+showbizkid Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 I am a new geocachers with a etrex Venture. I prefer caches that involve hiking into hills and mountains. I am wearing the GPSr on a on the lanyard supplies by Garmin. This means the antenna in the unit is facing down and out in front of me when I trek. I use treking poles to hike, so hands are not free to hold GPSr. I lose sat reception from time to time - not in deep canyons where it makes sense, but along hillsides with clear view of sky. I have a cover for the Venture which has a lanyard hook allowing the unit to orient with the antenna up. Any idea if this will improve reception? Could I clip the unit to my backpack strap so the antenna is facing straight up? Thanks! Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Water blocks GPS signals. Thats why tree canopies can cause problems even if you can get reception in your house. Your body is mostly water. It blocks signals. When you are walking with the GPS hanging upside down the GPS can only 'see' in front of you. When you pick it up you should quickly regain your signal. You could do what you have said, but that's just more straps to keep track of. Quote Link to comment
+Tahoe Skier5000 Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 I always thought of inventing a GPS antenna hat. Just strap a quad-helix antenna on top with a connector leading down to your GPS and you'd be guaranteed to get good lock all the time. There could even be solar panels on the top to aid in battery life. Using Opera 7.1 Quote Link to comment
+Searching_ut Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I generally carry my etrex on my strap pack more or less flat on my shoulder using a camelbak com pouch. My profile has a link to my website where I have a picture of my setup. Works great for recording tracks, and is reasonably good gor reaching across and grabbing the unit for a quick reading while on the move. Quote Link to comment
+raouljan Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 re: antenna on the hat A couple of years ago I read about a ranger that used an external GPSr antenna glued to the top of a bike helmet. Ths allowed him to keep the GPSr in a pocket while he mountain biked around his park gathering GIS data. >Personally Responsible for the Recovery of .00244% of the Benchmark Database!<--watch this number! Quote Link to comment
+SpongeRob Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I investigated this myself. I never did get around to buying anything to increase the reception. There is a commercial product available at http://www.freshtracksmaps.com/antenna-vortech.htm which is really meant for a car. I have no idea on it's success.. Should you have an inclination to build one there is is a example Here -- SpongeRob rwmech@keenpeople.com www.keenpeople.com WPWU826 Cache'n Retrievers Quote Link to comment
+user13371 Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 quote:...an external GPSr antenna glued to the top of a bike helmet. Well, at least it wouldn't have looked any sillier than most bike helmet already do --- LDR. Quote Link to comment
+showbizkid Posted July 30, 2003 Author Share Posted July 30, 2003 This seems to be the best solution as blackout tend to be short. I have only experienced prolonged outages in a steep canyon with dense tree cover. The other spots are few and far between. I think other hikers would give me a wide berth if I ran around with an antenna on a helmet. quote:Originally posted by Searching_ut:I generally carry my etrex on my strap pack more or less flat on my shoulder using a camelbak com pouch. My profile has a link to my website where I have a picture of my setup. Works great for recording tracks, and is reasonably good gor reaching across and grabbing the unit for a quick reading while on the move. Quote Link to comment
+Team Shibby Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Although you may have a clear view of the sky, it is your body blocking the satellites behind you. Do as you suggested and clip it to a shoulder strap on your backpack and this will reduce the amount of times it happens Kar Quote Link to comment
+Cactusjeep Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 OK now I know I'm strange! I have a GPSV and had a problem with rec. so I took the car antenna, added clips to the sides and now I just clip it to the inside of my boonie hat! Reception is boosted over the stock antenna even in open sky and I rarely lose signal even under tree canopy. Just looks a little strange to have a wire comming out of my head! "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" Benjamin Franklin Quote Link to comment
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