flir67 Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 has anyone noticed how long it takes for the explorist to lock onto waas. I just noticed that mine is about 5-10 minutes each time I turn the unit on for it to get waas lock. I recently calibrated it so I don't think thats it. any clue for faster lock. I thought this was a bit long, for such a new unit. thanks inadvance. Quote
Dirtnapper Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 (edited) Keep an eye on it...my experience with not locking on to the birds got worse, and well, my MeriPlat is a paperweight. See thread about Thales and service - none and can not lock onto birds for more details and how I got screwed. Mine started out that way. Good luck. Edited June 8, 2005 by Dirtnapper Quote
cinnamongirl Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I've had my Explorist 200 for about a week now and noticed the same exasperating problem: up to 10 mins to get a decent lock. Frustrating, isn't it? Today, I discovered that I get a much faster lock when I'm driving. If I stand around at home, it takes longer, but hop in the car and it's under 5 minutes. Is that plausible or was I just lucky today? Quote
cinnamongirl Posted June 8, 2005 Posted June 8, 2005 I should mention that I was standing around in the driveway. Outside, of course. I've decided that it's not much of a problem though because if I turn it on just as I'm leaving the house, I've got a lock before I even get out of my neighborhood, so I'm good by the time I get to a cache area. Quote
+Hard Oiler Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 has anyone noticed how long it takes for the explorist to lock onto waas. I just noticed that mine is about 5-10 minutes each time I turn the unit on for it to get waas lock. I recently calibrated it so I don't think thats it. any clue for faster lock.I thought this was a bit long, for such a new unit. thanks inadvance. I don't think this is too unusual or a problem. Looking for the WAAS satellite (if there is one visible) and getting the WAAS corrections I believe is one of the last things it does and it will have established your position well before doing that. All the WAAS lock does is refine that position and the correction isn't too significant. You really don't need a WAAS lock to find caches. If you waited until you have WAAS before looking you could be waiting all day in areas where a WAAS signal isn't available. Lots of people who hide and find either don't have WAAS or have it turned off. Quote
+IVxIV Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 I've had my Explorist 200 for about a week now and noticed the same exasperating problem: up to 10 mins to get a decent lock. Frustrating, isn't it? Today, I discovered that I get a much faster lock when I'm driving. If I stand around at home, it takes longer, but hop in the car and it's under 5 minutes. Is that plausible or was I just lucky today? That might be because while you're driving around in your car the GPSr is getting different angles of view of the sky, which might be helping it figure out where it is a bit faster(?) When standing outside hold the unit in different directions & perhaps stroll around a bit especially if you're near tall buildings that may block some of the signals. Quote
+jacques0 Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 The 5-10 minute delay sounds normal to me for a cold start. On a warm start my 200 acquires WAAS almost as soon as it aqcuires the other satellites, but cold starts take a while longer for the reason Hard Oiler said. Quote
+hogrod Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 i have noticed that when ever there is solar activity that my GPS,cell phone and other electrinic devices dont act like normal. for the past 5days there was allot of solar activity. today everything is back to normal so you should try it again and see how it does. here is a link to solar activity Quote
flir67 Posted June 9, 2005 Author Posted June 9, 2005 i have noticed that when ever there is solar activity that my GPS,cell phone and other electrinic devices dont act like normal. for the past 5days there was allot of solar activity. today everything is back to normal so you should try it again and see how it does. here is a link to solar activity didn't even think about the solar activity, completely forgot about that happening. I have been having problems with my cellphone crackling for the past few days. I thought it was from the all the rain in nc but I will try it again when leaving work today, I have noticed accurracy being off alot more in the city vs less populated areas, and come to accept this. I thought it might have something to do with some of the satellites being taken offline I think the last one was 31 that was taken off line? I know waas is ground based but what is the minumim for a good waas reading. my explorist needs 4 just to get a lockwithout waas. good luck flir67----------- Quote
cinnamongirl Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 I've had my Explorist 200 for about a week now and noticed the same exasperating problem: up to 10 mins to get a decent lock. Frustrating, isn't it? Today, I discovered that I get a much faster lock when I'm driving. If I stand around at home, it takes longer, but hop in the car and it's under 5 minutes. Is that plausible or was I just lucky today? That might be because while you're driving around in your car the GPSr is getting different angles of view of the sky, which might be helping it figure out where it is a bit faster(?) When standing outside hold the unit in different directions & perhaps stroll around a bit especially if you're near tall buildings that may block some of the signals. Yeah, I figured that. I live in a 2-story box with a huge pear tree in the front yard (both blocking a good portion of sky). I usually take it out to my decent-size backyard with no trees and walk around there and up and down my driveway. Thanks