Weird GPS interference

[moonshadow]

Here is a weird finding. Recently my Raymarine MFDs would not completely boot up. Has been a rare but occasional event. This time though the system would repeatedly try to boot up and show a few alarms that it could not get a GPS fix. Then would nuts down bu itself and try again. This went on for a few hours, sometimes getting a good fix for a few minutes. When I got within cell range I searched the Raymarine forums for information. The short version is that I was using a low quality USB charging cable for my cell phone about 8 feet from my GPS antenna and closer to my MFDs. Apparently USB ports/cables can cause interference with GPS reception. I unplugged the cable and everything went back to normal operation. Apparently this is a known issue with GPS receivers but I have never seen it happen before. And can occur with most brands of receivers. I’m guessing that this time the cable I used wasn’t well shielded or shielding was broken at points.
Just something to be aware of if you ever see similar problem.

[bereboot]

Moonshadow, thanks for sharing this potential problem with is. I am shure several boat owners will recognise their problem.

[Trevor]

Hello moonshadow, I haven’t heard of this before so
many thanks for telling us about it. That is the sort of issue that could drive you crazy!!!

Regards

Trevor