Navigation Gps Location Question

[Dantep72]

I just installed my new 06 nav unit in my 2005 cts and everything works great,exept for the fact that the nav unit thinks i am in LA California.
i have the gps antenna installed and the map dvd but don't know how to set the radio to my home location of Norwalk CT. when i insert the map disc the agreement comes up on the screen the when you hit the ok button it brings you to the Los Angeles nav map wich works fine you can search for atm,nightlife,restaurants,amusment parks etc. but how do i set the unit to work in CT. when i go to the satalite gps screen it shows 2 or 3 dimentions as well as the lattitude and longetude and feet but i still have no idea how to get the satalights to line up and register where i am.

can anyone please help !!!! Dante

[FlyFlip420]

Hmmmm dont remember off hand, but I know its in one of the menu options. You have to set the crosshairs on your position. I will check tomorrow if no one has beat me to it.....these guys are mighty smart and fast

[shaft]

Once it gets a gps signal it should correct itself to your location.

[Dantep72]

how do you get the gps signal?

[shaft]

You have the gps antenna plugged into the back right? Drive it around a bit, once it picks up a gps signal from at least 2 satellites it will correct to your location.

[shaft]

Go into the nav menu and select gps info...if it says "out of range" its not picking up any signal.

[dkozloski]

Get out in your driveway with a new white bedsheet and flap it up at the sky to get the attention of the satellites.

[Dantep72]

after install i drove about 3 miles with the gps info screen on and i kept changing position and going in and out of "out of range" but never changed location of LA

[ewill3rd]

Whenever you install a new Nav unit in a CTS, when the unit is powered up the default location after a total power reset is just outside LAX.
It thinks you are in LA because it can't calculate a new position from GPS signals. There must be something wrong with your GPS antenna installation.
You could take the radio out and look carefully at the antenna coax, make sure the center lead didn't get damaged on the antenna wire, it's pretty tiny and easy to mess up. Make sure the GPS antenna is mounted flush with the sensor side pointing up to the sky. I am assuming you got a factory antenna and mounted it under the dash. It must be placed so that any dash speakers are not over the top of it. The dash panel will not affect it but there are other things under there that could. You may just need to relocate the antenna.

You must aquire 3 satellites for a position, there is also a screen, I don't recall how to get there.... that shows you a graphical representation of satellites you are getting signals from in an orbital pattern. It shows a hemisphere and some icons. The green icons are satellites the system is recieving a signal from, the grey/black ones are where sats are supposed to be but aren't being picked up.

Your car is going off of data it's collecting from various sensors on the car to attempt to follow you since it can't find a sat verified location.
VSS and SWPS are a couple of inputs to help it do this (speed and steering input)

[odysseus]

What he said! All GPS recievers take time after a cold start to acquire satellites. It takes 6 minutes to download the constellation ephemeris (satellite orbits) so it knows which satellites are where and which to look for. If the Nav info menu (the one with the hemisphere, satellites, lat, long, alt, etc) shows green satellites, then its just a matter of a few minutes before it all comes together and it gets a fix. Once it gets a 2D fix (it takes at least 3 satellites for this) then it should update your position. The LAX position is the default.

There are at least 12 satellites in a hemispherical view at any given time. The roof blocks the signal from at least 1/4 of them, but fortunately, you only need 4 for a 3D fix, and 3 for a 2D fix (and only 1 for time-tick). This is why a 12 channel reciever isn't twice as accurate as a 6 channel one.

You only have to do this once, as after it has the ephemeris in memory and you're current position, it locates satellites almost immediately (called a warm start). If it doesn't, you need to check your GPS antenna, and the VSS input. GPS doesn't work very well indoors (in a garage), so you'll simply need to drive around in Nav mode for a short while.

If the VSS input is bad, you'll get you're last GPS position, but it won't move on the map.

The other thing is making sure you have the correct map disk. Over in the V forum, they were saying there are several versions after '05 to deal with whether NavTraffic is used or not. The Zenrin disks work fine with early '05s and prior, but after that it's a crap shoot. There are several Cadillac Part Numbers for CTS Nav disks in '06, according to the FAQ.

[SoCadillac]

Originally Posted by odysseus

If the VSS input is bad, you'll get you're last GPS position, but it won't move on the map.

Odysseus,

As usual you always bring up very informative forum information and between what wheels that fit the CTS, and the NAV, I am surprised you have not written up a FAQ for Reed to include in the FAQ section. All of it is pertinent and quite useful. Literally, if I were to purchase a NAV I would look to your little encyclopedia of information before my purchase...wheels, the same way.

[FlyFlip420]

Mine was doing the same thing after I installed it and I had manually set the location and it worked fine. Before I set the location, it just kept driving around in LA. I had waited over a half an hour for the satellits to pick it up, and waved a white sheet like Koz suggested for over three hours, and was like F it and just did the manual location setup and it has been fine ever since. I have an 03 so maybe thats the difference, Im not sure, but I was told then from the dealership that after a reset, it had to be manually set for the map disc to know where you are and then after that the satellites would move the arrow and the map would then move accordingly to the movement, thus giving you your map routes and streets.

[Dantep72]

i only drove the car for about 10 min and on the gps screen there was 3 -4 satalites lit up in green on the map and it kept changing from 2 dimetion to 3 dimetion to out of area but did not change location. do i just need to drive around for a while longer to get it to work? and since i have green satalites on the map can i asume that my gps antenna is hooked up right. i installed it under the dash panel but i had to remove the metal plate so i 3m taped it to the metal bracket on the pass side neer the windshield is this ok?

[Dantep72]

how do you manually set your location

[odysseus]

Originally Posted by SoCadillac

I am surprised you have not written up a FAQ for Reed to include in the FAQ section. All of it is pertinent and quite useful.

Actually, I have written a few FAQs for Reeds site: The Nav Phase 2 install, XM install, and posted a video of my car on the dyno.

I may write up a short FAQ on wheel sizing, offset, etc. Since, that get's asked a lot.