for the tip, IVxIV. However, the accuracy has never been less than 10 ft. and that was only once. The best I usually get is somewhere between 30-60 ft. Is this normal? Should I expect better accuracy? I thought being on the highway would get me better accuracy since it's relatively open, but that's not the case either. I haven't yet had the opportunity to take my GPSr to the top of a large hill with wide open sky view, though. jacques0, you're the guy I think I read in another thread that loves the eXplorist 200. Tell me why. And if you don't mind, could you provide some tips for enhancing experience with this unit? Is this right? Cold start=turning the unit on when it's been off for some time. Warm start=turning the unit on after it's been off for less than 4 hours or (?) resetting GPS while it's on. flir67, you didn't say which model eXplorist you have. Have you had much luck with it? Quote
+jacques0 Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 cinnamon...Yeah, I've had great luck w/ my ex200. One important question: Where do you live, and what is the general relief of the land around you? I live in n. Minnesota, near Lake Superior. It's not at all uncommon to have 10-12, even 13 satellites locked, and 7-10 foot accuracy, unless I'm down in a valley. One thing I would do is to download the .pdf owners manual, which is much more comprehensive than the pamphlet that came with the unit and will explain some of the functions better. Here is a link for it: http://www.magellangps.com/assets/manuals/...st200Manual.pdf Something else that would be worth a try is to erase all memory, and start from scratch, in case the almanac got corrupted or something. To do that, press the menu button, select Preferences, on the next screen select Clear Memory then--on the next screen--select All. This will erase EVERYTHING (including any waypoints you've entered, so keep that in mind) so that when you turn the unit on again, it will be just like it left the factory. This time, initialize it in an open area so that it can re-discover the satellites. Unless you are in a valley area, where view of the horizons is limited, you really should be able consistently to get 20 feet or better accuracy when out in the open, especially after the unit has been on for a few minutes. You asked the reasons I like the 200. I guess just because it's simple and straightforward, and small, but I'm sure one of the smaller Garmins would suit me just fine too. I have found the 200 to be very accurate. Sure, the lack of PC connection limits its capabilities, but the basic thing I ask of the unit is to tell me where I am. If I'm in back country I'll have a map and compass along anyway. I don't do the hundreds (or even thousands) of caches that some posters here do, so entering coords by hand is no big deal for me. Someday, perhaps. Quote
cinnamongirl Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 Thanks for the info, jacques0. I tried the link, but I'm getting an error for some reason. (I don't usually have any trouble reading PDFs though.) Would you mind emailing the document to me? Also, I've not yet figured out how to enter coords. I've just been setting waypoints as I arrive at the location. I didn't realize you could do that, but I thought that was pretty sad not to be able to even enter coords by hand (which I wouldn't really mind at all). I've been doing okay, even without loading cache waypoints, but I've been doing relatively easy caches. (Except for lots of wrong turns getting to the parking areas ::hangs head low in shame: The only problems I've had so far is one cache located at different coords and another cache in a parking garage (no reception). Loading a waypoint would definitely help with the garage location. Quote
+jacques0 Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 cinnamon: Try right-clicking on the link in my previous post, then choosing "Save target as..." That will enable you to download the file to your hard drive, then you can open it with Adobe Reader. Otherwise, I'll be happy to send the file to you if the email function of these forums allows attachments. To enter a waypoint manually refer to page 6 of the booklet that came with the ex200. 1. From where you are right now, press the Mark button. You will be presented with a location screen that you can edit. 2. Using the joystick/enter button, move the highlighted area to the coordinates. Now click on the joystick. The first number of the N coordinate is highlighted now. You can now use the joystick to move right or left to select the number you want to change. Change numbers by moving the joystick up or down). When you have changed the coordinates for N, then press the joystick/enter to move to the W set of numbers. Again, move right or left to select the # you want to change, then up or down to change the number. When you're done, press enter again to move to the next field. Now move down to Save and click it. It really is easier to do (and faster) than it is to describe. Now, you can click on GoTo, select the waypoint (POI) that you just created, and the gps will navigate you to it. When you set up a waypoint you can give it a name, or you can just accept the default ones that the gps gives you (POI001, POI002, etc.). I'll see if I can get that manual to you. Quote
flir67 Posted June 9, 2005 Author Posted June 9, 2005 I have the explorist 600, thanks for all the replies, will try the erasing memory after I back up my waypoints.that actually helped once on my old sportrak color. good tips. Quote
cinnamongirl Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 jacques, thank you so much for your help. I emailed you back. Tomorrow after my batteries have recharged and I've got some free time, I'm going back to a really stubborn cache armed with my new knowledge. As I said in my email to you, you're truly an asset to the geocaching community. Quote
