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Weird GPS Anomaly In the Southeast Today?


jeff35080

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I left church this morning around 11:00AM and started towards a cache. For the sake of the discussion, I am using a Sportrak Map with the 4.03 firmware. When we got to where we parked the car, my son told me the unit showed us to be 37 miles from the cache I took the unit from him and looked at the screen. It said we were at an elevation of 50,000+ feet and 37 miles from the cache. The unit also showed us to be moving at a speed of 37MPH, even though we were standing still. I then looked at the satellite screen and saw the signal level bars but there were no satellite icons on the screen

 

I turned the unit off and back on and still got the same weird results. I then initialized the unit and the same weirdness continued. I also noticed that if I left the unit sitting that it would refresh the satellite almanac every so often with new satellites but it still showed us to be way up in the air and miles from where we were. At one point it showed to have an altitude of over 90,000 feet

 

I called my brother who has the same model GPSr and who happened to be about 40-50 miles away and he also could not get a satellite lock and his unit would not show satellite icons on the satellite screen.

 

This strangness continued for about an hour and half and then as quickly as the anomaly started, it ended and the unit showed me in the correct location at the correct altitude.

 

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? I have seen GPSr units that sometimes lose a lock for a couple of minutes but never anything like this. FWIW, the batteries were nice and fresh and we had absolutely no tree cover. I was about 30 miles south of Birmingham, AL. The weather was bright and sunny and we were miles from power lines.

 

I would welcome anyone's discussion of this. Is it somehow possible that the satellites were sending bad data or do I have a problem with my GPSr?

 

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

If you hide it, they will come....

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quote:
Originally posted by jeff35080:

I left church this morning around 11:00AM and

(snip)

and looked at the screen. It said we were at an elevation of 50,000+ feet and 37 miles from the cache. The unit also showed us to be moving at a speed of 37MPH,...


 

I believe in Biblical terms that's known as the "Rapture".

Hallelujiah Brother!

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I, too, have a ST Map and something similar happened a couple weeks ago or so. Even though I was sitting perfectly still, I could watch the satellites blink out and then one by one come back. I noticed nothing today out of the ordinary.

 

Yesterday, on the other hand, I had weird readings at one time, but it was also pouring rain.

 

CR

 

72057_2000.gif

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Wadcutter wrote:

 

quote:
I believe in Biblical terms that's known as the "Rapture".

Hallelujiah Brother!


 

Interestingly, the word "rapture" does not appear in the Bible. The concept doesn't really either except that some folks wrest 1 Thes. 4:17 . . .

 

But let's not allow that to stand in the way of a good joke.

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And we all shall rise to greet him...Yes I have had that "problem" in the past with my Magellan's.I do not know what it is though.as you say an anomoly.I have not had it happen on the e-trex yet though.I guess we could call it a glich in our getalongs. icon_biggrin.gif

 

A Point in the right direction,ASCENSION.

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Is this a magellan problem? I have had similar things with my Sportrak Pro but didn't realize it was mfg specific.

 

A couple weeks ago we went out to place a cache and it was showing us 597 miles from our car! Even after we got back to the car (glad it wasn't 600 miles away) and were driving down the open road it was off.

 

These forums have gotten so off topic anymore that I rarely check them so I didn't realize others were having the same trouble.

 

Rusty...

 

--------------------------------------------------

Friends don't let friends cache locationless!

 

Rusty & Libby's Geocache Page

Michigan Geocaching Organization

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I don't know if it is Magellan specific or not. My first thoughts were that the sats were sending erroneous data. It was quite bizzare. I posted it here in the general forum in hopes that more readers would see it and be able to offer their observations. I'm glad I wasn't backpacking today because for about 1-2 hours I would have been totally lost in the forest icon_smile.gif

 

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

If you hide it, they will come....

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This problem sounds like it was most likely a glitch in your receiver. They do this from time to time, thus I'd never be in the backcountry relying completely on gps for navigation. My Garmins have been abducted by aliens a couple of times and bounced rapidly from state to state. My Magellans sometimes get lost similar to the way yours did.

 

Once in awhile, they do localized jamming tests in certain areas, mostly around training ranges or test bases. The goverment links to the warinings about these tests keep changing urls, but you can generally find them on civilian aviation sites as well such as this one:

 

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2001/010915tfr.html

 

If there are going to be any tests that affect navigation by GPS they generally report them here. Some interesting areas to hike in my area are near an AF test range, so it's something I check occasionally.

 

For what it's worth

 

Jeff

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quote:

Interestingly, the word "rapture" does not appear in the Bible. The concept doesn't really either except that some folks wrest 1 Thes. 4:17 . . .

 

But let's not allow that to stand in the way of a good joke.


 

Anyone from the old Bible Belt has heard of "the Rapture". Just about every tent preacher talked of such. Somehow I never recalled them preachers mentioning anything about a GPS involved in the Bible neither. icon_biggrin.gif

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Last week (last Sunday to be exact), we were out geocaching and my Sportrak Map just lost it! It was a cloudy day. The funny thing is that my friend has a Magellan Meridian (so, same company), and his was working just fine. Mine would lock a signal, then lose it. When it did have a signal, it was off about 5 miles! Though, the altitude wasn't too weird. I thought the stupid thing was broken and I was going to get ready to call support. Later that day (in a different part of town), it started to work just fine! Go figure!

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quote:
Originally posted by jeff35080:

I don't know if it is Magellan specific or not. My first thoughts were that the sats were sending erroneous data. It was quite bizzare. I posted it here in the general forum in hopes that more readers would see it and be able to offer their observations. I'm glad I wasn't backpacking today because for about 1-2 hours I would have been totally lost in the forest icon_smile.gif

 

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

If you hide it, they will come....


 

Always carry a compass and topo for backup. And by the way did you have wine at church?

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Always carry a compass and topo for backup. And by the way did you have wine at church?

 

Both my son and I had our compasses icon_smile.gif As far as wine.... well... did think that grape juice tasted a bit strong icon_smile.gif Seriously though, I have always seen where people speak of carrying a compass and this was definitely one of those times where a compass could truly be a lifesaver.

 

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

If you hide it, they will come....

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Heres a reply from another thread that i just posted.

 

Just a little coincidence im sure but, last Saturday we were heading down the highway to find our 6th cache for the day. GPSR showed 5.24 miles to target, then 5.22, 5.20,,,, all of a sudden, SHAZZAM! Cache showed to be 18 plus miles away. The next thing i see is the "lost satelites" display and the unit is reaquiring. We're on a clear road with no overhead obstructions when this happens. Worked perfectly before and after this incident. Could have been the GPSr, but this was the first time thats ever happened. Really weird!!!!

 

BTW, this was about 1350 hours CST, on 2/22/03... Oh, and im using a Garmin.

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