To Waas Or Not To Waas...

[BrianWD]

Sorry if this has been asked, but I couldn't find it anywhere. My question is, is WAAS capability really worth it? Can you really notice an increase in accuracy with it? I can't decide between the Summit and Vista...any help would be appreciated.

[+captnemo]

Depends on where you live Where I live (middle of Mojave Desert) it doesn't seem to increase accuracy and does slow down my GPS V.

[+PDOP's]

Brian

 

Have a look at this lengthy discussion about the merits of WAAS. Lots of opinions pro and con.

 

I find that I can't get WAAS signals if I'm under any tree cover which limits it's use for geocaching.

 

On another topics the search feature on the forums defaults to the last 30 days. You'll have better luck if you change the settings to search further back.

[+Renegade Knight]

I've got a GPS V. It slows down my GPS though though it does increase my reported EPE. Normally I'm at about 15'. With WAAS I'm at 7-9. Not enough of a difference for me to deal with a frustratingly slowed down GPS.

[+dzdiver]

Another thing to consider about WAAS is that, at least with my Garmin 72, with WAAS enabled, it really cuts down on battery life. Most of the time I leave the WAAS setting turned off.

[+JayFredMuggs]

I have an Etrex Legend, and for the most part, I leave WAAS turned off. I get very good accuracy without it. I used to geocache with it turned on all the time, but battery life really suffers. I usually get withing 25 feet or so and turn off the gpsr anyway.

If you want to use it and get good battery life, leave it off until you are within maybe 50 feet and turn it on. I will give you better accuracy, and if you use it on a limited basis, you won't eat up batteries as quickly.

[+crzycrzy]

Etrex legend here.

I do not use WAAS.

It has never really helped me.

It eats batteries like hell.

[+Go JayBee]

Just say NO TO WAAS............

 

I think I'll have that tattooed on my butt.

[+Mastifflover]

If you are trying to decide between a Summit and a Vista don't let wass be the thing that detemines which unit you buy. More importantly decide whether or not you want the ability to store maps on your gps because you can with the Vista and you can't with the Summit.

Edited March 28, 2004 by Mastifflover

[+Cache Viking]

I have come to the point where I seldom have WAAS enabled. I do however load maps just about all the time. So I am with Mastiff I would select based on the map capability.

[+Mastifflover]

Oh, forgot to say that I have a Vista and a Legend and waas is turned off on both of them.

[+IVxIV]

I just bought an iFinder Pro with waas and, was wondering the same about it's usefulness. I notice the waas signal bar does peridically blip a hint it's getting a signal but, well I live & cache in Ontario Canada... does waas work at all (sufficiently to consider using it), north of the Americal border?

[+crzycrzy]

Once again, you will find that WAAS eats batteries like crazy and does not improve your accuracy by much.

Trust me on this one.

[+Alan2]

I always use maps on my Vista and never turn WASS on. It takes forever to get a lock (if you're lucky, I live in NY) and once there the extra 2-3 feet aren;'t worth the aggravation.

 

Plus the guy who hid the cache was probably off at least 10-20 feet so at best you'll be accurate in knowing you're inacccurately located at the wrong spot anyway. Since you don't know what direction that is, WASS won't help.

 

(What did I say? Would someone please re-phrase it. )

 

Alan

 

edit=spelling but not clarity

Edited March 30, 2004 by Alan2

[+Renegade Knight]

Consider a 20' normal position error. Along comes a finder with a 20' normal position error. Thus the max is 20+20=40'. This isn't normal but it's the upward bound given a 20' maximum error.

 

With WAAS if you finally get that elusive WAAS lock in an area with WAAS service your error is usually below 10'. Call it 10. Thus your maximum error is now 20' +10' = 30'. Better but nothing to write home about. If they used WAAS while placing then the total is 20' max.

 

However if you are within 40' of the cache (and 20' is closer to what I actally see) then it's not the GPS that's going to find the cache. It's your own eyes and maybe even the force.

[+bons]

Silly question.

 

In normal mode, I can tell (roughly) how good of a signal I have because the GPSr gives me an "accuracy" reading: (17 feet is, I'm assuming, a lot more accurate than 37 feet).

 

Now here comes WAAS. Now I get to see this DIFF rating which is apparently how far my GPS is going to re-adjust itself based off of the readings of a station about 2 time zones away from me.

 

Is it just me or do I have no clue how accurate this makes me? Because whenever I'm using WAAS, I'm beginning to think it's wazzed.

[+Night Stalker]

I have a Magellan SporTrak Pro. It has WAAS turned on all the time so I don't know if there would be an improvement if WAAS were turned off. I know you can turn it off, but it is not a simple matter of going into the menu and finding the option. I guess Magellan doesn't want us to have that capability.

[+Melrose Plant]

Consider a 20' normal position error. Along comes a finder with a 20' normal position error. Thus the max is 20+20=40'. This isn't normal but it's the upward bound given a 20' maximum error.

 

With WAAS if you finally get that elusive WAAS lock in an area with WAAS service your error is usually below 10'. Call it 10. Thus your maximum error is now 20' +10' = 30'. Better but nothing to write home about. If they used WAAS while placing then the total is 20' max.

 

However if you are within 40' of the cache (and 20' is closer to what I actally see) then it's not the GPS that's going to find the cache. It's your own eyes and maybe even the force.

Let me say before all else that I do not have a GPS unit with WAAS capability, so you have to discount my opinion somewhat. However, what Renegade says makes a lot of sense to me. Sometimes, the arrow/distance meter on my GPSr leads me right to the cache. Sometimes it does not. I have to assume that the hider has roughly the same inaccuracy that I do, so in the worst case scenario, WAAS is just not going to help all that much. Decoding the clue is going to help a lot more, when it comes down to it.