Gps Vs. The Weather

[+WhatWasIThinkin]

Hi all, I have a Meridian Gold GPS and am wondering how thick clouds effect signal? So far this has worked well since buying it yesterday and Ive gotten the nack of it fairly quick.

 

While messing around with it today on a short road trip during heavy overcast time of day I found that it took @20 minutes before catching a workable signal.

 

As soon as the sun popped back out no problem, seems fine.

 

Is this normal for these units or should I try to get an exchange for another unit?

 

TIA

Todd

[+Renegade Knight]

I have a GPS V and under heavey cloud cover/fog I seem to lose about 10' - 20' of accuracy.

[+GeckoGeek]

You shouldn't be seeing anything that extreme, but there are other factors that can cause problems. Bad satellight geometry, particularly if there are mountains that obscure a good portion of the horizon can do it.

 

The first thing to find out is how your GPS needs to be held. Some are to be held upright, others are to be held flat.

 

Also keep in mind that some cars have metal tint that really cuts down on the signal - to the point of making the unit unusable at all. You GPS also needs to see as much sky and as little of any metal car roofs as possible.

[+WhatWasIThinkin]

Hey thanks for the info.

 

Ive used it in 4 different vehicles and so far it only gave me trouble that one time.

 

My other thought, do GPS have a more difficult time finding satelites while travelling down the road at highway speed? Could this have been a factor?

 

Thanks again

Todd

[+NJ Admin]

This has nothing to do with ham radio.

 

Topic moved to GPS Units and Software

[+JeepCachr]

My other thought, do GPS have a more difficult time finding satelites while travelling down the road at highway speed? Could this have been a factor?

Yes your GPS will have a harder time getting an initial lock while moving. Sometimes to the point where it won't get a lock at all.

[GeoTripper]

IIRC moisture does affect GPS signals. The water droplets in clouds, fog, even dew on trees will slow the signals down and decrease the degree of precision (or increase the error) in the GPS reading. How much it affects it? Probably not enough to cause you not to be able to get a lock. Your position is just not as accurate as it would be on a clear day.

 

As someone else said, it can take a long time to get a lock if you're moving or don't have a clear view of the entire sky.

[CenTexDodger]

The first thing to find out is how your GPS needs to be held

 

You find this out on a long walk on the beach at sunset

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

[Kerry.]

wondering how thick clouds effect signal

 

Basically they don't not in any context that affects what you are doing with a recreational handheld and certainly nothing you will ever be able to detect.

 

Actually it takes some rather sophisticated gear to detect any anomolies at all and then it's more of interest in some specialised fields.

 

Cheers, Kerry.

[+Corp Of Discovery]

I thought I saw before where someone said the window coatings/structure could mess with the signals. Could that be why it was only a problem in the one vehicle?

[+Renegade Knight]

I also have a harder time zeroing out the GPS. Finds seem to read 50' while standing at the cache location. Normally they are sub 20'.

 

Next time I'm out in heavy foggy cloud cover I'll see if the issues repeat.

[+Renegade Knight]

I thought I saw before where someone said the window coatings/structure could mess with the signals. Could that be why it was only a problem in the one vehicle?

The Pontiac Montana I have has a layer in the front windshelf that blocks signals. I have to hold the GPS by a side window to get reception consistantly.

[+Rosco Bookbinder]

Hi all, I have a Meridian Gold GPS and am wondering how thick clouds effect signal? So far this has worked well since buying it yesterday and Ive gotten the nack of it fairly quick.

 

While messing around with it today on a short road trip during heavy overcast time of day I found that it took @20 minutes before catching a workable signal.

 

As soon as the sun popped back out no problem, seems fine.

 

Is this normal for these units or should I try to get an exchange for another unit?

 

TIA

Todd

This subject has been and will be talked to death or until the sats die which ever comes first. My team partner and I set up a cache (it was talked about quite a bit also) to show that most days no matter what make no difference on accuracy. Check out our cache page and see the results for yourself.......

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...03-e6d73de04fcc

Edited May 20, 2004 by Rosco Bookbinder

[Neo_Geo]

Hi all, I have a Meridian Gold GPS and am wondering how thick clouds effect signal? So far this has worked well since buying it yesterday and Ive gotten the nack of it fairly quick.

 

While messing around with it today on a short road trip during heavy overcast time of day I found that it took @20 minutes before catching a workable signal.

 

As soon as the sun popped back out no problem, seems fine.

 

Is this normal for these units or should I try to get an exchange for another unit?

 

TIA

Todd

This subject has been and will be talked to death or until the sats die which ever comes first. My team partner and I set up a cache (it was talked about quite a bit also) to show that most days no matter what make no difference on accuracy. Check out our cache page and see the results for yourself.......

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...03-e6d73de04fcc

Your cache page immediately came to my mind. I was gonna link 'em to it, Roscoe. I wouldn't have remembered anything about it (cache name, owner, etc.), so I would've had to search for it - would've been a good test of my searching ability

 

But you saved me the trouble, and I thank you for that!

[+phantom4099]

I heard really bad weather can affect surevey equipment by 2cm.

 

So I say, if you fear the storm your in may destroy the world, you just might have GPS problems.

 

Wyatt W.