Garmin GPS - do all garmin GPSs have equally good reception?

Author

do all garmin GPSs have equally good reception?

jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk

2005-08-03, 11:48 pm

do all garmin GPSs have equally good reception?

are amy particular make (other than garmin) or better than garmin known
for great reception?

i want to interface my GPS to my pocket pc hp ipaq, so i'm very
concerned abotu reception.

I have seen the garmin etrex legend and after turning it on it seemed
to take abotu 5 minutes before it got reception. Very disappointing.
Are all GPSs of all makes as bad as that?

do all garmin GPSs have equally good reception?

are amy particular make (other than garmin) or better than garmin known
for great reception?

i want to interface my GPS to my pocket pc hp ipaq, so i'm very
concerned abotu reception.

I have seen the garmin etrex legend and after turning it on it seemed
to take abotu 5 minutes before it got reception. Very disappointing.
Are all GPSs of all makes as bad as that?
I can handle a lousy GUI and no maps. 'cos i am connecting to my HP
IPAQ and that has a beautiful GUI london a-z map. I jtu want the GPS
to tell my pocket PC where I am so my IPAQ keeps the map centered on
me.

El Castor

2005-08-03, 11:48 pm

jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

>do all garmin GPSs have equally good reception?
>
>are amy particular make (other than garmin) or better than garmin known
>for great reception?
>
>i want to interface my GPS to my pocket pc hp ipaq, so i'm very
>concerned abotu reception.
>
>I have seen the garmin etrex legend and after turning it on it seemed
>to take abotu 5 minutes before it got reception. Very disappointing.
>Are all GPSs of all makes as bad as that?
>
>do all garmin GPSs have equally good reception?
>
>are amy particular make (other than garmin) or better than garmin known
>for great reception?
>
>i want to interface my GPS to my pocket pc hp ipaq, so i'm very
>concerned abotu reception.
>
>I have seen the garmin etrex legend and after turning it on it seemed
>to take abotu 5 minutes before it got reception. Very disappointing.
>Are all GPSs of all makes as bad as that?
>I can handle a lousy GUI and no maps. 'cos i am connecting to my HP
>IPAQ and that has a beautiful GUI london a-z map. I jtu want the GPS
>to tell my pocket PC where I am so my IPAQ keeps the map centered on
>me.

No. Some, for instance, are WAAS enabled and should be more accurate,
and it's my impression that some are just quicker to get a lock. You
might try looking at the Amazon reviews of the models that interest
you. There are usually comments that will answer your questions.

Chris Thomas

2005-08-03, 11:48 pm

In article <1123108435.015409.154330@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk says...
> I have seen the garmin etrex legend and after turning it on it seemed
> to take abotu 5 minutes before it got reception. Very disappointing.
> Are all GPSs of all makes as bad as that?

This is the nature of GPS, and depends on how long it's been since it
was last on, and whether it was last on in the same location. The
problem of syncing with the spreading code for each satellite is a
difficult one if the unit has to do a exhaustive search (like it's been
off a long time, or has been moved) It needs to acquire one sat, which
gives it rough orbital elements for the other sats. The sats transmit a
complete set of elements every 15 minutes, which is why it takes a while
from a cold start.

If you are having reception problems, it is truely amazing how much
difference one of those amplified external antenna units makes. On my
60CS, it goes from about 5 sats with fair strength to 10-11 full strengh
bars when I plug in the external antenna.

/Chris, AA6SQ

jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk

2005-08-04, 5:48 pm

Chris Thomas wrote:
> In article <1123108435.015409.154330@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
> jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk says...
>
> This is the nature of GPS, and depends on how long it's been since it
> was last on, and whether it was last on in the same location. The
> problem of syncing with the spreading code for each satellite is a
> difficult one if the unit has to do a exhaustive search (like it's been
> off a long time, or has been moved) It needs to acquire one sat, which
> gives it rough orbital elements for the other sats. The sats transmit a
> complete set of elements every 15 minutes, which is why it takes a while
> from a cold start.
>
> If you are having reception problems, it is truely amazing how much
> difference one of those amplified external antenna units makes. On my
> 60CS, it goes from about 5 sats with fair strength to 10-11 full strengh
> bars when I plug in the external antenna.
>
> /Chris, AA6SQ

thanks. where do I get an amplified external antenna?

By the way. I received this excellent info from soembody with a similar
pocket pc to me.

GPS maps aren't very good, not for only =A3100. With my pocket PC I can
ignore the GPS map. This GPS might be perfect for the job

http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=3D119717
It has no software supplied and no interface or screen on it (just
led's for signals and power).
all the GPS is doing is sending the location to the PDA, the built-in
maps/features can be ignored.

The PDA software won't make use of the WAAS feature. So no need for
WAAS on the GPS.

IF anybody reading thsi thread or googling aroudn is interested. I'm
using an HP IPAQ 4150 with Memory Map software. and maps from A-Z.
Demos of the software are available on pocketpc.com this looks like a
great setup.
A demo street map is available on the www.a-zmaps.co.uk site for the
uk.=20

I hope this is helpful to people.

Jørgen L.

2005-08-04, 5:48 pm

thanks. where do I get an amplified external antenna?

Here http://gpsbitz.co.uk/gpsbitz_store/

regards Jørgen

Chris Thomas

2005-08-04, 11:48 pm

In article <1123169114.659432.233470@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk says...
> thanks. where do I get an amplified external antenna?

http://www.gilsson.com/garmin_gps/garmin_antennas.htm

This is the manufacturer - a lot of stores carry it.

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