Newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav 26397

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In article <568ppb$fut@harpo.cs.ubc.ca>, Dave Martindale (davem@cs.ubc.ca) wrote:
|tgroo@orednet.org (Tyler Groo) writes:
|>I don't know Garmins low voltage cutout but 4AA (NiMH/NiCad) x 1.25v = 5v
|>for a fresh set of batteries and 4AA (alkaline) x 1.5v = 6v for a fresh
|>set.  Some equipment will think your rechargable batteries are low almost
|>as soon as you put them in...
|
|With the Garmin receivers, the "fuel gauge" indicates about "half full"
|very shortly after turning it on with freshly-charged NiCds.  But then it
|sits around the half-full mark for most of the operating life of the
|batteries.  When it drops below 1/4 full, you don't have much time left.
|But the receiver doesn't cut off due to low voltage until the batteries
|really are pretty close to discharged.
|
|So, other than the incorrect fuel gauge readings, NiCds work pretty
|well in the Garmin units.
  Agreed.  In my experience with using NiCads in a Garmin 45XL, freshly
charged batteries cause the "fuel gauge" to start out at about 3/4 scale,
then it drops to about 5/8 in the first few minutes of use.  It will stay
at 5/8ths to 1/2 for about four hours in normal mode, then, in the course
of about 10 minutes drop to 1/4.  (This, of course, fairly closely matches
the discharge curve of NiCads in general).
  The only real problem is that, once it drops to 1/4th, you have all of about
a minute before the unit shuts itself off, usually (with my unit and the
Panasonic NiCads I'm using) without any warning.
  My experiments on this were fairly informal, sitting the unit beside me
one lazy Sunday afternoon while I was watching TV.  As I was indoors, the
unit went from being locked up with about four sats to sometimes losing
fixes entirely - and I have the feeling that not having a fix seems to use
more power, for some reason (its thinking harder? ;-).
Randy Davis
randy@agames.com

In article <328c6cd5.0@139.134.5.33>, Mike R  writes...
>I have a Sony GPS which gives proprietary format output (I have the details).
> 
>I want to write software to convert to NMEA 0183 - where can I get the details
>of what most GPS's put out
Check my NMEA FAQ - URLs below.
Peter Bennett VE7CEI                | Vessels shall be deemed to be in sight
Internet: bennett@triumf.ca         | of one another only when one can be
Packet: ve7cei@ve7kit.#vanc.bc.ca   | observed visually from the other
TRIUMF, Vancouver, B.C., Canada     |                          ColRegs 3(k)
GPS and NMEA info and programs: ftp://sundae.triumf.ca/pub/peter/index.html
or: ftp://ftp-i2.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/arnd/GPS/peter/index.html
or: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter/index.html

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After far too many years of working with and around receivers, my guess
is that the reports of interference to GPS are merely demonstrations of
GPS receiver deficiencies.
GPS receivers are physically tiny compared with most any transmitter you
can imagine.  Selective circuits to eliminate interference are fairly
large or heavy (or both).  It's easy to find room in a transmitter, and
the licensing authorities require them.  There is no such legal
requirement made on commodity GPS receivers.  Thus it seems very likely
that the ordinary GPS receiver is relatively marginal at rejecting
interference from transmitters outside its normal reception band of
frequencies.
Is there anyone on here who has done any quantitative measurements?
Bob Carpenter  w3otc@amsat.org

Robert Lawrence wrote:
> In <32877D37.54CB@hp.com> curtis cameron 
> writes:
> >But it doesn't seem obvious to me that a plumb bob would point
> >the same direction as the normal.  On a sphere, of course it would,
> >but on an ellipsoid, does it?  It seems to me that it might point at
> >the center of the ellipsoid, or somewhere between that direction and
> >the normal.
> The ocean is just a big "bubble", i.e. the direction indicated
> by a bubble or plumb bob is always perpendicular to the surface
> of the ocean. The ocean surface, which would be perpendicular to
> the line to the center of a stationary earth, has been distorted
> by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the earth.
> That is why the earth is an ellipsoid instead of a sphere. That
> same centrifugal force affects the plumb bob and the bubble level.
Thank you, Robert, for the perfect answer.  It's simple, obviously
correct, polite, and exactly answers the posed question.  I give it 
a 10/10.
-curtis cameron
posting from WGS-84 32.975 north, 96.709 west

The USA has a Time Standard Transmitter.  It is WWV located in Co, and WWVH 
located in Hi.  They Transmit on 10.0 MHz, 15.0 MHz, 20.0 MHz, and a few 
others.
Jon
In article <3289F8FE.20DB@education.leeds.ac.uk>,
   n.w.nelson@education.leeds.ac.uk (nick nelson) wrote:
>Harold Price wrote:
>> 
>> I want to kill two birds with one stone - get a cheap time source for a 
test,
>> and end up with a gps toy to play with.
>
>While I appreciate the potential of your project as an excuse to acquire
>a GPS unit, I can't help thinking that this is 'overkill' for a time
>standard.
>
>In the UK we have a transmitter called MSF Rugby which transmits time
>information on 60 kHz. I can't believe that there is not some equivalent
>in the USA.
>
>Nick.