+jacques0 Posted June 9, 2005 Posted June 9, 2005 Thanks Cinnamongirl. I recv'd your email, and the pdf file is on its way to you. Page 27 of the manual begins the section covering your question about entering waypoints. Good luck. Quote
flir67 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Posted June 10, 2005 cinnamon...Yeah, I've had great luck w/ my ex200. One important question: Where do you live, and what is the general relief of the land around you? I live in n. Minnesota, near Lake Superior. It's not at all uncommon to have 10-12, even 13 satellites locked, and 7-10 foot accuracy, unless I'm down in a valley. One thing I would do is to download the .pdf owners manual, which is much more comprehensive than the pamphlet that came with the unit and will explain some of the functions better. Here is a link for it: http://www.magellangps.com/assets/manuals/...st200Manual.pdf Something else that would be worth a try is to erase all memory, and start from scratch, in case the almanac got corrupted or something. To do that, press the menu button, select Preferences, on the next screen select Clear Memory then--on the next screen--select All. This will erase EVERYTHING (including any waypoints you've entered, so keep that in mind) so that when you turn the unit on again, it will be just like it left the factory. This time, initialize it in an open area so that it can re-discover the satellites. Unless you are in a valley area, where view of the horizons is limited, you really should be able consistently to get 20 feet or better accuracy when out in the open, especially after the unit has been on for a few minutes. You asked the reasons I like the 200. I guess just because it's simple and straightforward, and small, but I'm sure one of the smaller Garmins would suit me just fine too. I have found the 200 to be very accurate. Sure, the lack of PC connection limits its capabilities, but the basic thing I ask of the unit is to tell me where I am. If I'm in back country I'll have a map and compass along anyway. I don't do the hundreds (or even thousands) of caches that some posters here do, so entering coords by hand is no big deal for me. Someday, perhaps. ok I saved my poi's and reset the unit. but on reset it did some strange things i've never seen. after reset it automatically went into "burn-in" test mode. so I cancelled that and recalibrated unit. waas is still not coming on at all even with 6 satellites. and I left the unit sitting there for 30 minutes.I'm starting to think that it only works on this unit if you move with it. but the good news after the reset and calibration . I get a lock with a epe of 35 feet in 30 seconds are less, actually when I turn it on 4 satellites are already locked. in stead of a few minutes.. will have to watch the waas feature but I'm happy with a lock in under 30 seconds.. any way to get waas to lock on first instead of last. thanks for the reset tip Quote
+jacques0 Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 I think the 30 second satellite acqusition is probably because you were making a "warm start", i.e. restarting the unit after it has been off for less than a couple hours. That will not always be the case. Here is the section from the explorist 200 manual that describes this: Cold vs. Warm Start. When the eXplorist is turned on, one of the first things it does isto find out what satellites are overhead, along with their relative position. It does this by using a built-in satellite almanac. This almanac, when given the current date, time and approximate position, can provide the eXplorist with information on what satellites are overhead and their approximate relationship to the eXplorist. Now with information on satellite availability, the eXplorist can begin setting its internal satellite channels to receive satellite transmission. Cold Start. Cold start is defined as when the eXplorist doe not have an approximate position to use when referring to its almanac. This can occur when: • The eXplorist is turned on for the first time after purchase. The memory is cleared prior to shipping so any position that may have been in the eXplorist is set to a null value. • If you have cleared the eXplorist's memory, (found in Preferences) all of the memory will be cleared and the last computed position will be set to a null value. • If you have traveled with your eXplorist with it turned off, the last position saved may be so far away that when the eXplorist begins looking for satellites, the ones it is expecting to find, are not there. (As a rule of thumb, any time you move for more then 500 mi [804.7 km] with the eXplorist turned off, there is a good chance it will start up using a cold start. A cold start should take no more then 2-3 minutes to compute the initial position fix. Warm Start. Warm starts are when the last position calculated before the eXplorist was turned off is still in memory and you are in the same approximate position. Most of the time the eXplorist is turned on, it will be in its warm start mode. With a clear view of the sky, the eXplorist should compute its position in a matter of seconds. I believe WAAS is always the last to come on, as the WAAS signal depends upon analyzing and correcting information from the other satellites. Thirty minutes seems like a long time, though, but WAAS is not always available, depending upon your location, local topography, maybe even atmospheric conditions. I was hiking yesterday and never did get a WAAS signal, but I was in deep cover. Usually, however, I receive WAAS in about 5 minutes or so. Quote
flir67 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Posted June 10, 2005 (edited) your probably right but after the reset it seems to work better. waas finally kicked in after the rest and now I'm indoors on the second level of house with a accuracy of 10 feet. can't knock it ,just dicuss it. I'm just "use" to better readings of 12-15 feet Edited June 10, 2005 by flir67 Quote
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