"setting Up" My Gps

[+Waldo1952]

Occasionally I see posts where someone has said that they had a hard time finding a cache until they realized they needed to set up their gps. What does this mean? I thought they were ready to go out of the box.

 

Thanks

[+Latitude 26]

They will work out of the box, but you need to use the correct map datum, which for GC is WGS84. The GPSr also stores almanac information of the satellites based on it's current location, which may take several minutes the first time the unit is used. This will also usually set the GPS clock/calendar, depending on the unit. There are other forums on the subject that are much more detailed...

 

"Bassmedic"

[janx]

Your GPS works best when it knows where it is.

 

That's setup. RTFM kinda stuff.

 

The manual should explain it.

 

Basically, on a new unit, turn it on, follow the onscreen prompts.

 

Let it sit (on the backyard table or something) for about 10 minutes while it figures out exactly where you are.

 

What it's doing is learning where the satelites are, which means it will lock on faster next time you use it.

 

Janx

[+briansnat]

And ones with electric compasses, like the Garmin Vista have to be calibrated each time you change batteries.

[Mushtang]

When I first got mine out of the box I was so excited. I sat and read the instruction book and then went outside to set it up. I still don't understand why I had to input which timezone I was in. Shouldn't it have been able to figure that out? Heh heh heh

[+NightPilot]

No, the GPS system does not use timezones. GPS time is the same everywhere - that's how a GPSr can find its location, by the difference in time it takes for signals to reach it from several satellites. The GPS only knows one time, which comes from synchronized atomic clocks in each satellite. If you want your receiver to display local time, you have to tell it what offset to use. Time zones are not straight, nor are they stable. Some use daylight savings time, and some localities don't. It's just too much trouble, and takes too much memory, to try to do that automatically.