+EraSeek Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 On 11/3 about 8:00 UTC WAAS sat 48 should be operational, giving the northeast operational WAAS that it has been lacking since last fall with the move of WAAS 35 out over the Pacific. For the next 6 to 9 months , as I understand it, 48 will operate providing WAAS but not rangeing, meaning it provides corrections for the GPS sats but can not itself be used for a position fix. Your sat strength bar for 48 may be hollow for that time period. Quote
+wsgaskins Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 ... will operate providing WAAS but not rangeing, meaning it provides corrections for the GPS sats but can not itself be used for a position fix. Your sat strength bar for 48 may be hollow for that time period. I've always wondered why I get a good strong signal on one of the satellites in the 50s (51?, 53?, i don't recall right now) here in North Carolina, but it never went 'solid'. Some days, i've needed that extra accuracy and waited 10 minutes for it to fill in, but it never does... How do you know which ones are available for Ranging? Quote
+EraSeek Posted October 31, 2006 Author Posted October 31, 2006 Some of it may depend on how your unit uses it. The new Garmin 60cx and 76cx units with the sirf chip, (as I understand), do not use the waas sats for rangeing, only corrections. Or so I have heard. Still, with the new unit updates the bar fills in. Other Garmin units do use the ranging in the WAAS sats. Currently WAAS #35, and #47, are operational and ranging. 51 is in test mode and I think it ranges sometimes as well. At any rate, these sats are not the best to use for rangeing anyway. The regular GPS sats are. The importance of the WAAS sats are for sending data to your GPS to correct the GPS sats and their timing and position errors. As long as you are seeing D's on Garmins or W's on Magellens above the sat status bars, you are getting the benefits of the corrections. Quote
+biosearch Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 This is great info and a real worthwhile use of the forums. Thanks Quote
+emurock Posted October 31, 2006 Posted October 31, 2006 On 11/3 about 8:00 UTC WAAS sat 48 should be operational, giving the northeast operational WAAS that it has been lacking since last fall with the move of WAAS 35 out over the Pacific. For the next 6 to 9 months , as I understand it, 48 will operate providing WAAS but not rangeing, meaning it provides corrections for the GPS sats but can not itself be used for a position fix. Your sat strength bar for 48 may be hollow for that time period. Cool Quote
+teald024 Posted November 1, 2006 Posted November 1, 2006 .... As long as you are seeing D's on Garmins or W's on Magellens above the sat status bars, you are getting the benefits of the corrections. I have an eTREX Legend C and have always wondered what that "D" was for on the Sat's page. Quote
+fizzymagic Posted November 1, 2006 Posted November 1, 2006 In honor of the event, and now that the PRN numbers are set in stone, I updated GeoCalc to make figuring out which WAAS satellite is which a little easier. Download the new version and see where the satellites will be from your location. Quote
+fizzymagic Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 YAY! This morning, the new WAAS satellite appeared on my SporTrak Color! It's finally operational! Quote
+NotThePainter Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 YAY! This morning, the new WAAS satellite appeared on my SporTrak Color! It's finally operational! I just checked about an hour ago from Manchester NH. No WAAS. (Garmin 60csx) Quote
+fizzymagic Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 I just checked about an hour ago from Manchester NH. No WAAS. Did you check the expected position with GeoCalc, like I told you to? Manchester, NH: N 42 59.500 , W 71 27.500 Elevation of satellite 48: 11.9 degrees You should be able to see that one if there aren't too many trees around. Satellite 51 will be considerably higher when it goes online; it will have an elevation of 28.8 degrees. Actually, since you have a Garmin, you ought to be seeing that one already. Quote
+Nutty Squirrel Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 I'm near Manchester NH; 11 degrees?? That'll be near impossible for me to see. I do amateur astronomy and whenever the computers tells me something I want to see is that low, I know its gonna be behind the trees unless I'm on something elevated. Oh well! Quote
+EraSeek Posted November 3, 2006 Author Posted November 3, 2006 Hmm. Still not up yet, it looks like. Quote
+NotThePainter Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 I just checked about an hour ago from Manchester NH. No WAAS. Did you check the expected position with GeoCalc, like I told you to? Manchester, NH: N 42 59.500 , W 71 27.500 Elevation of satellite 48: 11.9 degrees You should be able to see that one if there aren't too many trees around. Satellite 51 will be considerably higher when it goes online; it will have an elevation of 28.8 degrees. Actually, since you have a Garmin, you ought to be seeing that one already. I'll help you with the port to OS X if you need help... :- ( I don't see it, odd that... Quote
+EraSeek Posted November 7, 2006 Author Posted November 7, 2006 Operational status has been delayed a week. Now looking at 11/10/06. Quote
+fizzymagic Posted November 8, 2006 Posted November 8, 2006 Operational status has been delayed a week. Now looking at 11/10/06. A little frustrating, isn't it? My Magellan now is showing the satellite but can't use it; since it has 2 reserved slots for WAAS satellites, it is only using 35 right now, and even though it has been able to use 47 all along, it just continually searches for 48 now. Not that it makes any real difference, since I have a nice strong signal from 35. Quote
+evelbug Posted November 8, 2006 Posted November 8, 2006 I thought I noticed my GPS picking up 48 on the way home today. (Quest2 w/ external antenna) Had a strong hollow bar and all the other sat's had a 'd'. GPS was showing 7' accuracy. Quote
+fizzymagic Posted November 8, 2006 Posted November 8, 2006 Yep! It's finally operational! My Magellan picked it up on the way home from work today, just a couple hours after I whined above! Quote
+EraSeek Posted November 8, 2006 Author Posted November 8, 2006 Then why isn't it showing here: http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/vpl.html ? The NE should be filled in. Quote
+EScout Posted November 8, 2006 Posted November 8, 2006 Turned on my Magellan. It showed the two WAAS, 47 and 35. After a while it dropped the 47and picked up the new one. The two, I assume 35 and 48, appear to be very close to each other. Signals are very strong here in So Calif. Quote
+PDOP's Posted November 9, 2006 Posted November 9, 2006 Then why isn't it showing here: http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/vpl.html ? The NE should be filled in. I was wondering about that too. Now it looks like the boudary has moved east to cover Maine but not the maritimes in Canada. Quote
+EraSeek Posted November 10, 2006 Author Posted November 10, 2006 It is now out of test mode and into normal operation as of 08:00 utc http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/incoming/New_WAAS_Geo_Status.pdf Quote
+fizzymagic Posted November 10, 2006 Posted November 10, 2006 Then why isn't it showing here: http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/vpl.html ? The NE should be filled in. Not yet, although as you can see the coverage of Maine is better. But the new satellite is at 133 W, not all that far from the existing (and relatively new) position of 35 at 142 W. Coverage of the NE will really improve once the satellite at 107.3 W goes operational, which is supposed to happen in the next month or so. Quote
+EraSeek Posted November 10, 2006 Author Posted November 10, 2006 Yes, well 48 covers it but barely. They have brought it up quickly to fill in corrections till the other is on line. Quote
+Clothahump Posted November 10, 2006 Posted November 10, 2006 On 11/3 about 8:00 UTC WAAS sat 48 should be operational... So what you're telling us is: WAAS UP!! Quote
+emurock Posted November 10, 2006 Posted November 10, 2006 On 11/3 about 8:00 UTC WAAS sat 48 should be operational... So what you're telling us is: WAAS UP!! Quote
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