In article , Patrick Chung (met446@freenet.mb.ca) wrote:
|I would like to ask anybody how to use the track back feature in Garmin?
  Its spelled out pretty completely in the manual...  Have you re-read it?
|I tried this before, but it did not give me that succesful results.
|When using trackback , one clears the track log before one starts the trip,
|when one reaches the destination, track back is pressed, which will trace
|back the route going backward. I notice the arrow points backward too. Is 
|that right?- when going back?
  Yeeeeesss...
|When one uses the track back feature, it seems that all my waypoints in my
|route is gone.
  It does overwrite one route, as I beleive.  I've used it once or twice,
but I already had cleared the routes, so I don't remember which one it
clears, if any.  It may only clear route 0, which is always the active route,
which is no loss, and implies you would have to copy the route to another
location to save it.
| Is that what is suppose to happen? I only assigns T001, T002
|etc. Am I right?
  Yes, the waypoints are labeled T001 on up.
| Isn't trackback similiar to "Invert"?
  Not really.  The trackback function takes your track log and MAKES a route
out of it, by attempting to compute the most "significant" points in your
track log, and forming the resultant waypoints into a valid route that you
can follow back to where you started.
| Except track back uses
|random assigned points, but invert uses marked waypoints?
  No, not "random-assigned" points.  See above.
|Does one ever invert a track back?
  Once trackback has figured your return route, the waypoints are stored as
normal waypoints (labeled starting with T001, etc), and a new route is stored
using those waypoints.  I beleive you can, indeed, invert the resultant route
(I see no reason you couldn't).
  I strongly suggest you simply read the manual.  It covers most all of this.
|If one uses a route of the waypoints in your Garmin, when one initilizes it
|and press the page until one gets the hwy. steering guidance page, would
|that page automatically show the arrow pointing to the nearest waypoint
|?
  Yes, if you have activated the route.
| Or does one have to press, "GOTO"?
  Goto is used to go to a specific waypoint, without a route being activated.
|And in regards to the alarm as to when one is approching a waypoint on a
|route. After one reaches that waypoint, does it go to the next nearest
|waypoint or does it go to the next waypoint that you have listed on
|the route? 
  Yes.
|   I notice that on a cloudy day, it seems I could get a better reception
|receiving more satellites with my Garmin 45 XL. Is this true or just a 
|coincidence?
  Coincidence.
Randy Davis
randy@agames.com

Jean-Louis Longueville  wrote in article
<3288B0B1.33C1@HomeMail.com>...
> I'm getting really sick of Garmin disabling features in their products.
> What will be the next thing we will discover as being 'disabled' in our
> units ? Maybe the G45 is a 12-channel reveiver with 11 channels
> 'disabled' ?
You're getting what you pay for.  The feature list of the 45 is
well-advertised.  They don't claim these other features, and you shouldn't
expect them.
If a company has two (or more) products, and they can leverage their R&D; by
maintaining a common technology base, is disabling features in the
lower-end device a sin?
Don't forget that support and maintenance issues account for a large
portion of the actual cost of a product line.  By disabling certain
features, like Streck, they don't have to print several pages in the manual
(most locations that mention bearings would have to account for the two
formats), and don't have to answer questions from people who stumble into a
more complicated mode.
If you don't like the fact that you can't get something for free, you have
the option of going with different products from different
vendors/manufacturers.
Best regards,
-a.

kosmas19@hudson.idt.net (Pentakalos) writes:
>Do the aviation receivers give you an altitude measurement?
Yes, like any GPS receiver in 3D navigation mode
>Does that mean that they are DGPS and that is why they cost more?
No.  DGPS needs a ground transmitter sending corrections, and an
additional receiver.  Aviation GPSes may have the receiver when such
a system is set up, but current ones probably don't.
They're more expensive because they are certified to aviation standards
(in some cases) or because they have aviation databases (in some cases),
but also just because aviation stuff is expensive - people are willing
to pay more.
>Is there any way you can get altitude without DGPS?
Yes, it's just less accurate.
	Dave

