grambi Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Hi there I bought my missus a gps a while back but we've never really got started with it and now is the time hopefully but... We struggle to get a signal a lot of the time. We have a Garmin Legend and use the Mapsouce software but I bought it from the States and it came with the US map thing installed - would this make a difference? When we do get a signal, its often only accurate to 30 feetish. Am I doing something wrong, was buying in the US a bad idea or is it just one of those things - maybe weather related? I just dont know Anyway, any help/comments are appreciated and hopefully we'll be seeing you about Quote Link to comment
+Pengy&Tigger Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 (edited) When we do get a signal, its often only accurate to 30 feetish. It kind of depends where you are trying to get a signal. In some places, where there's lots of tree cover or tall buildings close together, the signal may be somewhere between bad and non-existant. On top of a hill with clear view you may get accuracy of 5-10 feet. Once you get to a cache site you generally have to rely on your hunting instincts, as it's quite rare to get taken to the exact spot straight away. Buying from the US shouldn't be a problem, as it will reset itself to where you are when you switch it on if it has moved anything more than a couple of hundred miles. Even buying from the UK will do this, as most of them are made in Asia anyway. Tigger Edited July 3, 2004 by Pengy&Tigger Quote Link to comment
grambi Posted July 3, 2004 Author Share Posted July 3, 2004 thanks There are a lot of trees and buildings about, I never thought of that, cheers - at least its not just me Quote Link to comment
+Cave Troll and Eeyore Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Our first gps was a legend and the best accuracy we ever got was 15-18 ft in wide open spaces. 30ft near tees and builings ain't to bad. Good luck Quote Link to comment
+Pharisee Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 I still use a Legend and have done for all of my 600+ caches finds. With WAAS turned of (as it usually is) and under modest to heavy tree cover, I'm happy if it gets me to within 50 feet of the cache. The reported accuracy is not really all that relevant. When they were testing the EGNOS satellites last year I enabled the WAAS function and sitting on top of a hill with the nearest tree some 200 feet away I got a reported accuracy of just 6 feet with a 'D' in all of the satellite signal bars. Buying the Legend from the States won't make any difference if you're downloading map sections from the European MapSource CD. It's only the Base Map that is different and to be honest, that ain't worth a tinker's cuss anyway Enjoy your cacheing... if you look after the Legend, it'll certainly look after you. Quote Link to comment
+kbootb Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 30 feet is OK. I have been trying to set up a cache for a few weeks. It's very near home so I can pop over most evenings to check co-ords. There are no trees within 300 feet, really good view of the sky, often getting 8 sats. Usually tells me I have about 20 feet accuracy Each day the spot varies by about 50 feet, sometimes up to 100. So I have been averaging it and using that and it usually comes in at about 20 feet out. If I wait there for a while with the GPS in compass mode and motionless on the bench beside me I can watch the waypoint 'move' around me with it pointing say 70 feet north and then driving towards me to up to 50 feet south, then over to the east and back towards me. Just kind of wanders around. It usually settles and stays within 30 feet after about 10 mins but is never stationary. A GPS will not be happy if you move it over 600 miles and then switch it on. It will take up to 15 mins to work out where the sats are but after that it will have updated itself and re-starts will be much quicker e.g. 45 secs to a couple of minutes. One thing I have never found out though. What's it like if you haven't used a unit for a few months. Does it have the same trouble locking in as it has not had a recent fix? Quote Link to comment
+Birders Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 <If I wait there for a while with the GPS in compass mode and motionless on the bench beside me> What sort of antenna are you using, the one in the GPS? If you are indoors the accuracy will be extremely poor, unless you have a plastic roof, as has been suggested earlier. We have an old Garmin 12XL and the accuracy of it astounds us. It keeps up with our position very accurately whether we are walking or driving and we have used it all over the world. However, the antenna still needs a good "view" of the sky and if I put it in my pocket it won't work. In the car we have a dedicated GPS antenna on the windscreen and this works infinitely better than the "on-board" antenna in the GPS. In fact, the difference in performance is so great that I have seriously thought of buying another external antenna and sewing it into a hat! Quote Link to comment
+John Stead Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 thought of buying another external antenna and sewing it into a hat! Once upon a time, in fact BG (before geocaching), I had a Garmin GPS 45 and would walk with an extension aerial clipped to the shoulder strap of my backpack. My walking companion called it the parrot on my shoulder! Quote Link to comment
grambi Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 YAY We got all sorted thanks and found our first two caches today (the silobass that posted the post is us - Ive changed the username) Anyway, in more open spaces the gps got me to within 6 feet so Im quite happy now Quote Link to comment
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