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The GPS needs a clear line of sight to the sky to function properly. It might still work if you are near a window, but usually it will not connect to a satellite if you are indoors.
When outdoors, power on the GPS and give it 2-5mins to start up and locate available satellites.
If the problem is still present when you are outside it might be that the receiver is faulty. This will mean that, if still under warranty, you can take it back to the place of purchase to repair or replace, otherwise you would have to send it in by yourself for repairs.
I believe there is an update on Garmins site. If you turn your Gps on look at the version or go to setup and see if you can find the current version and see if there is another part of it that says something about satellite version which on yours probably says 0.00 which means it has lost the program. Go on Garmins site and i believe you can download it again and it will hook up to satellites. If you have problems call Garmin they are great to work with unlike Magellin. You do have to have the cord though to hook up to your computer to download the version. I have done this with several Garmin 60c, cs, scx's and it has worked on every one of them.
DIY is risky in this situation, besides there is 3 months warranty by Garmin on their interventions I would suggest you get it done by the professionals
I have the same problem, and so far the only solution is patience. If you are in a cutting, or between tall buildings, and the satellites are low down on the horizon, then it seems reasonable that reception will be between poor and zero. But in wide open spaces mine too sometimes loses the signal. Hang in there, and contact is restored.
LocoTorque
I have been experiencing the same problem many have been
having with the Nuvi 6xx and 3xx series giving an error message “Lost satellite
reception”.
My problem started mid April 2008 and got progressively
worse. I would use my GPS on weekends and it would work perfectly for the first
10 – 30 minutes and then would loose satellite reception, rendering it useless.
I bought my Nuvi 660 when it first came out in October 2006
for just under $700 and is now out of the 1 year warrantee.
I called Garmin Technical Support and we checked my Software
version (4.40) and more importantly my GPS SW version (3.00). According to the
tech I had on the phone, the GPS SW version was more important then the Software
version. It was in fact already updated to 3.00, I did master reset, after
master reset, but regardless, nothing helped.
I contemplated what I should do.
Return mine and get a refurbished unit from Garmin for $225
with only a 90 day warrantee?
Buy a new Nuvi 660 for around $300
Buy a new Nuvi 2xx series with fewer features for $200 to
$275.
Buy a Megellian GPS?
I read through this forum and came across one person that
was told by Garmin “that they are aware of an issue with some Nuvis involving
the failure of a diode in the unit that senses whether or not an external
antenna is connected.” Apparently this diode failure is caused from the high
heat these units experience from being left in a hot car for long periods of
time. This would explain why mine would work in the beginning and then die.
So my thinking was, if the diode “thinks” there is an
external antenna attached when it isn’t, what would happen if I “did” connect
an external antenna?
Garmin recommends the Garmin GA 25MCX low profile remote GPS
antenna for the Nuvi 660 and costs $31.49 (not sure about additional costs for tax
and shipping)
So I purchased the NEW antenna from a seller on eBay for
$25.90 total and IT WORK FLAWLESSLY.
Just to make sure it really was the new external antenna
that was working and not the unit coming back to life, I started my 3 hour
journey with the external antenna NOT connected. As usual it lost satellite
reception in about 15 minutes. I plugged in the GA 25MCX and it immediately connected
to the satellites and never lost them.
I repeated the same process coming home and once again, I connecting
the external antenna after the unit reported loosing satellite reception, and
it worked perfectly.
Conclusion: if your unit is experiencing loosing satellite
reception, and is under warrantee, return it ASAP. If it’s out of warrantee,
get an external antenna. There are other manufactures of external antennas and
all should work as long as it has an MCX connector.
Side Note: This external antenna also worked perfectly on a
friend’s Nuvi 350 with the same problem.
I wanted to share this with everyone because I’ve been
racking my brain for months over this. I hope this helps.
Are you outside with a clear view of the sky? It should find satellites once the unit is turned on. Does it say "Looking for satellites" or "Acquiring satellites"?
If it is "looking for satellites" then it means that the unit have lost all data (time, date, location). If it is "acquiring satellites" then it have date and time, but not location.
Looking for satellites require a longer setup time (could be as much as 15 minutes). Acquiring satellites is much faster (not more than 2 minutes).
Date and time is updated from satellites once the unit gets a satellite lock.
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