GPS backlight out

[Raymond]

How? Why? It had been working, now it isn't. No Menu option to affect it, as far as I can see.

 

[TomK]

Raymond, it might be helpful to tell us what make, model GPS you are having the problem with.

On my Garman GPSmap 62S, there are two things that I can think of:

1) From the Main Menu, hit "Setup", then "Display", then "Backlight Timeout". Select one of the options as appropriate.

2) When the GPS is on, hitting the "Power" button briefly will bring up a screen that displays the time, date, a slide bar labeled "Backlight", and indicators for battery level and GPS signal reception. While this screen is displayed, hitting the "Power" button again will cycle the backlight level through "Full", "Off", and half. Also, while this screen is displayed, hitting the "Left" or "Right" rocker arrows will adjust the backlight in a more granular manner.

Hope this is helpful.

TomK

 

[Raymond]

It was the slider on the power-button backlight display, all the way over to the left, somehow. Thank you for the tip.

I have my second Garmin 64st. The first refused to turn on last July, after a little more than four years of use. It would crash as soon as the credits/tiny text at the bottom of the screen would appear. No idea how I changed the backlight light level on this new one, but it is fixed now. Thank you again.

 

[CaptCaper]

It was the slider on the power-button backlight display, all the way over to the left, somehow. Thank you for the tip.

I have my second Garmin 64st. The first refused to turn on last July, after a little more than four years of use. It would crash as soon as the credits/tiny text at the bottom of the screen would appear. No idea how I changed the backlight light level on this new one, but it is fixed now. Thank you again.

Best to have two of them incase one fails . Also if you don't use it you'll loose it.

 

[Raymond]

Well, the first 64st doesn’t work, and the one before that, a 60CSx, stopped acquiring satellites. So I’m on my third GPS since late 2007.

I use an app on my phone to record my track, too, and its maps are more up-to-date than Garmin’s are.

 

[TomK]

It was the slider on the power-button backlight display, all the way over to the left, somehow. Thank you for the tip.

...

No idea how I changed the backlight light level on this new one, but it is fixed now.

I think I've had this happen to me a few times. I figure it can be pretty easy to inadvertantly bump the power button a couple times, and kick the unit into "slider full left - backlight off".

I have my second Garmin 64st. The first refused to turn on last July, after a little more than four years of use. It would crash as soon as the credits/tiny text at the bottom of the screen would appear.

If you haven't tossed it, I've got something you might try - can you connect it to your computer and see it as an external device using Windows Explorer? If so, navigate to the "Garmin" folder, and then delete the entire "GPX" folder. When you restart the GPS afterward, it will re-create the folder. Make sure you delete the actual "GPX" folder, not just all the stuff that is in it.

Recently, I was having a problem with my 62S - I'd copy routes, tracks, and waypoints to it using Basecamp, then, when I was in the field, they wouldn't be there. I contacted Garmin's tech support by e-mail, and the above is what they suggested. I suspect it fixes a multitude of problems. I've only had it out a couple times since I did it, but so far - so good.

It will only take a few minutes to try, so if you still have the unit kicking around, give it a try...

TomK

 

[Remix]

If I recall correctly, there is a setting to prevent the backlight from turning on when battery is low. This is useful if batteries are almost dead---turning on the display would shut off the unit.