GPS in Europe

Have you contacted Garmin? http://www.garmin.com/us/support/contact The only time we get the "could not find a satelite" message is when we are in a tunnel, parking garage or similar where the device is blocked from the sky.

I had that happen with my Garmin in 2009. When we got the car at CDG and started out, it would not navigate and it turned out the map card was not fully ed into the slot. Beyond that I have never had a problem. GPS is a single system world wide. Have you tried calling Garmin, their support people have been very helpful with past problems.

Bob, I don't know if this is the source of your problem, but I've found with the Garmin GPS units that it helps to press "Display Maps" when you arrive in a new location. It may take awhile (and of course you have to be in a line-of-sight location) but when the Map is displayed the unit should then be ready to navigate. I'd suggest also contacting Garmin, as it may be difficult to test my suggestion unless you travel to another city in your area. Good luck and happy travels!

Seems like anytime Garmin flys to a new location, it takes the Garmin an inordinate amount of time to find the satalites. And if you are moving in a car, may not find them for a while. Don't drive away in your rental until it's found the satalites. It can take 10-15 minutes standing still. Longer if moving. I usually turn my Garmin on once the plane has landed, and hope that at some point between then and getting to the rental car, the statalites have been found. If not, I'll stay put in the rental car until Garmin knows where it is. Beware that if you are in a parking gargage, it might not work either.

"Could Not find a Satellite", as others have mentioned, is an error message that has to do with the device not getting a good signal (or enough signals) from the satellites above. The main issue is the "urban canyon" effect, which means that buildings around you are blocking the signals that the device needs. If you are underground, you will also not have a signal. Once you have a lock, it is more resilient to losing the signal, but you need to get it first. Best thing you can do is go out into a square or park and let it find the signal. It may take up to 10 minutes.

Bob, are you using the GPS regularly at home, or just when you go on the road? The GPS battery may have been so low that it needed time to recharge itself from the car battery before it had enough power to find and lock in to a satellite. Mine is an older unit that now gives the same message in pedestrian mode and is slow to charge up in my truck at home if I let it set up without using it for a while. I have also had a case with a rental car in which my GPS lost the signal about five miles down the road and would not recover even though it was plugged in to the charger. Luckily, this was with a hundred miles of home, and I relied on a map to find my way around. When I returned the car and told the agent of this, he said the fuse for the charger/lighter in their cars shoots from time to time and the company has no way of knowing until someone reports the problem. So, if the GPS does not charge after 5 or 10 minutes at the rental car site, you might ask to check the GPS on another car.

Here's another thought: Don't ask it to go there, but try setting your unit for the country you are visiting and program-in your first night's hotel before you leave home. That might speed up the connection time, although I still suspect that the battery in your GPS was low.

I concur with Karen's remarks . I have a Garmin with european maps and it took a full ten to fifteen minutes to locate the satelites last year in France . Just bought one for my daughter ( US maps only ) , same issue . Be patient and make sure you are outdoors . Best of luck !