How accurate is your GPS?

[Ratz and company]

It was great fun to read the poll on what GPS you all use. I have an old Magellan 315. Sometimes I get bounced all around and other times it is pretty close to the cache. My question is are the newer GPS’s more accurate? I might want to upgrade if it would avoid the “Jeesh. the gps is spinning” or “It says 4 feet, now it says 30 feet, moments. Thanks in advance. Ratz

[PCFrog]

Mine is always 100% accurate.

It shows me exactly where IT thinks it is, all the time.

😀

[Lostby7]

Accuracy is subjective as each unit varies each time a measurement is taken and there is no way to tell how accurate the placers unit was at the time of placement. Also I think weather and terrain can affect coords a bit as well…basically i think you might be better off asking about signal lock. A weak signal can play havoc on your coords being accurate. My old Garmin Vista would lose signal all the time so getting good coords was a real pain and trying to get to Ground Zero was tricky at times as well. when I switched to the Garmin GPS60 (insert model # here) I no longer had any issues with signal lock and the coords seemed better because I wasn’t constantly losing the satellites.

[Team Deejay]

As someone else said, it is not really a question of accuracy. The issue is signal strength and how well your unit will work under tree cover. My little yellow etrex was great until we got into heavy tree cover, but then it would lose signal. My 76Cx, on the other hand, can get a good signal inside buildings and never loses signal outside.

[Ratz and company]

So how do you know signal strength when shopping for a new one? Is it in the sales literature?

[Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu]

There are variables for signal strength in general.

Like the location of satellites in the sky – how low or how high

There are natures variablies:

Tree Coverage
Cloud coverage
In a valley vs
On a mountain

Then I would say there is the GPS itself. I have seen some lower priced ones get great reception. I don’t know if one could really tell when buying one…. if it is listed in the literature???

I have a Megellan eXplorist 500 and for the most part it is very accurate. I have even picked up satellites while indoors. I do find that battery strength does reek havoc at times. Otherwise…..it seems more like heavy clouds or satellites position. My accuracy seems to usually run from maybe 5ft to as much at 40ft. Lets just say that I opt NOT to hide caches on days with 40ft accuracy, nor do I attempt to look for a nano in the woods. LOL[/list]

My oddest experience was while placing temps at Veterens Falls Park up near Crivitz. I was in the valley and couldn’t pick up any signal, but my darn cellphone rang thru. That day, it took over 45 minutes to get any signal on the GPS at all. when I got how, I chatted with a guy at work, just happened to be up North that same weekend and they were out on ATV’s getting no reception for about 45 min , also. Sooooo….I knew it wasn’t jsut mine. 🙂

[Mister Greenthumb]

I’ll probably be upgrading in the future, but we do just fine with two EtrexLegends. Nearly 800 finds since January of 2006 and very few dnf’s. The skill in searching comes more into play than where the gpsr takes you. When I get within 30′ I stop looking at the screen and start looking for hiding spots. I learned that from Tami of the Ecorangers and that seems to work fine for them (LOL). My main concern for upgrading would be to purchase a unit that would give the best accuracy for hiding so you can find them. I’ve hidden 50+ and have about 10 in the works and have only had comments on trouble with coordinates twice. On the other hand a recent hide (Gnome Home) on the Ice Age Trail took the owner 3 or 4 tries to get the coordinates close. It is still 50+ ft off and started 1200 ft off. I equate gpsr to vehicles. They all get you there, sometimes you’ld just like to ride more in in style.

[MikeB]

Are we talking “precision” or “accuracy”? (All the math and science teachers out there — I hear you giggling!) There was a month or so last summer where my receiver was very precise — almost no wandering at all and the “accuracy” was typically under 15 feet. Unfortunately, the accuracy of the receiver was not good — I was consistently 50-60 feet west. Not sure why — after a while, things returned to “normal”.

