Other Humminbird Products > Matrix Series Fishing Systems

Need help with Matrix97: GPS and update problems

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Bob B:
I'm not familiar with the matrix unit, but on other core units if the cable collector is removed so there is full access to the power cord, there is access to the pins on the side of the plug.  If it's possible to check the voltage there, it would determine whether the bad connection is at the unit or somewhere else in the power feed.

When there is no current draw on the cable the voltage will normally check OK even when there is a bad connection since there must be current flow for the voltage drop to show up.  On some of the core units, the pins on the power cord can be tweaked VERY slightly to give a better connection in the socket.

You might be able to wiggle the power cord slightly while watching the voltage reading on the unit to see if the bad connection is at the unit.....The unit should be reading over 12V if the power feed is good.

kkt_mag:
I opened up the back of the unit and used alligator clips to positive and negative to provide power INSIDE the unit; this take the connector out of the equation.  And I confirmed 12.2 V battery on separate multimeters.  Even with this setup the Matrix97 reports it has 11.2 V on the System Status screen.  This is with no transducer or GPS connected (i.e. no extra current draw). And when I instead connect yet a different battery (Die Hard jump start battery) with 13.2 volts, the Matrix97 reads out that it has 12.2 volts -- agaiun about 1V less than what I am providing to the unit.

And even with the Matrix97 reporting that it has 12.2 volts, it won't automatically update the software when I plug in the MMC card with version 4.750.

Still looking for ideas as to why this unit won't update, and why it doesn't see the GPS puck.  Thank you all very much.

Bob B:
That's really odd .... kinda sounds like something is wrong inside the unit.

rnvinc:
I understand there were some Matrix units that were old enough to only be able to update with the PC connect cable   ...

You should call HB to verify the proper update procedure for your Matrix  ...
1-800-633-1468
-----

Remove the black cap off the GPS cable pigtail and make sure none of the wire ends are touching  ...

Here is some info  ...
http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=7362.0

Rickie

kkt_mag:
Thank you. Yes, I have taken the black cap off from the pigtail and confirmed that there are no shorted wires. And I have measured voltage between the red and black wires in the pigtail and detected 10.5 volts (though it ranges from 10.2 volts to 11.2 volts using a multimeter).   Second, in the off chance that voltage output to the GPS was too low for it to operate, I opened up the cable and spliced wire into a separate battery to ensure true +12 V to the GPS, but this had no impact -- the unit still did not detect the GPS.

In absence of some more helpful suggestions, it seems that I have the options of

1) buy a refurbished AS GR16 GPS receiver ($125) and hope that the problem is that the GPS went bad
2) buy a AS-PC3 cable ($60) in hopes that this will allow updating of the software in hopes that the software is the reason that the unit does not detect the GPS
3) buy a new GPS/fish finder (any suggestions on Humminbird unit that would be backwards convertible with the existing transducers and the old Navionics MMC cards?

I would go with (1) or (2) if folks feel that either of these are LIKELY the culprit.

Again, many thanks to all for even reading this, let alone for your suggestions

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