+Milbank Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 WAAS is good right? I see it can be turned off on my Garmin. Why would you want to turn WAAS off? Quote
+Quadcache Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 It eats up batteries faster...or so they say. I don't get any better accuracy with it on so I just leave it off. Quote
+Mudfrog Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 I hear some people swear that WAAS is fantastic, that it makes their GPSr more accurate. Tried it both ways on 2 different Garmins and i honestly cant make out a whole lot of difference. I leave WAAS off on mine, mainly because i know it uses more juice! Quote
+Renegade Knight Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 To keep WAAS from noticably slowing down the response time/refresh rate of your GPS. Quote
+The Jester Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 Around here it also "eats" two of the 12 channels, sometimes cutting the number satellites used. Quote
+writer Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 If you aren't far enough south (or north if you're in the southern hemisphere), then WAAS doesn't work that well because you don't have a good enough signal. And from what I understand, if the WAAS signal is off, it can actually make results even more inaccurate than they would be otherwise. Quote
+briansnat Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 I've seen no difference in accuracy with it on or off, so I shut it off. Quote
Archaeologist-PA Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 So I shouldn't feel bad that all of our old GPS units aren't WAAS enabled? Quote
+Renegade Knight Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 When you first turn it on, your EPE will increase. Once you use it for awhile you will start seeing EPE's of less than 10 feet. Quote
Black Mage Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 I've only seen my WAAS working once, and that was near Tooele, Utah. It never works in my usual stomping grounds so usually I just turn mine off. Quote
robertlipe Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 Who do you turn it off on a Meridian? Since a Meridian doesn't have a broken implementation of WAAS, there's no reason to do so. But if you insist, there is an entry in the faq Quote
+bons Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 Pretend I lived on the east coast and I had a great reference point in my yard and I told you my extremly accurate GPS was reading 6 feet off to the north because of the local reception. Now if you lived in the same city as me, you might adjust your readings. If I spent enough money on this setup you might adjust your readings if you were in the same state even. If you were in a different time zone, would you bother adjusting your GPS based on what my GPS was doing no matter how much I spent on this device? That's why I turned off WAAS. Quote
+Stunod Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 Pretend I lived on the east coast and I had a great reference point in my yard and I told you my extremly accurate GPS was reading 6 feet off to the north because of the local reception. Now if you lived in the same city as me, you might adjust your readings. If I spent enough money on this setup you might adjust your readings if you were in the same state even. If you were in a different time zone, would you bother adjusting your GPS based on what my GPS was doing no matter how much I spent on this device? That's why I turned off WAAS. Since most of us live near one of the WAAS ground stations (shown below), WAAS is still a viable option. Quote
robertlipe Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 Since most of us live near one of the WAAS ground stations (shown below), WAAS is still a viable option. Precisely. But even if you're not near a WAAS station or can't pick up a WAAS bird, your GPS knows this and discards the additional data. So what's the point in explictly disabling it unless your vendor has provided a defective WAAS implementation? Quote
+Renegade Knight Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 Since most of us live near one of the WAAS ground stations (shown below), WAAS is still a viable option. Precisely. But even if you're not near a WAAS station or can't pick up a WAAS bird, your GPS knows this and discards the additional data. So what's the point in explictly disabling it unless your vendor has provided a defective WAAS implementation? I'm not sure the Sport Track "Speeds Up" if you disable it in the same way a Garmin GPS V will slow down a little when you enable it. Quote
+bons Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 (edited) robertlipe: That's twice you've talked about "broken/defective implementation". Would you like to elaborate, perhaps with a link? Edited June 2, 2004 by bons Quote
+Beta Test Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 The way I understand it, WAAS groundstations are used to correct and account for the disruptions on the satalite signals created in the ionosphere. So I think that if either you do not have a line of sight or your signals are not being disturbed WAAS wont do very much. Using WAAS on my Garmin has seriuosly cut the power, but i have also seen great accuracy with it on. The best places that WAAS usually works is on a large flat area that has very few obstruction. Quote
jdoe Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 (edited) WAAS http://gpsinformation.net/waasgps.htm http://gpsinformation.net/exe/waas.html Check it out and decide for yourself. Personally... I let the GPS decide whether or not to use it (I leave it on). Edited June 2, 2004 by jdoe Quote
+GOT GPS? Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 I kept WAAS off on all my GPS units, Garmin and Magellan just because of those big ANGRY TREES out there. Quote
+Criminal Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 In the truck with the amplified patch antenna, On: 7' EPE Off: 18' EPE You figure it out. In the woods, On: 10-35' EPE Off: 10-35' EPE I think that battery consumption myth is just that, myth. As for refresh, I've never noticed any difference. I suppose if I wanted, I could see whatever I wanted to, faster or slower, if I looked hard enough. Quote
+wildearth2001 Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 I keep it off to save batteries and because I only see about a 3 foot difference in accuracy. I will turn it on when I need the best accuracy and I am in Ideal spot, no trees etc Quote
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