Jump to content

anyone else experience poor GPS performance Sat. Sept 21


boreal jeff & sons

Recommended Posts

Yesterday (Sat. Sept 21/02), around 2:30 PM (ADST), I was having a hard time with my GPS. It kept losing its position and then would take a long time to reaquire its position. Even when it didn't lose its position, it was jumping around by about 10-20 meters. I wasn't in heavy tree cover, just walking on a road. I gave up trying to find a Geocache because of it..

 

I don't usually have these problems and was wondering if anyone else experienced the same thing.

 

Every hour spent geocaching is added to the end of your life

Link to comment

I had the same problem on Saturday afternoon with my GPS V. Was on an organized hike in the Beaver Valley area and I think the "beep" warning of lost signal was annoying everyone as it was happening so often. I've never had it happen before. Relieved to hear someone else experienced the same thing.

Cheers, Olar

 

wavey.gif

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Olar:

I had the same problem on Saturday afternoon with my GPS V. Was on an organized hike in the Beaver Valley area and I think the "beep" warning of lost signal was annoying everyone as it was happening so often. I've never had it happen before. Relieved to hear someone else experienced the same thing.

Cheers, Olar

 

http://www.plauder-smilies.com/wavey.gif


 

We were out on the River (St. Lawrence) on Saturday pm and for a while noticed some fluctuations... Not searching for any caches so did not really take much notice of it... Sunspots? Bad Cesium atoms icon_confused.gif who knows... Just a bad day for Geocaching.

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Olar:

I had the same problem on Saturday afternoon with my GPS V. Was on an organized hike in the Beaver Valley area and I think the "beep" warning of lost signal was annoying everyone as it was happening so often. I've never had it happen before. Relieved to hear someone else experienced the same thing.

Cheers, Olar

 

http://www.plauder-smilies.com/wavey.gif


 

We were out on the River (St. Lawrence) on Saturday pm and for a while noticed some fluctuations... Not searching for any caches so did not really take much notice of it... Sunspots? Bad Cesium atoms icon_confused.gif who knows... Just a bad day for Geocaching.

Link to comment

I was out this afternoon looking for my third cache of the day and had two GPSr's in hand... both going crazy -- cache is 104 meters, 85 meters, 12 meters and so on for long enough that I called it quits... didn't have the clue with me and too many likely spots within a 104 meter radius. What's going on? Anyone have a clue?

 

Decdoppler icon_eek.gif

Link to comment

I was out this afternoon looking for my third cache of the day and had two GPSr's in hand... both going crazy -- cache is 104 meters, 85 meters, 12 meters and so on for long enough that I called it quits... didn't have the clue with me and too many likely spots within a 104 meter radius. What's going on? Anyone have a clue?

 

Decdoppler icon_eek.gif

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by DirtRunner:

I have a bad feeling that the immenent invasion of IRAQ might have sothing to do with it. It would not surprise me if the US is playing with the SA again and intends keep playing with it until this whole thing finally gets settled.


 

Well firstly, they didn't do anything with Afganistan and SA so I'm not sure why they would with Iraq. Secondly, while the Yanks need GPS in the middle of the Desert, I highly doubt the Iraqies need it or even HAVE the units to begin with!!!

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by mtncycler:

A few days before, the sun sent out a

CME (coronal mass ejection) also known as a Solar flare. A few days later, it "hit" the earth and we had Northern lights and probloms with satellite

reception. Radio/TV, computers, and cell phones were effected...guess the GPS units would have been effected too. icon_wink.gif


 

OK, now that makes sense. It makes me wonder if any of the caches hidden during the solar interference will be more difficult to find than intended!

 

Later

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by mtncycler:

A few days before, the sun sent out a

CME (coronal mass ejection) also known as a Solar flare. A few days later, it "hit" the earth and we had Northern lights and probloms with satellite

reception. Radio/TV, computers, and cell phones were effected...guess the GPS units would have been effected too. icon_wink.gif


 

OK, now that makes sense. It makes me wonder if any of the caches hidden during the solar interference will be more difficult to find than intended!

 

Later

Link to comment

Totally unrelated, but I've had my Garmin eMap completely crap out. The only thing that would bring it back to life was a complete reset. Thankfully I had all my Geocaching waypoints stored on the computer.

 

The only time my GPS has gone erratic was during my hunt for one of Olar's caches. I waited about ten minutes and it regained its sanity. Given my knowledge of RF propagation, I do know that GPS signals are extremely weak and very little noise is necessary to wipe them out. Normally there is little noise at 1.6GHz, but as more and more electronic apparatus starts occupying the upper frequencies (over 1GHz), the noise floor gets higher and there becomes a greater likelihood of the GPS signals being obscured.

 

Coupar-Angus

Link to comment

I'm not sure if this is the same thing but....

When I was using a C Band satellite dish for TV, twice a year (Spring & Fall) when the satellite that the dish was aimed at was directly in front of the sun we would loose the signal for a few minutes. I'n sorry I forget all the proper terminology but perhaps a GPDr has similiar problems.

Paul

 

N 44 54.474

W 63 46.979

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Uniacke Raiders:

I'm not sure if this is the same thing but....

When I was using a C Band satellite dish for TV, twice a year (Spring & Fall) when the satellite that the dish was aimed at was directly in front of the sun we would loose the signal for a few minutes. I'n sorry I forget all the proper terminology but perhaps a GPDr has similiar problems.

Paul

 

N 44 54.474

W 63 46.979


 

Paul

 

the name for this phenomenon is call a " sunburst ".This is when the sun and the satelite and the antenna on the ground are in perfect alignement.It happens in the spring and fall equinox.

 

MadGPS icon_biggrin.gif

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...