using usa bought gpsr in england

[+sfidc]

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

Turn it on, set it down in an open/unobstructed view of the sky. Come back 30 minutes or so later.

 

You did not state what make/model GPSr. Older units sometimes require telling the unit where it is.... through the main menu set-up.

 

This is fairly common when having gone a long distance or time, without being turned on. You say that it has acquired one sat, it needs more time.

[+sfidc]

It is a etrex Legend. I went to set up and changed it to British grid. I will go out and let it look for a while.

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

Turn it on, set it down in an open/unobstructed view of the sky. Come back 30 minutes or so later.

 

You did not state what make/model GPSr. Older units sometimes require telling the unit where it is.... through the main menu set-up.

 

This is fairly common when having gone a long distance or time, without being turned on. You say that it has acquired one sat, it needs more time.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Step #5 in this link, may assist it in performing it's search. At least it will know what hemisphere it is in....

 

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/eTrexLegend_QuickReferenceGuide.pdf

 

Edit: it may require you to download. It is a small file.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+sfidc]

thanks

Step #5 in this link, may assist it in performing it's search. At least it will know what hemisphere it is in....

 

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/eTrexLegend_QuickReferenceGuide.pdf

[+Glenn]

It is a etrex Legend. I went to set up and changed it to British grid. I will go out and let it look for a while.

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

When you say that you changed it to British grid do you mean that you change the map datum to something other than WGS84?

[+coggins]

It is a etrex Legend. I went to set up and changed it to British grid. I will go out and let it look for a while.

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

When you say that you changed it to British grid do you mean that you change the map datum to something other than WGS84?

by British Grid, he means British National Grid, a position format not a datum.

[+Glenn]

It is a etrex Legend. I went to set up and changed it to British grid. I will go out and let it look for a while.

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

When you say that you changed it to British grid do you mean that you change the map datum to something other than WGS84?

by British Grid, he means British National Grid, a position format not a datum.

I'm trying to Google the term British Grid with little luck. I keep getting links to the Ordnance Survey National Grid. Is this just another name for it? If so it looks very similar to the Maidenhead Grid System.

 

Is there any advantage to using the British Grid System for Geocaching? The site lists cache positions in LAT/LONG and UTM on the cache page. It does give conversions to other system including British Grid but you have to click on the "other conversions" link each time. At least that is how it is for caches in the USA. Is this different for British caches?

[+Mark+Karen]

OS National Grid is exactly it. There's no particular advantage when using a GPS. It's just that OS Grid corresponds to grid references on Ordnance Survey maps. It can cause accuracy problems so I wouldn't use it - and indeed I don't use it.

[+coggins]

It is a etrex Legend. I went to set up and changed it to British grid. I will go out and let it look for a while.

I am in England on vacation, can't get more than one satellite. need help on how to change things.

When you say that you changed it to British grid do you mean that you change the map datum to something other than WGS84?

by British Grid, he means British National Grid, a position format not a datum.

I'm trying to Google the term British Grid with little luck. I keep getting links to the Ordnance Survey National Grid. Is this just another name for it? If so it looks very similar to the Maidenhead Grid System.

 

Is there any advantage to using the British Grid System for Geocaching? The site lists cache positions in LAT/LONG and UTM on the cache page. It does give conversions to other system including British Grid but you have to click on the "other conversions" link each time. At least that is how it is for caches in the USA. Is this different for British caches?

Yes, Ordnance Survey National Grid is the proper name. But as he has a Garmin eTrex Legend, he would set the eTrex to British National Grid (as he would in MapSource or BaseCamp). Cache pages over there do not display UTM, they have British Grid instead to match with an OS printed map. Edited April 11, 2012 by coggins

[+popokiiti]

Like someone said, let it sit for a while to acquire satellites. It needs to get over jet lag. It should be fine, but if all else fails, go to the UK forum, and see if you can meet up with some local cachers.

Have a great vacation!

[+Fianccetto]

Just seen this thread, and see you haven't logged any read finds in the UK yet. Hope all is well and you found the answers you needed. If not, what region of the UK are you visiting?

[+sfidc]

I am back in the states now. Never did get more than one sat. Let it sit out side for almost an hour, now joy. Thanks for all the help.