Hello Enzo,
On Fri, 15 Nov 1996 16:11:25 GMT, mc7479@mclink.it (Enzo Lanza) wrote:
>>Frank Dinger wrote:
>
>>> Question:Are radar systems anywhere in the world operating on the GPS >freqs?
>
>In many countries (expecially Europe) you may find also that TV
>transfer links are jamming GPS frequencies. Maybe not on the same
>frequency, but transmitter quality is so bad that the merit figure is
>invading the GPS band. All depend by the quality of the transmitter
>(not by the quality of the TV station...)
Let me have some doubt about your consideration. I work for RTBF which
is the Belgian TV, and use often my Trimble to locate precisely pylons
and others towers to calculate and evaluate HF links. All those towers
are TV, Radio, GSM or Military equiped, and i never encountered any
problems. We use also GPS on Motos for bicycles races and the antenna
of the GPS is at 8 cm of the 10w 2GHz antenna without any problems.
Take a look also at GPS which are now equiped with VHF transmitter,
specialy build for 'a marine use'. But for my information now, what is
the type of GPS which has troubles as you indicate ?
Friendly.
Francis Wauquier
Tech R/TV RTBF - Telecom Services
e-mail: Francis.Wauquier@ping.be
ICBM  : 50ø50'06"N,04ø23'15"E

In article <56hlu3$sdc@coranto.ucs.mun.ca>, obb3009@InfoNET.st-johns.nf.ca (David Dawe) writes...
>Anyone know
All Loran-C chains transmit on 100.00KHz
Peter Bennett VE7CEI                | Vessels shall be deemed to be in sight
Internet: bennett@triumf.ca         | of one another only when one can be
Packet: ve7cei@ve7kit.#vanc.bc.ca   | observed visually from the other
TRIUMF, Vancouver, B.C., Canada     |                          ColRegs 3(k)
GPS and NMEA info and programs: ftp://sundae.triumf.ca/pub/peter/index.html
or: ftp://ftp-i2.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/arnd/GPS/peter/index.html
or: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter/index.html

Douglas V. Nelson wrote:
> 
> If you read Tripmate Requirements at URL:
> 
> http://www.delorme.com/products/tripmate/reqmnts.htm
> 
> It states you need Delome's Street Atlas USA 4.0 or AAA Map'n'Go 2.0.
> "Tripmate is not compatible with with other GPS or mapping applications"
> 
> This sounds to me like the Delorme GPS unit is proprietary and can only
> be
> used with their products and it is not compatible with other mapping or
> tracking programs such as WinGPS Tripmaker w/Compass, Fugawi, Vista,
> etc.
> 
> Is this the way you read it?
> 
> --Doug--
Thats the way I read it!!! But if you have the upgrade offer, the GPS
receiver only cost you $100 and you get SA4 for $25. Thats not a bad
offer since most GPS receivers are $300+
Les

Information on the Block IIR power levels has been added to the GPS JPO 
home page located at www.laafb.af.mil/SMC/CZ/homepage.  The capitol 
letters are important.
Ken Lamm
Radionavigation and Positioning Staff
U.S. DOT

For those of us that don't have $699-$999 to throw around for an aviation 
hand-held GPS with moving map and lots of other bells and whistles, can 
one of the $299 models suitable for boating or hiking be a good 
substitute?  I realize "you get what you pay for", and I'd love to get 
one of those more expensive models, but my checkbook can't cover it right 
now.
I'm relatively new in the GPS game and I need to know if there are any 
_real_ technical pros and cons I should consider before putting plastic 
on the counter at a hiking outlet? 
I know some models are not designed for aviation speeds and I suppose I 
would have to enter my own waypoints into a database.
Would anyone like to offer some recommendations of suitable models in the 
$299-$399 range?
(For those of you who saw a version of this in rec.aviation...., sorry 
for the re-post here.)

