Trip Odometer Problem With Oregon 450

[+OldA'sFan]

The other day I was hiking in canyons that had heavy forest. My Oregon 450 was showing accuracy of 65-75 feet. What I noticed that the trip odometer and the speed indicator were very sporadic. At times the speed indcator was showing zero movement, and the trip odometer was showing no movement. Was this caused by the poor sat reception?

 

OldA'sFan

[+Jeep4two]

The other day I was hiking in canyons that had heavy forest. My Oregon 450 was showing accuracy of 65-75 feet. What I noticed that the trip odometer and the speed indicator were very sporadic. At times the speed indcator was showing zero movement, and the trip odometer was showing no movement. Was this caused by the poor sat reception?

 

OldA'sFan

 

Most likely yes. Poor reception can cause erratic behavior of all the features of the unit. 75-100 feet seems to say you had marginal signal at best, probably only 3 or 4 satellites with weak signal.

 

How were you carrying the unit? Holding it out away from your body, or clipping it to the shoulder strap of your backpack is a great way to ensure it gets better signal in challenging conditions.

[+OldA'sFan]

The other day I was hiking in canyons that had heavy forest. My Oregon 450 was showing accuracy of 65-75 feet. What I noticed that the trip odometer and the speed indicator were very sporadic. At times the speed indcator was showing zero movement, and the trip odometer was showing no movement. Was this caused by the poor sat reception?

 

OldA'sFan

 

Most likely yes. Poor reception can cause erratic behavior of all the features of the unit. 75-100 feet seems to say you had marginal signal at best, probably only 3 or 4 satellites with weak signal.

 

How were you carrying the unit? Holding it out away from your body, or clipping it to the shoulder strap of your backpack is a great way to ensure it gets better signal in challenging conditions.

Thanks for your reply Jeep4two. I had the unit clipped to my belt. I'm going to start attaching it to my backpack shoulder strap. In fact, there is a good post regarding the best way to do it. Thanks again.

 

OldA'sFan

[+g-o-cashers]

Instantaneous speed on the Oregons/Dakotas is very poor at walking speeds and even more so if you have poor reception. You'll frequently see it drop to zero (as a result it records too much "stopped time") and then jump back up to a higher speed.

 

GO$Rs

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Yeah, your body will block signals very well. High on the pack is good for challenging terrain, in an outstretched hand is better. Making sure you have as good of lock as possible before entering a canyon and starting to move will help too.

 

Side note: I found a great REI day pack last year that has a small horizontal pocket at the the very top. Perfect for a GPS receiver when you just want to collect a track.