Finding Your Position; Auto Search; Manual Initialization - Lowrance 100 Installation And Operation Instructions Manual

Finding Your Position

Auto Search

To lock onto the satellites, the GPS receiver needs to know it's current
position, local time, and date. (Elevation (altitude) is also used in the equa-
tion, but it's rarely required to determine a position.) It needs this data so
that it can calculate which satellites should be in view. It then searches for
only those satellites. When your GPS receiver is turned on for the first
time, it doesn't know what your position or elevation (altitude) is. It does
know the current UTC time and date since these were programmed into it
at the factory and an internal clock keeps the time while the unit is turned
off. It begins searching for the satellites using the above data that it ac-
quired the last time it was turned on. This probably was at the Lowrance
factory. Since it's almost certain that you're not at the Lowrance factory,
it's probably looking for the wrong satellites. If it doesn't find the satellites
it's looking for after five minutes, it switches to Auto Search. The receiver
looks for any satellite in the sky. Due to advanced technology, the auto
search time has shrunk to about five minutes, so the longest time you
should ever have to wait is ten minutes from the time you turn the unit on
until it locks onto the satellites and shows a position. Once the unit locks
onto the satellites, it should take less than a minute to find your position
the next time it's turned on, provided you haven't moved more than ap-
proximately 100 miles from the last location it was used.

Manual Initialization

If you don't want to wait for the Auto Search, then you may be able to
speed up the initialization process by using the manual initialization fea-
ture. Using this feature tells the unit it's approximate position. Once it knows
it's location, it determines exactly which satellites should be in view and
starts looking only for those satellites.
To manually initialize the unit, press the MENU key.
Now press the down arrow key until the "GPS SETUP"
label is highlighted. Press the right arrow key. The "INIT
GPS" (Initialize GPS) label is highlighted. Press the right
arrow key again. The screen at right appears. Use the
arrow keys to move the crosshairs to your approximate
location on the map. You may use the ZOUT key to
zoom the map out. This will make it easier and faster to
find your location on the map. Once you have the
crosshairs on your location, press the ENT key. The
unit returns to the satellite status screen.
Using the manual initialization method loads a position that's close to
yours into the GPS receiver. It should now have position, time, and date,
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