POINT 1 HELP "Invalid"

[bassmasher]

Have had my point one hooked up for two years with no problems. This weekend went out to fish and my maps had the question mark. Went into setting and it say "POINT 1 [310] (INVALID). Changed it temporarily to use the units gps.
I have already tried some trouble shooting. Power is good, backbone had power to each device, all connection are tight.
Does anyone think the puck went bad or is there something else to check that I am missing.
Thanks in advance

running, 2 HDS12 lives and a Active Target

[Marc Marcantonio]

I have seen this happen before, and was corrected by either a soft reset or a hard reset. Be sure to try both before replacing the Point-1. I have yet to hear of one actually fatally failing (though certainly possible).

[BarryFL]

Do you have another heading sensor on your network, such as trolling motor? If so, you can try setting the Instance to [1] and see if that helps. Instance [1] forces use of the Point 1 before the other sensor.

[bassmasher]

I have seen this happen before, and was corrected by either a soft reset or a hard reset. Be sure to try both before replacing the Point-1. I have yet to hear of one actually fatally failing (though certainly possible).

Does the soft are hard reboot change your settings? I also just right now did the update to see if that would help. no luck

[bassmasher]

Do you have another heading sensor on your network, such as trolling motor? If so, you can try setting the Instance to [1] and see if that helps. Instance [1] forces use of the Point 1 before the other sensor.

I do, where is that setting located, under network?

[rbarrow]

Invalid simply means the device is not detected. This comes down to a NMEA network issue or a bad Point 1. 99% of the time, it is a NMEA issue....bad cable, bad tee, etc. Your Ghost trolling motor heading sensor doesn't show on your network device list so there is no reason to mess with that or mess with changing your instance number.

First step is to confirm the NMEA has power - go to Settings - Network - Diagnostics and confirm that on the NMEA page the entry at the top shows BUSS ON. This indicates you have power to the NMEA and at least your display can detect the network.

Second step is to simplify and substitute. Get the network down to 3 tees and the two terminators (unit, Point 1, and power). You can plug your point 1 into a known good tee and if it is still not detected, you have a bad Point 1.

Hard/Soft resets on the unit have ZERO effect on detecting the Point 1...so don't waste your time.

[Marc Marcantonio]

Invalid simply means the device is not detected. This comes down to a NMEA network issue or a bad Point 1. 99% of the time, it is a NMEA issue....bad cable, bad tee, etc. Your Ghost trolling motor heading sensor doesn't show on your network device list so there is no reason to mess with that or mess with changing your instance number.

First step is to confirm the NMEA has power - go to Settings - Network - Diagnostics and confirm that on the NMEA page the entry at the top shows BUSS ON. This indicates you have power to the NMEA and at least your display can detect the network.

Second step is to simplify and substitute. Get the network down to 3 tees and the two terminators (unit, Point 1, and power). You can plug your point 1 into a known good tee and if it is still not detected, you have a bad Point 1.

Hard/Soft resets on the unit have ZERO effect on detecting the Point 1...so don't waste your time.

While I agree with much of your comments, my experience and results contradict your statement saying a reset is a waste of time; I have been down this road many times with others and fixed this very problem with a reset. As this is the easiest step to accomplish I would do it before tearing into my NMEA network.

Actually I would check the device list and see if other NMEA network items are listed and working properly. If none are listed then I would check the fuse to the NMEA network.

Then I would recommend making sure all your NMEA devices are powered up and hit the configure button. This will remove all invalid devices.

After these relatively quick items to do, if still no joy then I would check the network tees and cables.

[rbarrow]

And my experience comes from MANY years of troubleshooting NMEA networks. Resets hav nothing to do with a device not being detected. Prove it to yourself next time by seeing if the device in question shows invalid on more than one unit. If it shows that error on both which it will it isn’t an issue with an mfd.

[bassmasher]

I finally figured it out. The ground for the Point 1 was on the starting battery and not on the electronics battery. Simple fix. When I added the new lithium electronics battery I missed that ground. I put it to the correct battery and it fired right up! Thanks for every ones help.

[Marc Marcantonio]

Glad you found the problem. And to answer your earlier questions a soft reset would not have changed your settings, but a hard reset would return it to factory settings (also wiping out your waypoints, routes, and trails so always save them first).