Magellan 2000 GPS Debug Mode

The Magellan 2000 has a couple of undocumented features:

Press [MNU] [<-] [->] [<-] [->] and you will be able to select a number between 00 and 99

00 [ENT] Displays the software version - The software is upgradable by changing the EPROM

10 [ENT] will activate the Display & Keypad Test - Press [ENT] to start it, exit with [ON/OFF]

20 [ENT] will active the BURN-IN mode - Some additional registers will be shown on the POSITION window

The BURN-IN mode can also be entered by holding down the[CLR] when the wake-up text is displayed

The POSITION screen will look like this when in BURN-IN mode

The Magellan software is kept in a 44 pin PLCC that is in a socket. The Atmel 27LV1024 (3 Volts) is a 64Kb x 16 bits OTP EPROM (One Time Programmable Read Only Memory). Datasheet is available at http:\\www.atmel.com. on the reverse side of the PCB, there are 2 RAM chips. A philips 1252 AD converer is used for meassurement of battery voltage.

The LCD display container and lens has been removed. The lens is kept in place by a adhesive gasket which can be reused if you remove it with caution. The display connects to the processor board via. the broad connector. The slim connector is for the keypad. When putting the unit back together, I assembled it inside a large transparrent plastic bag filled with dry nitrogen gas in order to keep out any water vapor that could condense inside the unit when used at low temperatures.

My unit has ver 1.6 software - It seems like there are a big difference between the various Magellan 2000 variants, so I would not expect total software portability between the different hardware revisions. The latest 2000 units have Sw numbered: 3.04 (128k x 16 ROM). I doubt that I can sucessfully make this software work in my older unit even if only 64k of the 128k memory was used.

The debug mode of the newer firmwars provides more extensive intormation. Option 01 [ENT] will give information on individual sattelites that are recieved.

The unit doesn't have any EEPROM or other non-volatile RAM, so settings will be lost if left without batteries. It will return to position 33deg 25m N 116deg 30m W - Borrego Springs, CA (I thought Magellan were located in San Dimas...).

Technical data:

Power consumption: 80 mA @ 6v, 140 mA @ 6v with backlighting on (so keep it off!)
Batt low treshold: 4,5 v (1,125 v/ cell), power off at 3,65v, needs approx. 4,5v at powerup

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