n.w.nelson@education.leeds.ac.uk (nick nelson) wrote:
>Harold Price wrote:
>> 
>> I want to kill two birds with one stone - get a cheap time source for a test,
>> and end up with a gps toy to play with.
>
>While I appreciate the potential of your project as an excuse to acquire
>a GPS unit, I can't help thinking that this is 'overkill' for a time
>standard.
>
>In the UK we have a transmitter called MSF Rugby which transmits time
>information on 60 kHz. I can't believe that there is not some equivalent
>in the USA.
>
 Indeed there is. Run by the US Navy, callsign WWV, located on the E
Coast. A second site (c/s WWVH) in Hawaii. Broadcasts on 2.5, 5, 10,
15 and 20MHz.
 Many similar services around the world run by various authorities.
--  Dave Brooks    
PGP public key via , or servers
    "From" line rigged to foil spambots: daveb  iinet.net.au

rfdesq@datadepot.com (Robert F. Danelen) wrote:
>Anyone have any thoughts on the new Lowrance Global Nav 200 $250.00
>retail.  It is an upgraded version of the new Eagle Explorer $199.00
>retail.  It appears to have: 12 Channel parallel, DGPS ready, external
>antenna connector (powered), cigarette lighter adapter, lighted
>display and keys (maybe), programmable windows, speaker, lat/lon, UTM.
Lowrance emailed me that the Nav 200 does NOT have UTM. It does have
multiple map datums, though. There are also some reported problems
with the NMEA implementation relative to DeLorme SA 4.0
______
Keith Hollister
khollister@ACM.org

buchmann@ll.mit.edu (Karl Buchmann) wrote:
>

>
>My question to anyone on the group is: do you know of any jamming
>experiments being conducted in the gulf, or around the Eglin
>Air Force Base on the Florida panhandle? I noticed an earlier
>thread on jamming in California, and assumed the same could
>happen in Fla.
>
Karl,
DOD has told us that they are not conducting jamming tests in Florida.  I 
will forward your message to the US Coast Guard Navigation Center (USCG 
NAVCEN).  They are responsible for investigating all interference to GPS 
signals.
Ken Lamm
Radionavigation and Positioning Staff
U.S. DOT

Stan Slonkosky wrote:
> 
> Randy Davis (randy@agames.com) wrote:
> 
   Thanks for the pricing info...  its a REAL bargain imho
> It's yellow all right. It's really strange that there's no power switch.
   Yup it YELLOW..  you can see it half a parking lot away, just
screaming "Steal me !!"
   The CTS line goes false, turning off the power, the software or
the turning off or disconnecting the computer takes care of it.
> You must either pull out one of the batteries or disconnect the Berg
> connector that connects the batteries to the GPS itself. 
NOT NEEDED...
   I've been using one for a couple months now right beside a
Garmin GPSMAP130 and an Accunav (beta test) and it's as hot as
any of the expensive receivers. It's actually a 12 channel (Rockwell
guts, Trimble made) parallel, and aside from the initial slow
startup, is excellent.
   The SA4 is wonderful, loads maps on the hard drive, runs without
the CD, and aside from the short bread crumb trail is the best
I've used.  The maps are a little better than they were.
   All the G45 functions a OK with the GPS130 by the way.  The
Accu-Nav is fine, and Trimble CM3 modules are OK, but CM2's don't
output the *NN cksum needed.
   It is also very cooperative with MNG2..
   regards,  Bob

Ian Bailey wrote:
> 
> I must of missed the eariler post giving details of the Garmin GPSII, can
> someone give another run down?
> 
> Ian Bailey
Try:
http://www.imaginegps.com/garmin.htm#gpsii
http://www.mvangel.com/gps-2.htm
-- 
Brett Miller - N7OLQ			brett_miller@ccm.ut.intel.com
Intel Corp.					CIS: 73370,3030
American Fork, UT

Dear all,
I am working in a research related to active tectonics and crustal deformation
on the Pacific coast of Mexico. I am using remote sensing (aerial phtographs
and Landsat images) for the detection of tectonic produced  or deformed 
landforms. However, 
I have recently been reading several papers about the use of radar ERS-1 and 
JERS radar images and interferometres (DEMs, SAR, etc.) to measure coseismic 
and postseismic deformation. I am really excited about the potential of
this technique and would like to understand a little more about the basics 
and the practical matters about radar (ERS + JERS) images (i.e. which areas
do they cover, how often does a radar passes above or near a same area, 
how expensive is to acquire a radar image, etc?).
Would you please give some advice and references on the basics of radar images?
Thanks in advance,
Maria Teresa
Please replies to: mtr@geovax.ed.ac.uk

