Gregg Bolton wrote: > > ...SNIP.. > > There has been some comments about poor "reception" in heavy clouds > and/or fog. Did I misunderstand these comments? This is NOT a problem with GPS receivers in general. The observation involved one person's experience with a Garmin GPS 38. I have owned and used four different receivers, including the GPS 38, and the 38 has by far the poorest ability to receive a signal in adverse conditions (e.g., under tree cover). It is a multiplexing receiver that can observe only one satellite at a time (it cycles rapidly between the satellites in view), and it has what is apparently a poorly designed patch antenna. In any event, the newer parallel-channel receivers (such as the Garmin 12) offer *dramatically* improved performance in adverse conditions, and can obtain and maintain a fix under fairly heavy tree cover (or even inside a building, depending on the roofing materials). You should not have a problem maintaining a fix with one of the newer units. (By the way, for a while some Wal-Mart stores were selling the GPS 38 for $40--that is about what it is worth.) Having said all of that, even with the Garmin GPS 38 I never failed to get a lock out on the water during heavy overcast/rain. I suspect that there was a problem with the unit in question, but that raises an important point--like any equipment, a GPS receiver can fail. Murphy's Law tells us that it will do so at the worst possible time. One nice thing about GPS is that it provides constant feedback regarding your location (when it is working), which makes it easier to develop your other navigational skills--including "conventional" navigation, sensory navigation, and dead reckoning. Dan Hagen Bellingham, Washington *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 28 1998 - 07:59:49 PDT
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