accuracy of the garmin

[yakmanz]

Just a question. I have tried to find two caches

and one for instance...my Garmin Vista GPS said that I was still 300 feet away from where the hint said the cache was located. I have not found either of the two. Any help in getting the accuracy pinned down would help. Thanks in advance.

[+Red Barron]

I have had similar problems.

1. Are you getting good reception? EPE or 20' or less

2. Are you sure the other person's GPS was right on when they posted the lat & long?

3. To check your GPS hit some of the Bench Marks in your area. I have found that my Garmin Vista etrec is with in 10 feet. So I assume that the lat and long the cache setter used may be off.

4. Try to find the site on a different day the birds may have a better alingment.

[+Alan2]

Is your Vista set for DD MM.MMM format and WGS 84 Datum? That's how they coordinates are posted on the geocaching page. If you have the Vista set for something else, the coordinates will take you to the wrong postion.

 

Alan

[+culpc]

I was up against a cliff today and was finding that I either lost signal or was seeing accuracies of 50-60 feet with my eMap. Typically, 12-30 feet is what I expect. I was perplexed until I looked at the satellite alignment and discovered that only half the sky was visible!

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[+culpc]

I was up against a cliff today and was finding that I either lost signal or was seeing accuracies of 50-60 feet with my eMap. Typically, 12-30 feet is what I expect. I was perplexed until I looked at the satellite alignment and discovered that only half the sky was visible!

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[Alphawolf]

quote:

---

I was up against a cliff today

---

Not only were you only seeing half the sky, but you were experiencing a problem called "mutipathing" where the signals you were receiving were being "bounced" off the rock and confusing the receiver, causing further degredation of accuracy. Make sure and stay away from big vertical surfaces, like cliffs and buildings.

 

"The Alphawolf"

[+culpc]

Actually, it was kind of cool. I got started playing with the signal and seeing where the "shadow" was.

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[+culpc]

Actually, it was kind of cool. I got started playing with the signal and seeing where the "shadow" was.

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[Kerry.]

Basically the system controls the primary accuracy and the user controls (affects) the rest. It's not so much the recievers problem as much as the users understanding of how to make the most from what the system provides.

 

As for Multipath there would be very few users using recreational equipment who could detect properly if multipath was a contributing factor or not.

 

300 feet does sound more like a user issue with either datum and/or position format.

 

Cheers, Kerry.

 

I never get lost everybody keeps telling me where to go

[Kerry.]

Basically the system controls the primary accuracy and the user controls (affects) the rest. It's not so much the recievers problem as much as the users understanding of how to make the most from what the system provides.

 

As for Multipath there would be very few users using recreational equipment who could detect properly if multipath was a contributing factor or not.

 

300 feet does sound more like a user issue with either datum and/or position format.

 

Cheers, Kerry.

 

I never get lost everybody keeps telling me where to go

[+Criminal]

____________________________________________

I have tried to find two caches

and one for instance...my Garmin Vista GPS said that I was still 300 feet away from where the hint said the cache was located. I have not found either of the two.

_____________________________________________

 

If you didn't find either of them, why have you assumed it's the GPSr? I may be wrong but it sounds like you're giving priority to the clues over your GPSr. Try this, ignore the clues until you get to 20' or less and then read the clues to zero in on the cache. Another thing to note is the way the GPSrs update the accuracy. I’ve pulled the antenna completely off my III+ and the accuracy read 16’ for about 30-45 seconds before it realized it had no signal at all. I’m sure it’s the same when the sattelite signals are wavering as you walk in and out of poor reception areas. One of the last caches I found was like this. I actually was getting single digit accuracy (according to the GPSr) and the area was exactly what the clues and my finely honed caching ability told me it should be. The cache was about twenty feet away and very well hidden.

 

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What is the price of experience, do men buy it for a song,

Or wisdom for a dance in the street.................

[+apersson850]

I've timed my Vista when driving into tunnels. Each time, it says the accuracy is good for 30 seconds, then it gives up and admits that it lost the signal completely.

 

This is probably to cover up for the moments that do occur allt the time, when you shade the signals, so they come and go. But the unit just assumes everything is as it was a few seconds ago, to give a more stable impression.

 

Anders