Egnos European Satellite System ....

[Garmin8888]

Is it usable yet in the UK please?

[+Mr Nibbler]

From what I've seen it's a bit hit and miss as it's still under test. Only had lock once when out a few weeks ago in the Fens on sats 33 and 37 - jolly impressive at 2m accuracy

[+Jonovich]

I thought it was going to be transparent over the existing system, so apart from spotting some extra birds on your sat status screen you wouldn't notice anything, other than maybe quicker/more accurate acquisition?

 

Jon

[+The Mars Bars]

Great when it works..

...all the "D"'s appear and accuracy of 6-7 feet, on numerous occaisions!!!

however when reception is a bit dodgy my GPSmap 60cs

works better with WAAS disabled.

So the answer is yes it is available but is running as a testbed at the moment

so can be switched on and off at will by those in charge....

so use it but don't rely on it.

 

As far as I'm aware the aquisition time won't be improved.

 

The Egnos and WAAS system is more to do with transmitting additional data that confirms without a doubt how accurate your signal is giving you greater confidence in the information that your GPSr is feeding you.

Edited November 21, 2005 by The Mars Bars

[+Mr Nibbler]

This link may be of help:

 

EGNOS

[+The Forester]

Egnos is fully functional and produces fixes with an accuracy better than 3 metres in every reliable test I've seen.

 

The "accuracy" figure shown on Garmin screens is not a measure of accuracy at all.

 

Cheers, The Forester

[+Kryten]

Since EGNOS corrective signals are transmitted by satellites in geostationary orbit you need a reasonably good view of the southern sky to pick them up. In narrow valleys or close to trees/buildings you may get perfectly usable signals from the GPS satellites but no EGNOS (The Ds disappear).

[+sTeamTraen]

From the title of the topic, I wonder if the OP means "Galileo" ?

[+Jonovich]

Ah yes, in fact I confused Egnoes with Galileo in my response - On the subject of Galileo, can anyone confirm how our exisitng GPS units will function when they are up and running? From the Galileo website I read the Galileo system will be compatible, but couldn't find more details beyond that.

 

J

[+sTeamTraen]

It will, allegedly, be compatible.

 

However, if its development overruns as long as EGNOS did, we'll all be several generations of devices further down the road by then...

[+The Blorenges]

I've had a consistent lock from the EGNOS satellites since June (ish) when they went 'non safety of life' operational. Couple of things, if you have your Garmin in battery saver mode it won't lock on to them and yes, you need a reasonably good view of the southern sky as the satellites are only about 20 degrees above the horizon. It also takes quite a few minutes for the almanac to be downloaded before it is able to use the signal. Look for the D's!

Also the Vista C I use which replaced my Legend has a much better receiver and where the Legend couldn't get a lock the Vista C can. Can't say how well non Etrex GPS's do as I've never used one.

Galileo? Launched a week or so back to start the testbed phase so I wait in hope!

Chris (Mr B alive and kicking).

[NickPick]

Chris (Mr B alive and kicking).

Wow! Welcome to the forums Mr B! We all thought you were holding up the patio!