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Garmin 495 no satellites

Greg Arehart

Well Known Member
Yes, I know it's old. My 495 suddenly started giving me a "poor satellite reception" message. Has been working reliably for years. Checked antenna by putting a different one on it, so not likely the antenna (unless it's internal connections). Seems to have plenty of power (plugged into ground power). I'm testing outside with no obstructions, in fact just went for a local flight for an hour and my ipad was getting satellite locations fine, so not a planned data brownout by the military. The date indicator on the satellite page is showing several days old and the wrong time, although the clock is ticking over.

Can't seem to find anything on the internet so thought I would try here. If that doesn't work, will try calling Garmin tomorrow.

Thanks for any info.

Greg
 
My 396 has an internal battery that has something to do with the initial satellite lock in. In most cases this battery is a solder in replacement so not the easiest for user to replace. I have read several threads here on VAF about the failure method of this battery. Been expecting mine to do this one day shortly. There are several people on here who have the experience replacing this battery.
 
I’m guessing the internal knee-alive memory battery as well - sounds to me like the unit has lost its ephemerides, and that means it has to start with no knowledge of where the satellites are, or where it is - so it has to start from scratch, and that is a little bit of a needle/haystack problem.

There used to be threads around on forums that tell you how to change the battery - it does involve a soldering iron.....
 
I'm presuming, then, that the keep-alive battery is different from the backup battery, which just pops out of the back of the unit? I'll have a search through the archives etc. and see what I can come up with.

Thanks,
Greg
 
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