VHF display says, No position, no time.

[MADRIGAL]

On performing pre-departure checks before our first spring sail, I found this message on the display of the Icom 3330G VHF/DSC/GPS set: No position, No time. Setting sail out from land, I cleared the message from the display, only to get another: GPS signal has been lost.

The radio was removed from the vessel and stored inside over the winter, but the antenna remained fixed to the deck, protected by a tarpaulin over winter, but subject to freezing temperatures. I could hear Coast Guard broadcasts and other vessels clearly, so the radio receiver appears to be working properly. Should I assume that the GPS antenna is at fault?

 

[littledancersadhu]

I would check the soldered connector that goes into the back of your set, most probable cause if antenna looks good.

Been messing with my gps antennas this year

 

[Buck Turgidson]

how long did you give it? You may need up to 15 minutes for the GPS to acquire a position.

 

[MADRIGAL]

I would check the soldered connector that goes into the back of your set, most probable cause if antenna looks good.

Been messing with my gps antennas this year

Good thought. I checked that the connector was tight, but I will look closely at the connector itself.

 

[MADRIGAL]

how long did you give it? You may need up to 15 minutes for the GPS to acquire a position.

Unfortunately, it was still not working 3 hours later.

 

[onesea]

Just checking:

Do you use a seprate GPS Ariel and internal GPS for position? Or does the radio get by NMEA Connection?

You could even have both.
So wires connected to radio:
Power,
Ariel,
Gps,
NMEA

 

[Refueler]

We experience temps as low as -25C or lower here and GPS antennas survive without problem.

Sounds like a connector problem ...

 

[oldgit]

From memory this version has both a built in GPS aerial and a plug in remote GPS antenna purely to improve reception.
In theory the radio should work both with and without the external GPS aerial. ?
Have one of these on the flybridge of my boat with the external aerial connected.
IC-M330GE : Mounted VHF/DSC Marine Radio - Icom UK
A phone call to ICOM at Herne Bay might give some clues, have always found them to be very helpful even on some positively ancient ICOM equipment.

 

[PaulRainbow]

On performing pre-departure checks before our first spring sail, I found this message on the display of the Icom 3330G VHF/DSC/GPS set: No position, No time. Setting sail out from land, I cleared the message from the display, only to get another: GPS signal has been lost.

The radio was removed from the vessel and stored inside over the winter, but the antenna remained fixed to the deck, protected by a tarpaulin over winter, but subject to freezing temperatures. I could hear Coast Guard broadcasts and other vessels clearly, so the radio receiver appears to be working properly. Should I assume that the GPS antenna is at fault?

Nothing to do with the VHF antenna or VHF reception. The messages all relate to GPS, which is received via a separate antenna, a small, square, black thing, which plugs into the back of the VHF set. Check to ensure this was re-fitted when you put the VHF back onboard.

 

[PaulRainbow]

From memory this version has both a built in GPS aerial and a plug in remote GPS antenna purely to improve reception.
In theory the radio should work both with and without the external GPS aerial. ?
Have one of these on the flybridge of my boat with the external aerial connected.
IC-M330GE : Mounted VHF/DSC Marine Radio - Icom UK
A phone call to ICOM at Herne Bay might give some clues, have always found them to be very helpful even on some positively ancient ICOM equipment.

The VHF will work without the GPS antenna, but the DSC part won't (hence the warning messages).

 

[MADRIGAL]

Thanks, Gents. The troubleshooting guide in the manual advises checking the GPS antenna connection for this fault. I don't think this set has an internal GPS antenna, but as the radio does not have a clear view of the sky, I think the external antenna would be necessary in any case.
Paul Rainbow, do these small, external GPS antennas (small black pad on the deck, like you described) often fail, exposed in all weather as they are (and in this case to freezing/thawing over winter)?

 

[Alicatt]

Thanks, Gents. The troubleshooting guide in the manual advises checking the GPS antenna connection for this fault. I don't think this set has an internal GPS antenna, but as the radio does not have a clear view of the sky, I think the external antenna would be necessary in any case.
Paul Rainbow, do these small, external GPS antennas (small black pad on the deck, like you described) often fail, exposed in all weather as they are (and in this case to freezing/thawing over winter)?

I have a small black GPS puck on the roof of my car, it has been there since 2010, it has never been off the car, it is USB one to feed to the laptop, it is still working after 14 years, it has survived through -28c to +42c temperatures.

YMMV

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thanks, Gents. The troubleshooting guide in the manual advises checking the GPS antenna connection for this fault. I don't think this set has an internal GPS antenna, but as the radio does not have a clear view of the sky, I think the external antenna would be necessary in any case.
Paul Rainbow, do these small, external GPS antennas (small black pad on the deck, like you described) often fail, exposed in all weather as they are (and in this case to freezing/thawing over winter)?

Your set does not have an internal GPS antenna. You don't need the antenna on deck in most cases, a clear view of the sky just means uninterrupted by metal or anything that can block radio signals. I have fitted Icom VHF sets with the antenna two decks down on GRP motorboats with no problem.

If the antenna is connected and you're not getting a GRP signal, i would contact Icom.

 

[Refueler]

As Paul says - on GRP boats - antenna down below is usually not a problem.

But on my 38 - because of some wires that run in the deckhead and then down into the switch panel area - those wires are above my plotter and the GPS puck sometimes just needs to move a few cms depending on boats orientation to the sats. Once sats picked up though its fine.
My 25 - the puck sits hanging from the curtain rail !!

 

[Thistle]

Does the VHF work?

 

[PaulRainbow]

Does the VHF work?

See post #1

 

[Thistle]

See post #1

... and transmitting?

 

[MADRIGAL]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will contact Icom and may replace the GPS antenna just to be sure. From Paul's post 13, the set clearly won't give position without a functional external antenna. Mine does seem to be in a position to be subject to damage and water ingress. I could not say with confidence that a heavy boot has never landed on it!
Cheers,
Edward

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will contact Icom and may replace the GPS antenna just to be sure. From Paul's post 13, the set clearly won't give position without a functional external antenna. Mine does seem to be in a position to be subject to damage and water ingress. I could not say with confidence that a heavy boot has never landed on it!
Cheers,
Edward

If you change the GPS antenna, try it below deck first.

 

[littledancersadhu]

If the connector is a pnc i think, push in and twist, could not get a postion on my gps, the connector middle pin had pushed itself back into the connector and not making a connection, so give it a good inspection. and try a spare antenne