Jump to content

Gps Seemed To Go Wacko


ncsu95

Recommended Posts

I bought the family (me, wife, and 22 month old daughter) a Garmin eTrex Legend for Christmas so that we could start to enjoy some outdoor activities. We have now found 6 caches and have a DNF on a micro.

 

My issue is this...as the day progressed today (we started around 2:30 and ended at 5:00), the GPS seemed to get less and less accurate. All of the searches were in wooded areas, but as the day went on, it seemed that one second it would say 65 feet straight ahead and the next, it would say 45 feet to the rear-left (or whatever). Is there a technical reason for this? I also seemed to find that it was most accurate when walking at a faster pace (ie, to finally get it close, I would walk really quickly...it seemed to straighten up then). But I couldn't get to ground zero on my GPS for the micro. The first time I did (it said 3 feet or so....I understand that it might be 40 feet or so though). Couldn't find it, so we tried again after letting the daughter play on a playground, and couldn't get it closer than 60 feet or so.

 

Any help?

 

Oh, and this stuff is addictive. :o

Link to comment

Depends on how many satellites where visible to the unit. I've had times when only 3 satellites were available (location jumped around a lot 100+ foot circle while standing still) and other times when 7 were locked on (still jumped around but all in a 2 foot circle).

 

Under trees seems to degrade the signal and up against a tall building or cliff will definitely cut down on the "stability".

Link to comment

I found that if I keep on walking until I am within 20 t0 25 feet the unit starts bouncing

and just plain goes nuts and then I find I want past the cache by 100 to 150 feet.

Now what I do is stop at 100 feet and stay still and do not turn just leave the unit

pointed straight ahead for a minute and then walk half the distance and stop again.

And as the day goes on I replace the batteries with a fresh recharged ones.

This seems to help but is not a cure all.

Link to comment

You will never get to "ground zero" with your GPS...sometimes you will get different readings with different walking speeds, the best thing to do is try to head directly towards the cache for the last 50 feet or so, and when you get within 30 feet, look straight ahead and think "Now where would I hide it?"...most of the time you will nail it within a few minutes of searching...

Remember, quit looking at the GPS within 20 feet or so...lest you make yourself crazy, walking in circles...

Link to comment

Yep, signal bounce. I'm still mostly caching in urban/sub-urban areas (cleaning out close to home first), so I get bounce a lot with the eTrex I just got for Christmas. The funny thing is, the old, borrowed Garmin GPS12 that I used from 12/1 to 12/24 never seemed to bounce. I'm thinking it's because it didn't update fast enough to catch the bounces happen. So, if you really really don't want the bounce, you can go to old equipment :D

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...