garmin and WAAS... why is it off by default?

[+Bad_CRC]

so I notice that WAAS was disabled by default on my Garmin etrex Legend.

 

I've been wondering, is there a good reason not to turn this on in the midwest US? (less power consumption, quicker tracking, actually more accurate, etc? )

[+EraSeek]

Slightly less power, somewhat quicker redraw, mostly because much of the world can't use WAAS. If you are getting waas in North America (well, the part that is currently covered) you will have improved accuracy depending on the amount of correction needed.

[+Kabuthunk]

Yeah, even in Manitoba, you've gotta be really lucky to get waas. I've gotten it a few times... but that was always from seeing what satellites I can get from my 6th story apartment window. I don't anticipate many caches being findable while up there

[NewZealand]

so I notice that WAAS was disabled by default on my Garmin etrex Legend.

 

I've been wondering, is there a good reason not to turn this on in the midwest US? (less power consumption, quicker tracking, actually more accurate, etc? )

Because WAAS is absolutely senseless for landnavigation, regardless what people tell you.

Just leave it off and be happy. The Etrex will take you to any place you seek without WAAS.

[+EraSeek]

Well that simply isn't true. Yes you will be fine without WAAS, but it is also functional for land base nav, not just air nav. Most of the time WAAs will take you down from about 15' from a target to within a few feet. It will also provide stability of your position. Less drift. I alway like to use the situation of finding a buoy in really thick fog. I've been there. Without WAAS it may take you 5 or 6 trys to find that buoy. With WAAS you should nail it the first time.

It is not critical for what we do, but it is usefull. How could it not be when increasing accuracy? Why not use the technology?

What it does is correct many timing errors. One nanosecond of signal error equals one foot of position error.

[+Red90]

I agree, it defintiely improves accuracy and is very helpful for Geocaching.

 

You should see the new WAAS satellites in Manitoba fine. Here in Calgary, I can hold WAAS 95% of the time.

[SandyGarrity]

Well it got to be on or off. If it was on 50% of the users would complain if was off the other 50% complain - they just cannot win! :-)

[+Always & Forever 5]

Because WAAS is absolutely senseless for landnavigation, regardless what people tell you.

Just leave it off and be happy. The Etrex will take you to any place you seek without WAAS.

 

Actually, WAAS is very functional and useful for land navigation. Try it both ways, on and off, and see for yourself. Your accuracy will increase and your "bouncing" will decrease.

[+Train_Man]

Just turn it on and be happy.

[+egami]

I am fairly new to geocaching and this is one of the first questions I had. I am by no means a WAAS expert, but in my personal testing I've found slightly increased accuracy. I run with WAAS on.

 

Not sure why someone says it's useless for land nav. I'd like to see the logic behind that.

[DogFleazJR]

Now for a dumb question - I have WAAS enabled on my old Garmin GPS V, but how do I know if it is actually working? Does it say so somewhere on the reception screen?

[+rsplash40]

The next newbie question would be what happens if its on and you don't get a waas signal, do you have to go shut it off to get one?

 

thanks

[+EraSeek]

Now for a dumb question - I have WAAS enabled on my old Garmin GPS V, but how do I know if it is actually working? Does it say so somewhere on the reception screen?

If you have enabled WAAS, the first time you are exposed to a WAAS sat it will take some time to download the almanac and institute the processing. After that you will see little "D's" above the satellite bars on Garmins showing that those sats are applying the WAAS corrections.

[+EraSeek]

The next newbie question would be what happens if its on and you don't get a waas signal, do you have to go shut it off to get one?

 

thanks

If WAAS is enabled but you are not recieving a WAAS signal at the time, then it does not apply any corrections because they were not recieved. The GPS functions normally without WAAS. You do not have to turn it off.