[mottati]

Yesterday when i left my office, my nav display says "acquiring" like it always does as it waits for me to pull out of my covered parking space. This time, instead of the sirius kicking in within a few seconds, it stays on acquiring. After a few minutes, i toggle thru the mode to see of everything else is ok, radio is fine, cd plays, i get Aux, so that seems to be up, but sirius is still "acquiring". I figure i'd leave it in sirius mode for a bit, maybe the planets are aligned correctly or something, but eventually give up and switch to cd.

I get home, look at the wires, just in case an antenna lead fell off or something, all is fine. I pull the fuse from the sirius unit, it looks fine. I plug the fuse in and hear a "click" from the sirius receiver, turn it on and it works. OK. Today same thing. No siruis, only "acquiring" on the nav display. If i pull the fues and reinsert, it starts working. Like it needs some type of 're-boot.'

What do you think? Anyone with more understanding of things electronic care to offer advice? Is my sirius receiver toast? After the 'reboot' it works until i shut off the car.
Mike

 

[a_ok2me]

Apparently, there aren't enough hip people here who know anything about sirius, including me.

Did you pay your bill? Maybe the satelite blew up. Maybe the shuttle crew was supposed to fix it today. Then again, probably the lady that scratched your door had something to do with it.

 

[BmwNut]

Those are some serious Sirius issues...corney joke of the night is over, so everyone just go about your buisness... :hihi:
It seems like a software issue with the unit Mike. I'm not the best with these things, but if it freezes on that screen and then works again with a reboot then I doubt it is hardware related. I'd take it in to where you got the unit installed, and then see if they can reload the program or something along those lines.
:cheers:

 

[drallen]

Mike,

Not to hijack your thread...My NAV unit went bonkers on Sunday...it only gave long and lat...for about two hours..I was driving my favorite Sierra pass (Ebbitt's)...could I of been out of satellite range ?...maybe some type of solar flare knocked out our satellites ?... :7: When I got within 5 miles of my house...all was well with the NAV...

I know this was of no help...

Mark

 

[fvicente]

I would disconnect both the cd changer and the sirius unit, re-check all the wiring, and then plug it back in. Also, do you have another antenna you can check with? i'd check the antenna cable for a short.

 

[ard]

Mike,

Not to hijack your thread...My NAV unit went bonkers on Sunday...it only gave long and lat...for about two hours..I was driving my favorite Sierra pass (Ebbitt's)...could I of been out of satellite range ?...maybe some type of solar flare knocked out our satellites ?... :7: When I got within 5 miles of my house...all was well with the NAV...

I know this was of no help...

Mark

Mark- The nav satellites are constantly shifting positions- sometimes there are many in the sky, and they are directly overhead, sometimes only a few and/or low on the horizon. The nav system (any nav system) goes through a complex process to find and lock onto them. I have a system that, if it is completely powered down and reset, will take 2-3min to lock (not the bmw system)... I'd guess that a combination of a low-signal configuraton and maybe a glitch coulc cause a temporary confusion... best guess....


Mike-
Not a clue. unfortunately it is 'black box guess' time. Check connections. I like the antenna suggestion (cheapest?)... I'd get on that moron installer as quickly as possible ... On occasion I've had 'acquiring' issues, and sometimes one channel drops and I switch to another. Never lost for more than a minute. Plus I couldn't say it was unrelated to terrain/trees...


Adam

 

[mottati]

I'd get on that moron installer as quickly as possible ...

Luckily it is now working as usual again, so i don't have to go after that guy who sneaks into my garage and mods my car all of the time...

I could just imagine asking the dealership about this one... It's probably the headers causing some frequency resonation that is interfering with the satilite signal... or maybe the brake pads...
Mike

 

[gsfent]

It seems like a software issue with the unit Mike. I'm not the best with these things, but if it freezes on that screen and then works again with a reboot then I doubt it is hardware related. :cheers:

Mike
Hmm, shuts down for no reason and then you have to reboot. Obviously you have the Microsoft version!!!
:hihi: :hihi: :hihi:
Regards,
Jerry

 

[BmwNut]

Mike
Hmm, shuts down for no reason and then you have to reboot. Obviously you have the Microsoft version!!!
:hihi: :hihi: :hihi:
Regards,
Jerry

hiha I guess it is time to download service pack 2 and see if that makes it better...
:cheers:

 

[SANguru]

his NAV might stop working if he does!

hiha I guess it is time to download service pack 2 and see if that makes it better...
:cheers:

 

[Digi]

Mark- The nav satellites are constantly shifting positions- sometimes there are many in the sky, and they are directly overhead, sometimes only a few and/or low on the horizon.
Adam

Actually the NAV satellites are all held in the precise same spot in their geostationary position above earth...it is the car that is constantly changing positions.

 

[BmwNut]

If you are talking about GPS satellites, there are 24 of them and they are constantly moving. At a minimum 3 are in range of you for navigation purposes, but usually 4 or 5 are in view at any given time.
The only one that is geostationary is a satellite that sends down error corrections for WAAS enabled GPS recievers.
:cheers:

 

[Digi]

If you are talking about GPS satellites, there are 24 of them and they are constantly moving. At a minimum 3 are in range of you for navigation purposes, but usually 4 or 5 are in view at any given time.
The only one that is geostationary is a satellite that sends down error corrections for WAAS enabled GPS recievers.
:cheers:

I continue to learn something new every day!

