Guest Mullen Posted May 8, 2001 Share Posted May 8, 2001 I got my Vista about a week ago and I have constantly using it, exploring every usage and thing about it. However, there is one thing I did notice, my Vista does not pick up WAAS at all. I looked up this feature in the manual and it's there, it's just my Vista is not getting it. Now I know all about WAAS (Or so I think) and from what I can tell, WAAS should be availible in my area (Seattle, WA). Anyone have any idea what is up? Quote Link to comment
Guest Moun10Bike Posted May 8, 2001 Share Posted May 8, 2001 e we can get more benefit from them! Quote Link to comment
Guest Mullen Posted May 9, 2001 Share Posted May 9, 2001 I found site that will show the satilite how it relates to your place on the planet earth. If you don't get WAAS on your GPS reciever and you should, this page should make it clear why you don't. http://www.lyngsat.com/tracker/inmar3f3.shtml Quote Link to comment
Guest bob_renner Posted May 9, 2001 Share Posted May 9, 2001 Before your GPS receiver will use any of the WAAS satellites you need to have it download the almanac data from them. There's a good explanation of this by Dale DePriest at http://celia.mehaffey.com/dale/dgps.htm The procedure you should follow is listed about half way into the article. You have to enable WAAS and also run in the normal mode - not battery saver mode. Bob Quote Link to comment
Guest Mullen Posted May 10, 2001 Share Posted May 10, 2001 Looks like that page helped. There seem to be 4 of the WAAS satilites but it seems too low in the sky to get any of them in Seattle. Oh well, I am heading to SF soon, so I can check it out then. Quote Link to comment
Guest Moun10Bike Posted May 12, 2001 Share Posted May 12, 2001 quote:Originally posted by Mullen:Looks like that page helped. There seem to be 4 of the WAAS satilites but it seems too low in the sky to get any of them in Seattle. I have successfully received WAAS signal in Seattle and throughout Washington state. The satellites are pretty low on the horizon, though, so you need a relatively clear spot to see them. I thought that there were only two WAAS birds up in the air -- 35 and 47? Quote Link to comment
Guest c.mathis Posted May 12, 2001 Share Posted May 12, 2001 quote:Originally posted by Moun10Bike:I thought that there were only two WAAS birds up in the air -- 35 and 47? I believe you are correct. Quote Link to comment
Guest Quinnow Posted May 12, 2001 Share Posted May 12, 2001 He is absolutely correct...there are only two up in the sky with a third being planned. so if he is getting four then he has one heck of a GPS and I want one of them I think what he see's is the regular sats along with the one or unlikey two waas from that area. ------------------ Quinn Stone Rochester, NY.14616 www.Navicache.com Quote Link to comment
Guest Quinnow Posted May 12, 2001 Share Posted May 12, 2001 He is absolutely correct...there are only two up in the sky with a third being planned. so if he is getting four then he has one heck of a GPS and I want one of them I think what he see's is the regular sats along with the one or unlikey two waas from that area. ------------------ Quinn Stone Rochester, NY.14616 www.Navicache.com Quote Link to comment
Guest Mullen Posted May 13, 2001 Share Posted May 13, 2001 Ya, your right. I misread the map I was looking at that had graphical representational locations of the statilites. Yep, only 2. Quote Link to comment
Guest bob_renner Posted May 14, 2001 Share Posted May 14, 2001 There are 4 satellites providing the service. In the US they are referred to as WAAS and their numbers are 47 and 35. In Europe it is called EGNOS while in Asia the Japanese sytems is called MSAS. The EGNOS satellite is number 33 and I'm not sure of the number for the MSAS satellite. Only 47 and 35 are visible on the west coast. On the east coast 35 and 33 are visible. The map in Dale DePriest's article http://celia.mehaffey.com/dale/dgps.htm shows the coverage areas for the 4 satellites. Bob Quote Link to comment
Guest Mullen Posted May 19, 2001 Share Posted May 19, 2001 Good news! I finally got a WAAS satilite lock today! I was really amazed to see it show up on Vista, but man, it was a good feeling. Anyways, my GPS lock was within 9 feet with WAAS. Pretty good in a city (Seattle). Thanks to everyone who helped. Quote Link to comment
Guest Iron Chef Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 Another "What is WAAS" page is at http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/waas.html it's pretty simplified and gives just enough info to understand what it is and what you are buying. ------------------ -Iron Chef _ _ _________________ _ _ agefive.com/geocache/ "But a big booming voice from the sky is exactly what you have found..." -Contact Quote Link to comment
