After much deliberation I've just purchased an icn520 from www.thenavigationcompany.com . It's my first GPS so I'm no expert but is it usual for these unit to take upto 10mins to get their act together and start directing you?

Mine can and often does take that long to find a sat then when it does it'll loose it 6 or more times in quick sucsession before setteling down. It also tells be I have 200 feet or more to go before a turn then 20 feet later it'll say turn now (IMHO That's Bloody dangerous!!)

I spoke to Navman yesterday and the very helpfull young lady went through various checks inc getting me to reset the GPS. I asked how many sats should show green on the GPS status menu in normal operation and she said at least 5. Well mines lucky if it get 5 ever not normaly! She also went through the "Have you got a heated windscreen etc" conversation. So I explained that no I haven't and the problems I'm experiencing happen when stood in the back garden with a clear view of the sky.

So my question to you guys is "Is my unit duff or are all icn520's like that?" ....... Kind regards Jez

[darrenwright]

it takes my Navman 520 about 4 mins from cold to get a good sat signal but with an external antenna attatched it takes about 40 seconds to get a sat signal/lock

[Darren]

Is it taking this long when in the car? I ask because if it locks on quickly oustide the vehicle but takes the 10mins when in the car then it could be your car has an athermic windscreen (an anti-glare coating) which has the undesirable effect of blocking GPs signals significantly. Many PSA cars have these (Citroen, Peugeot, Renault) as well as many others.

The only solution if this is the cause is an external or re-radiating antenna or change to a newer GPS that has a SiRFStarIII receiver which is unaffected by this issue.
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Darren Griffin

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