ipilot signal problem

I used my new Terrova/ipilot today it is great I love the remote and after a couple hours I unhooked the foot control and put it away for more room.
There was one problem, I lost signal when it got cloudy with a mist of rain. the clouds where very thick and low, as they moved in the signal would come and go then totally went away.
Has anyone had this problem? anyone know if the signal strength is stronger or if it changes with the seasons?
The positive note is Ky Lake has thawn from the freeze and we caught 26 nice crappie today.

I can see that happening with thick cloud cover, happens all the time with satellite tv.

I have yet to see any signal issues in any sort of weather, including some horizontal snow this week.

Did you peel the protective film off the GPS receiver?

no signal issues with mine either

No problems with mine.

Mine Also Loses Signal In Windy Cloudy Conditions. It Will Completely Do A 180 Turn. I Am Still Trying To Get The Bugs Out.

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Originally Posted by Jason Halfen #511

I have yet to see any signal issues in any sort of weather, including some horizontal snow this week.

Did you peel the protective film off the GPS receiver?

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no I didn't will check to see if it has one, Thanks

The GPS signals will not be affected by clouds, rain, fog,snow, etc., because of the combination of their passing through water vapor, and the signal wavelength meaning they "pass through" rain etc.

For example: GPS smart bombs. Planes taxi using GPS in heavy fog, etc.

Now, on the other hand, water will block/attenuate GPS signals. Dry you antenna off if it is wet or damp from fog,rain etc. This will help a lot fellers and fellerettes. MOAO

We had clear skys yesterday and I had a good signal. I plan to fish one more time before I call tech support about it, maybe it needed time to locate. obviously this is not a problem with all units

Are you watching the signal strength meter on the remote?
If the motor turns 180 degrees I would think that would be normal as it tries to get back to a spot or track
I have not had mine on the water but tested it in the garage and it have "full bars"

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Originally Posted by WE16

Are you watching the signal strength meter on the remote?
If the motor turns 180 degrees I would think that would be normal as it tries to get back to a spot or track
I have not had mine on the water but tested it in the garage and it have "full bars"

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Yes I am looking at the meter on the remote. when I loose signal I loose all of the functions that use GPS like spot lock therefore I am sure that I don't have signal. on the cloudy days that I was loosing signal I locked on spot then would notice the wind was moving me away more than normal thats when I noticed signal loss. later I noticed a beep whenever the signal is lost

I have talked to Minn Kota about the signal problem. They agree the ipilot is not getting enough signal, therfore they are sending a replacement and a pickup order for return of the other one.

Excellent Service!!!!!!! I have had experance with alot of companies over the years and Minn Kota has shown service 2nd to none.

As far as the ipilot having a problem! any new product will have some of that, the key to Excellance is to recogonize and correct those problems and Minn Kota has done that in my situation.

Did you get your replacement and have you been able to see if it fixed the problem

Just curious guys as to the terrain around the lakes you are testing on? Steep canyons or tall hills, thick trees close to the boat will strongly limit the gps signals. Is your area WAAS covered? We have a lot of locations with marginal GPS coverage because of our cliffs etc so I understand those issues, yet mine had solid sat lock the entire day of use.

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Originally Posted by Jumping Cholla Jigs

Just curious guys as to the terrain around the lakes you are testing on? Steep canyons or tall hills, thick trees close to the boat will strongly limit the gps signals. Is your area WAAS covered? We have a lot of locations with marginal GPS coverage because of our cliffs etc so I understand those issues, yet mine had solid sat lock the entire day of use.

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Terrain is not the issue. I have a Garmin and Lorance GPS and they both have a full signal. I am on Ky lake with a clear view all around. I think we have somthing going on with voltage since both seem to loose signal when we troll on a hidh setting and both motors have power loss (thrust)

Talked to Dave a Minn Kota today and he recommended I try a 6 guage wire since my batteries are 20 ft away. I did run them direct and got the same results just as soon as I hit the 8 setting the signal was gone.
So I am going to have the batteries checked tomorrow, I expect that to be the problem. a battery going bad can cause a lot of unexpected problems with electronics.
they are older than I thought (april 2007)

Took it out today and the new batteries cured the problem. great signal, great motor

My cruise control didn't work well last time out. It was extremely windy with lots of waves---thought that might have been the problem. May need tocheck my batteries.

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Originally Posted by rockmike

My cruise control didn't work well last time out. It was extremely windy with lots of waves---thought that might have been the problem. May need tocheck my batteries.

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it will show up first when the motor is on higher setting pulling the most current