Guest WaylandersMA Posted May 29, 2001 Share Posted May 29, 2001 I want to thank you all for this great thread on WAAAS. I had my Etrex Legend for a week and and wondered why the WAAS wasn't working. Hmmm, first "enable" it. OK. twenty minutes later on top of a bridge and the almanac was all loaded. Since then I have been getting "D"'s on the top of my signal strength bars about 90% of the time. Cool. From 42 lat the east coast "35" bird is around 40-43 degrees up. Paul Quote Link to comment
Guest Mullen Posted May 30, 2001 Share Posted May 30, 2001 I was San Fransisco this weekend and I would get both WAAS satilites in the city. It's funny to barely get one in Seattle, but then get two when in San Fransisco. However, the unfunny thing was that once I got a single WAAS satilite, my accurateness would be really bad; it would tell me where I was within 250 feet. Not as good as my usual 20-40 feet. Anyone have any clues? Quote Link to comment
Guest jsb Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 I turned on WAAS today on my eTrex Vista (and turned off the battery save mode) and got differental data for all active satellites from satellite #35 in about 5 minutes. After another 5 minutes it was showing the average accuracy around 8-10 feet. Pretty cool! Quote Link to comment
Guest jsb Posted June 11, 2001 Share Posted June 11, 2001 has anyone noticed if their GPS will attempt to locate more than just one WAAS satellite? I can receive 35 without problems on my eTrex Vista but it never tries to locate 33.. i'm using v2.15 software in the unit. Quote Link to comment
Guest Wooleybooger Posted June 11, 2001 Share Posted June 11, 2001 Is Garmin the only unit capable of using WAAS ?..... ------------------ Quote Link to comment
Guest mcb Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 Magellan has a couple of units that can use the WAAS signal. I know the 330, 330M can and maybe other units too. mcb Quote Link to comment
Guest davis513 Posted June 18, 2001 Share Posted June 18, 2001 jsb - The Garmin web site has version 2.16 for the Vista available for download if you're interested. Quote Link to comment
Guest Hard Slate Posted June 18, 2001 Share Posted June 18, 2001 Is my GPS12 waas capable?Will it hook-up with the GBR21?Or am I left out? [This message has been edited by Hard Slate (edited 18 June 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest davis513 Posted June 18, 2001 Share Posted June 18, 2001 Hard Slate - According to the Garmin web site the GPS 12 is not WAAS capable. Sorry :-( Quote Link to comment
Guest martinp13 Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 I was out yesterday scouting for cache-hiding places and my Magellan 330 hooked up with the one WAAS bird I can see here in Texas. It even said it was "WAAS Avging" instead of just "Averaging". Woohoo! ------------------ > Martin Magellan 330 (1.56/WAAS enabled!) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo ! Quote Link to comment
Guest Miles678 Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 The other day I was out on a flat island with absolutely no obstruction to the sky. My GPSMAP 76 picked up both WAAS satellites and got a differential lock on all 12 birds!! My accuracy was around 7 feet!!! Quote Link to comment
Guest davis513 Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 While we're on the subject of satellites...I was looking for info on the GPS satellites today and ran across the following web site: http://sirius.chinalake.navy.mil/satpred/satpred_query.cgi?dl It lets you put in your Lat/Lon and a date and time and it will then return a list of satellites that should be within your range. I thought it was kind of neat. I should have my new Etrex Legend tomorrow. I thought it would be neat to compare the list with the satellites that I can actually lock on to. [This message has been edited by davis513 (edited 19 June 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest martinp13 Posted June 20, 2001 Share Posted June 20, 2001 Cool site! But isn't it just easier to turn on your GPS and thumb to the satellite page and count? ------------------ > Martin Magellan 330 (1.56/WAAS enabled!) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo ! Quote Link to comment
Guest martinp13 Posted June 20, 2001 Share Posted June 20, 2001 Cool site! But isn't it just easier to turn on your GPS and thumb to the satellite page and count? ------------------ > Martin Magellan 330 (1.56/WAAS enabled!) Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo ! Quote Link to comment
Guest MountainDiver Posted June 20, 2001 Share Posted June 20, 2001 ey can answer two of the three most common questions in my life: "What time is it?" and "Where am I?" If they could also somehow determine whether I have any clean underwear left, the bases would be covered." --- The Brunching Shuttlecocks Quote Link to comment
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