Russian And European Gps

[flir67]

does anybody know if the russian and european gps satellites have anything similiar to the american waas system for accuracy? I'm seeing alot of these dual units now on ebay with dual gps systems. american/europe (honox-think its called) and fac(taiwan) that has russian and american all in one unit.

 

just wondering about the accuracy of these satellite systems compared to the american gps system.

 

flir67----------------

[+IVxIV]

Yup Europeans have something called EGNOS which I guess is also available in Russia

 

[peter]

The Russian GLONASS system only has 11 satellites currently operating so getting a fix at all is a problem unless you're combining it with GPS. It does not have a WAAS-type system. Note that WAAS requires a ground network somewhere in the user's geographic area so someone in most of Russia wouldn't be helped currently by WAAS on GPS nor would we be helped by anything like a GLONASS WAAS-equivalent even if it did exist (and it doesn't).

 

Galileo, the european system, is still on the drawing boards. When and if it's eventually deployed it should give comparable accuracy to GPS, but by then both systems should be better than GPS is today. I don't really see the point in buying anything claimed to be GPS/Galileo compatible today. Even if the design ends up being fully compatible it's likely to be obsolete before Galileo is operational.

 

Note that the EGNOS system mentioned by IVxIV is the european equivalent of WAAS and works in conjunction with GPS - it's not a separate system. Nor is there the ground infrastructure for it to support locations in Russia although that could eventually be added.

Edited September 19, 2005 by peter

[flir67]

thanks for the quick replies, I had no idea that the european system had not even been deployed yet. but its interesting none the less.

 

I guess I sticking with american gps. just thought I'd explore what other countries have.

Edited September 19, 2005 by flir67

[Hoary]

BTW, it's againts the law in Russia for civilian to determine position with accuracy better than 30 meters. It's sounds strange, but it's still true.

[+Frodo13]

Additional question. Am I reading the map correctly and understanding that a GPSr (Garmin GPSMAP60) purchased here (USA) would opperate in Poland. My wife is heading there for a visit and wanted to try a few caches there.

 

Thanks

[peter]

Additional question. Am I reading the map correctly and understanding that a GPSr (Garmin GPSMAP60) purchased here (USA) would opperate in Poland.

As the name implies, GPS is inherently global and will work anywhere in the world. The map shown above by IVxIV is actually of a completely different system for communications satellites and that coverage, unlike GPS, does not extend to the polar regions. But Poland would certainly be covered by both GPS and the geosynchronous communications satellites.

 

The only caveat is that the maps in our GPS receivers are frequently much more limited and the basemap in a GPSMap60 won't show much in Poland. No problem entering cache locations though and using the arrow and distance fields to navigate to the caches.

[+thsalbert]

Galileo, the European system, is plannig to be completed in 2008. It will give us upto 1 meter accuracy. And the USA GPS system can give us to 10 meter accuracy but with WAAS or EGNOS will improve it upto 5 m accuracy. In America and Canada is WAAS. In Europe is EGNOS at the presence moment. There are more information on this links: http://www.gpsworld.com/gpsworld/article/a...?categoryId=276

WAAS & EGNOS for us in Asia we can't benific at all. And hope that Garmin or other manufacture to use the latest Siff star III chipset. That why I am getting a Globalsat BT-338, My signal was stable inside building and under tree shade. for geocaching in walking mode the respond of my electonic compass is so good like a conventional compass. Here is the BT-338 product review: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?ContentId=4551. Hope to share with you all. Happy geocaching.

[peter]

I wouldn't count on the 2008 date for Galileo. They've been running considerably behind schedule and

http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/program...h2005-09-16.htm

indicates it may be 2011 at the earliest.

 

Actual measured GPS accuracy is already better than your stated 10m and is expected to improve further. For example, this Sunday is the scheduled launch of the first of the next generation GPS satellites which supports two civilian frequencies and therefore permits better modelling of atmospheric delays even in areas not yet served by WAAS/EGNOS and other SBAS systems.

[+thsalbert]

thank peter for the info.