Garmin GPS 12XL Owner's Manual & Reference

Also see for GPS 12XL - Hiking Receiver: Supplementary guide Specifications Owner's manual & reference

Garmin GPS 12XL Owner's Manual & Reference Manual pdf 16 page image

Satellite PageThe GPS 12XL’s Satellite Page displays the status ofvarious receiver functions. The status information willhelp you understand what the GPS 12XL is doing atany given time, and will tell you whether or not thereceiver has calculated a position fix.Sky View and Signal Strength BarsThe sky view and signal strength bars give you anindication of what satellites are visible to the receiver,whether or not they are being used to calculate a posi-tion fix, and the signal quality. The satellite sky viewshows a bird’s-eye-view of the position of each availablesatellite relative to the unit’s last known position. Theouter circle represents the horizon (north up); the innercircle is 45º above the horizon; and the center point isdirectly overhead. You can use the sky view to helpdetermine if any satellites are being blocked, andwhether you have a current position fix (indicated by‘2D NAV’ or ‘3D NAV’ in the status field). You can alsoset the sky view to a track up configuration by changingthe ‘orientation’ option on the Map Page. (See pg. 38 forsetup instructions.)When the receiver is looking for a particular satel-lite, the corresponding signal strength bar will be blankand the sky view indicator will be highlighted. Once thereceiver has found the satellite, a hollow signal strengthbar will appear, indicating that the satellite has beenfound and the receiver is collecting data from it. Thesatellite number in the sky view will no longer appearhighlighted. As soon as the GPS 12XL has collected thenecessary data to calculate a fix, the status field willindicate a 2D or 3D status.Satellite PageREFERENCE12The GPS 12XL SatellitePage will help you deter -mine which satellites arein view, and whether ornot any satellites arebeing “shaded” or blockedfrom receiving satellitesignals (see satellites 07and 19 above).By periodically monitor-ing the signal strengthbars at the bottom of thepage and the north upsky view, you will be ableto see how moving toanother area with aclearer view of the skywill improve satellitereception and speed upsignal acquisition.BatteryIndicatorHorizontalAccuracySignal StrengthIndicatorsSkyviewDisplayStatusField