 

[MEnthusiast]

from:
http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=FlexContent&cid=1107895802127

with some editing to reduce size.

All three satellites travel in unique orbits which travel outside the Earth's equatorial plane (also known as "inclined") and in a non-circular path (also known as an "eccentric path") specially chosen to ensure full radio coverage for the continental United States.

Our spacecraft fly far to the northern latitudes to provide high-elevation angles, typically from 60 to 70 degrees above the horizon. When an uninterrupted signal is crucial, timing is everything. We have it worked out that whenever one spacecraft crosses the equator into the southern hemisphere and out of optimal broadcasting range, another spacecraft turns on its payload and passes into the northern hemisphere to take its place. This process happens three times per day. At its lowest altitude, a SIRIUS spacecraft is 15,200 miles above the surface of the earth, at its highest it is 29,280 miles. Over the course of a day, a spacecraft reaches a maximum speed of 9,050 mph, which is 2.51 miles per second. At this speed, you could head out from NYC for Los Angeles and get there in about 19 minutes. .......

SIRIUS uses two ground station facilities to maintain constant contact with our spacecraft. These facilities are in Ecuador and Panama, which are both within the small region of the world (near the equator) where the SIRIUS satellites can be kept in view 24 hours per day. SIRIUS personnel operate these sites remotely from our NYC control room. When we uplink our radio channels and live studio shows to our satellites, we use a site nearby in Vernon, New Jersey.

XM does it differently with satellites that are located over the equator- thus better reception in the southern states. But not as good up north/ Both use repeaters.

as to the problem at hand- it certainly seems like software since the unit is fine when you reset it. So the question is what is causing the hang up. A theory I have is when you drive under the parking area and it loses signal, it hangs. So when you turn the car on with no signal its still hanging- its not actually checking for a signal- its stuck. To test this, try turning off the radio before you park, then when you turn the car on again, wait until you are out of the parking area before turning on the radio. Does it still exhibit the problem? You can also try the rebooting experiment when you are under the parking area. Disconnect the fuse for the sat radio before you park. then before you turn the car off, reconnect the fuse. Power up and drive off- does the unit get stuck? Also- try driving into the parking area- let it go into acquire mode, do not turn the car off, sit in the spot for 5 minutes- it will feel long- then drive out- does it reacquire? Maybe try this while switching modes/ turning off the radio too.

There may be other variations on this I am not thinking of. The idea being to do your own trouble shooting before you bring it to the dealer so you don't have to worry about them telling you something silly/ putting you on a wild goose chase. My guess is its just not coming out of that "reacquire mode".

 

[BmwNut]

Jerry, thanks for taking the time to show how the Sirius satellites work. It seems that they went the route of GPS and have their satellites move, which IMO is a good thing. As long as you time it right (which it seems that have done), you'll get better coverage all over the nation.
:cheers:

 

[ard]

Beat me to the reply on the GPS.

Here is a tidbit: The Iridium satellite constellation is a system of 66 active communication satellites and spares around the Earth. The system was originally to have 77 active satellites, and was named for the element iridium, which has atomic number 77.

 

[MEnthusiast]

Thats cool- too bad Motorola couldn't get that system to be a commercial success. IMHO Sirius has a better setup. But sat radio choice is based on more than that. XM has pretty solid reception by me (NYC area) but I would say sirius reception is better. Comparing the two, Id say XM has better top 40 music and Sirius has slightly better classic rock. I also note both are making constant improvements- in this regard, since Ive been listening to Sat Radio, since late 03, Id say Sirius has made bigger improvements. I like both and my choice so far has been made by the equipment vs. actually choosing--- wait I am getting off base here... now go out and kick some Sirius....

 

[mottati]

Thanks for the thoughts Jerry. Only thing is (well actually 2 things)...1. it's working fine now, with no change in my routine and 2. i've had sirius up and running for what, 6 months or so now. It usually acquires the signal within 5 seconds of pulling out of my parking spot. (and it did work fine again today). Just a perhaps temporary glitch..
Mike

as to the problem at hand- it certainly seems like software since the unit is fine when you reset it. So the question is what is causing the hang up. A theory I have is when you drive under the parking area and it loses signal, it hangs. So when you turn the car on with no signal its still hanging- its not actually checking for a signal- its stuck. To test this, try turning off the radio before you park, then when you turn the car on again, wait until you are out of the parking area before turning on the radio. Does it still exhibit the problem? You can also try the rebooting experiment when you are under the parking area. Disconnect the fuse for the sat radio before you park. then before you turn the car off, reconnect the fuse. Power up and drive off- does the unit get stuck? Also- try driving into the parking area- let it go into acquire mode, do not turn the car off, sit in the spot for 5 minutes- it will feel long- then drive out- does it reacquire? Maybe try this while switching modes/ turning off the radio too.

There may be other variations on this I am not thinking of. The idea being to do your own trouble shooting before you bring it to the dealer so you don't have to worry about them telling you something silly/ putting you on a wild goose chase. My guess is its just not coming out of that "reacquire mode".