My GPS is lost

it can take up to 15 mins or more to auto-locate..my early model Garmin could take up to 30 mins, depending on how long since it was last switched on or how far it had travelled from last known satellite locations...in you case its a long way so give it time.....
just put some new batteries in it and let it search.

Just leave it switched on for a few minutes in a place where it can see satellites. It will find itself after a few minutes. It may ask a few questions like "have you moved more than 100 km since last switch on" - say yes. It may ask another question about time and date, they will probably be wrong. Once it realises it is at a new home it will happily auto-locate and adpot you as it's new owner.

Just think of it as a pet - a puppy - who is trying to find ways to please it's new owner.

What Nudenut and Drogger said is true.
Just one more question, are you doing all this outdoors with a clear view of the sky? If not, it will fail.
Please don't think I'm having a lend of you, have seen similar problems with people trying to do this indoors.

Geoff.

Also check that the datum is set one for Australia - usually Garmin default for Australia is WGS84. If this datum is set for one in the northerm hemisphere it will not gather the almanac for local operation with the satellites it has in view.

Another option is key in as a waypoint the approx location of where you are and get it to "Goto" that waypoint. Will sense it is in southern hemisphere and gather correct almanac

You say it locked onto one satellite - once it does that leave it locked to it for as long as possible so as it can gather all required info for that satellite. It will then proceed to the next and so on, until it can triangulate and 3D navigate

Cheers

Has it been lying around with flat batteries???
If so the memory battery has gone flat on circuit board and may recharge by fitting new batteries and leaving it for a few days switched off, or they may not recharge which means it will have to be replaced. Garmin may say that this cannot be done but there are teks around who can. NEVER leave it unused without good batteries in it as it relies on them to recharge memory batt.
We learnt this the hard way with a hard wired Garmin 12 xl unit, in our fire truck, which had batt. removed as it was hard wired, but when in less than 2 years it stopped working, Garmin said it was buggered and we had to ditch it, $650???
We later learned that some teks can open them and repair them, but there isnt any warning in garmin handbook!

Hi Greydemon - glad you got it sussed out and your GPS is no longer looking for the Opera House. You should find that the Etrex will be a good unit.

Cheers
Jeff

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Etrex model, it has proven to be a very reliable little bloke and for a cheap unit of around $220 these days you can't complain. Ok it doesn't have mapping capability but it wasn't designed for that. If anyone was going to upgrade from and Etrex to another GPS, it wouldn't be because the Etrex is not up to current standards, it would be because they want a mapping unit or one with Marine features in it. The Etrex in fact is pretty much THE standard and everything else just builds from that.

In the case of the Etrex spending 15 minutes to re-orientate itself, well, that's almost normal (shouldn't be any more than a few minutes) but it may also be pertinent to ensure WAAS is disabled because that can cause the Garmin to appear not working properely. WAAS is only relevant to North America. Resetting any GPS unit may switch WAAS on so watch out for that. All GPS are or should have WAAS off by default. The only time I have ever come across an Etrex with similar problems is one thats been started inside a building or travelled some several hundred km before being switched on again or had WAAS on.