[+Glenn]

Yea, that's a problem with Garmin. If you move them more than a couple hundred miles while they are turned off they can be very testy about getting a lock on more than one satellite unless you manually set your new location. I just took a look at sfidc1946's link and it looks like step #5 is setting the time zone. Is that what you did? What you needed to do was open the owners manual to page 7 and follow the directions for setting a new location using the map. Like I said, Garmin made GPSrs have a problem automatically getting their position if they have moved more than a couple hundred miles since the last time they were turned on. I know this won't help you now. But maybe it will help you next time or help someone else with the same issue that finds this thread.

[+Fianccetto]

I am back in the states now. Never did get more than one sat. Let it sit out side for almost an hour, now joy. Thanks for all the help.

 

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you and noone could really help. How frustrating. If you make a return trip this side of the pond, let us know in time for someone over here to at least try and arrange a small meet and greet event and try to help with the GPS issues in person, or do a joint caching trip.

[+popokiiti]

I am back in the states now. Never did get more than one sat. Let it sit out side for almost an hour, now joy. Thanks for all the help.

 

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you and noone could really help. How frustrating. If you make a return trip this side of the pond, let us know in time for someone over here to at least try and arrange a small meet and greet event and try to help with the GPS issues in person, or do a joint caching trip.

If I ever come "home" for a visit, I'll remember that too!

[+Fianccetto]

I am back in the states now. Never did get more than one sat. Let it sit out side for almost an hour, now joy. Thanks for all the help.

 

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you and noone could really help. How frustrating. If you make a return trip this side of the pond, let us know in time for someone over here to at least try and arrange a small meet and greet event and try to help with the GPS issues in person, or do a joint caching trip.

If I ever come "home" for a visit, I'll remember that too!

 

Absolutely! I can't say that I could personally meet and greet at each and every corner of our little islands myself but it's always fun to welcome visitors and meet new people, so I hope we'd be able to if you (or other forum regulars) were visiting our area. Can always get the word out through facebook etc. to encourage a well timed event. No harm in trying, and should be a fun.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I am back in the states now. Never did get more than one sat. Let it sit out side for almost an hour, now joy. Thanks for all the help.

 

I'm not familiar with the eTrex legend but I've owned a couple of Garmin GPS receivers and have found caches with them in 13 different countries on four continents. I think the longest it ever took for me to get a satellite lock was about 15 minutes. Sometimes it will "time-out" trying to get a lock and ask if I want to keep searching *or* enter a location. Then it allows me provide an estimate mark on the map screen that it could use as an approximate location to help obtain a satellite lock.

 

This wiki page on Assisted GPS has a pretty good explanation about how a GPS receiver obtains a satellite fix (time to first fix).

Edited April 17, 2012 by NYPaddleCacher

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Yea, that's a problem with Garmin. If you move them more than a couple hundred miles while they are turned off they can be very testy about getting a lock on more than one satellite unless you manually set your new location.

 

Do you have any evidence to support the statement that this is a Garmin issue?

 

The problem being described is something called "time to first fix" and is related to state a GPS in in. Essentially, a GPS can be in one of three states: Cold/Factory, Warm/Normal, and Hot/Standby. A GPS that has previously obtained a satellite signal and is turned on within 100km from where it was previously turned off and still contains ephemeris data will get a satellite lock fairly quickly. A GPS may be in a Warm/Normal or Cold/Factory state if it's current position is more than 100km from where it was last turned off. Providing an approximation of the current location can speed up a satellite lock.

[+Glenn]

Yea, that's a problem with Garmin. If you move them more than a couple hundred miles while they are turned off they can be very testy about getting a lock on more than one satellite unless you manually set your new location.

 

Do you have any evidence to support the statement that this is a Garmin issue?

 

The problem being described is something called "time to first fix" and is related to state a GPS in in. Essentially, a GPS can be in one of three states: Cold/Factory, Warm/Normal, and Hot/Standby. A GPS that has previously obtained a satellite signal and is turned on within 100km from where it was previously turned off and still contains ephemeris data will get a satellite lock fairly quickly. A GPS may be in a Warm/Normal or Cold/Factory state if it's current position is more than 100km from where it was last turned off. Providing an approximation of the current location can speed up a satellite lock.

 

From the Garmin eTrexLegend manual page 7. "If you are more than 600 miles from where you last used the unit, select the 'New Location' and then the 'Use Map' option to approximate your location."