I have no illusions about my eTrex Legend (ol’ Blue) … you are better off putting it away once you are within 40-50 feet of GZ. Lots of time the pointer will point in the opposite direction or march you around in ever widening circles, especially with lots of leafy cover overhead. There are times where it has zero’d out and I was standing on top of the cache container, but pretty sure that was dumb luck.

[-cheeto-]

Unfortunately, the accuracy of the receiver was not good — I was consistently 50-60 feet west. Not sure why — after a while, things returned to “normal”.

Probably because you were hunting caches all placed by the same cacher who had a 50-60 foot accuracy problem and their unit was also very precise 🙂

[Team Deejay]

The easiest way to check on the power of your GPSs antenna is to test it inside a building. Get a good satellite lock outside, then go stand under a water tower. Still good? OK, go stand in the center of a park shelter? Still good? OK, go inside a house or other wood frame structure and stand near the center. Still good? Try inside a block building with a steel roof. If this works, you have a GREAT antenna. From what I’ve seen, the old style Etrex units will fail the second test fairly repeatably. The new H Etrexes and the X series 60s and 76s will pass the third test, but usually fail the fourth. I haven’t seen any GPSs that will reliably pass the fourth test without an external antenna, but I haven’t tried them all either. The 76Cx that I use will work in a block building if I stay within 20 feet of a window. Further than that and I lose signal.

So, how do you know before you buy? Ask to try one out and run it through the paces.

[Lostby7]

Wow great testing advise. I was shocked when I saw my GarminGPSCx got a signal lock IN the house…my old Vista had a tough time getting a lock on clear days.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

My Magellan Meridian did pretty well. I got a good lock and kept inside the house, which is two story and brick. Although I can’t get any further than maybe 20 feet from a window.

Hmm. I wonder if it’ll work in the basement…

… Nope.

I’d love to see another of the GPS flag game (or whatever it was called) from the WGA Picnic, repeated at the campout. It was interesting to see how GPS’rs differed. This time it would be cool to see not only the team name on the flag, but what type of GPS’r was used too.

[Team Deejay]

@tyedyeskyguy wrote:

My Magellan Meridian did pretty well. I got a good lock and kept inside the house, which is two story and brick. Although I can’t get any further than maybe 20 feet from a window.

Hmm. I wonder if it’ll work in the basement…

… Nope.

I’d love to see another of the GPS flag game (or whatever it was called) from the WGA Picnic, repeated at the campout. It was interesting to see how GPS’rs differed. This time it would be cool to see not only the team name on the flag, but what type of GPS’r was used too.

Yes, the older Magellans seems to be between the etrexes and the newer Garmins. From what I’ve heard, the Explorists are about like the Etrexes, more or less a step down from the Meridians. Kind of a shame really, as those older Magellans were known for working well in tree cover.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

@Team Deejay wrote:

@tyedyeskyguy wrote:

My Magellan Meridian did pretty well. I got a good lock and kept inside the house, which is two story and brick. Although I can’t get any further than maybe 20 feet from a window.

Hmm. I wonder if it’ll work in the basement…

… Nope.

I’d love to see another of the GPS flag game (or whatever it was called) from the WGA Picnic, repeated at the campout. It was interesting to see how GPS’rs differed. This time it would be cool to see not only the team name on the flag, but what type of GPS’r was used too.

Yes, the older Magellans seems to be between the etrexes and the newer Garmins. From what I’ve heard, the Explorists are about like the Etrexes, more or less a step down from the Meridians. Kind of a shame really, as those older Magellans were known for working well in tree cover.

I have yet to lose my signal while caching with my Meridian, no matter how bad the cover or weather. It’s why I hate to replace it, and probably won’t until it’s dead.

[StarWarsGuy]

I once saw a neat little experiment. At a wga picnic they gave us coords. and a flag. We were supposed to put our flag where we zeroed out. It was neat to see the range. It wasn’t the same for any two gps’s. some were grouped and some were in trees. this was an open field with no tree cover. I noted those that were way off in case I looked for one of their caches. HMMMMMMM 75ft nw of my zero.

[Author]

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