Etrx Legend and Yellow.

[daddywpb]

I've had a yellow Etrex for about 2 years and just upgraded to a Legend. This morning I had both of them on the table, both were on, and the Yellow had gotten signals and was ready to navigate in just a few minutes, in the house. The Legend never aquired the signals inside. Is the Yellow just real good, or is something wrong with the Legend? Should I send it back, contact Garmin, or what? It's very frustrating - it's supposed to be better, right? Any help from people who know would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve

[Siskiyou]

Steve:

I believe that both units have the same patch type antenna's.  Receiving signals can be tricky indoors.  I have played with Garmin GPSMap76, GPS 12, own a Legend, and a fishfinder/gps unit with an external antenna.
The point being that my Legend acquires satellites at the same rate as the other units from the same location.

In your testing does both unit have fresh batteries in them.  My Legend seems to acquire satellites faster with fresh batteries.  Another factor is location.  A couple of weeks ago I went East over 100 miles.  When I booted the gps it took a little longer to find itself.

Try both of them outside with an open sky and see how they respond.  Then shut them off.  Restart them from the same location and see how long it takes to acquire a fix.  If you decided you have a problem contact Garmin using the link a the Garmin website.  Could one be bleeding single strength from the other?  This sometimes happens in the radio world.

Does your legend have the most current software update?  Check the Garmin webpage>support>software.  I believe the most current version is v3.60.

Was your gps accidently put in the "Use with GPS Off" mode.

If you return your unit to Garmin get a authorization number first.

[Siskiyou]

I ran a little test on my Garmin Legend the last few days.  I turn it on, place it in the track mode and placed it in a zipped-up pouch on my belt.  I then took off for rides on my Mtn. Bike.  

The tracking mode gives me a feel of the unit's performance.  On examination there were a few breaks in the track when I was under heavy Oak canopy.  These were short breaks.  I would say that 98 percent or greater was recorded.  Now that I think about it, this is rather amazing performance with my body blocking part of the sky.  I have seen open face carrying pouches for gps units but I use a small camera pouch to protect it from the elements and carry extra batteries.

A very knowledgeable person who I worked with on assignment highly recommends the basic yellow Etrex.  Anything more is frosting on the cake.  Thats why I bought the Legend.  I like frosting.