Reposting article removed by rogue canceller.  See news.admin.net-abuse.announce
for further information.
         AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL of SOUTH AFRICA
             INSTITUTE FOR SOIL CLIMATE AND WATER
                    REMOTE SENSING DIVISION
The following positions are now on offer at this Pretoria, South
Africa based Institute with its well equipped digital image
processing facility.
The successful candidates will form part of a team of 12
researchers and support staff specializing in Remote Sensing.
Three persons are required to research the development and
application of Remote Sensing Techniques for obtaining
Environmental and Agricultural Resource Information and
Statistics. 
In addition to the educational requirements set for each
position, a relevant post graduate qualification and/or
experience in Remote Sensing/Digital Image Processing and GIS
will serve as a strong recommendation in each instance.
The specific requirements for each position are as follows:
Post 1 Rangeland Applications: A university degree in Ecology,
Botany, Rangelands Science or related fields. 
Post 2 RADAR Applications: A university degree in Physics,
Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering or a related field. 
Post 3: A university degree in Natural, Earth or Pure Science or
related field (Soil Science, Geography, Botany, Geology,
Environmental Studies)  
Applicants for all posts may be required to undertake
psychometric tests.
The ARC offers challenging opportunities in a pleasant work
environment as well as competitive remuneration packages,
including standard fringe benefits, which will be negotiated in
accordance with qualifications and experience. 
Please forward your application together with CV to:
The Director:ISCW, P.Bag X79, Pretoria, 0001. (Fax --27 12 323
1157) 
Applications close on 22 November 1996
Enquiries:
Dr JF Eloff / Mr TS Newby  ph (--27 12) 326 4205
E-Mail : TERRY@IGKW2.AGRIC.ZA

Has anyone seen or better yet used the new eagle explorer.
Does it support UTM ?

In <328271bd.85598393@news.iinet.net.au>, daveb@iinet.net.au writes:
> The first option uses NMEA data formats (though not levels, as
>above). As per NMEA, format is 4800:8N1. The available messages are:
> BIT  Rockwell proprietary built-in test results
> GGA  GPS fix data
> GSA  GPS DOP & active satellites
> GSV  GPS satellites in view
> RMC  Recommended minimum specific GPS data
> RID  Rockwell proprietary receiver ID
> ZCH  Rockwell proprietary Zodiac channel status
Hello,
This is interesting as the new Delorme Tripmate is outputing NMEA
sentences with what appears to be similar messages.
Power control appears to be the DTR line.  Asserting DTR powers up the
unit and it sends three NMEA messages (PRWIRID, GPRMC, and
PRWIZCH) then keeps sending a non-NMEA character string until
it receives a $IIGPQ message with the character string.
PRWIRID  seems to contain version numbers and dates
PRWIZCH  twelve sets of what seems to be satellite PRN and a
                   single digit code
GPRMC, GPGSA, GPGGA, GPGSV  Standard fare.
I have not log it to see what other stuff is sent.
73 Eric.  eac@shore.net

In <3285251C.1014@erols.com>, Casey McCullough  writes:
>Does anyone know who makes this GPS for them and if it has an
>active/passive antenna?  At $149.00 it looks like a pretty good deal.
Hello,
The unit seems to lock on the satellites reasonably fast.   I downloaded
the New England area onto my laptop and the moving map display is
neat.
I hooked it up to a comm analyzer and played alittle.  Communications
are 4800 baud using ASCII characters so far.  The serial port does not
assert handshaking signals so hardware handshaking should not be
used. 
Power control appears to be the DTR line.  Asserting DTR powers up the
unit and it sends three NMEA messages (PRWIRID, GPRMC, and
PRWIZCH) then keeps sending a non-NMEA character string until
it receives a $IIGPQ message with the character string.  I was able
to program a function key on the windows terminal to send the string
and NMEA sentences poured out of the receiver.
NMEA messages begining with PR are reserved for manufactuer's
messages.
Some of the NMEA sentences:
PRWIRID  seems to contain version numbers and dates
PRWIZCH  twelve sets of what seems to be satellite PRN and a
                   single digit code
GPRMC, GPGSA, GPGGA, GPGSV
I need to log the output as no doubt almanac and other messages
are sent.
73 Eric eac@shore.net

Contents
Geomatics Info Magazine, Vol.10, No.11, 1996
------------------------------------------------------------
The OpenGIS Consortium: Towards Interoperable Geoprocessing.
L. McKee
6-9
University of Newcastle (UK) Changes to Geomatics.
20-21
Is There Life after GIS?
A. Steinfort
24-27
New Building for the ITC.
30-31
Legal Cadastre and Free Markets: The Needs of the Former USSR.
G.A. Jeffress
34-37
Digital Image Capture and Distribution: Improving Decision Support.
C. Mondello
54-55
Modernisation of the Budapest Cadastre.
E. Straalman, R. Schneeberger
62-65
Digital Photogrammetry in Practice: An Example from Germany.
P. Hartfiel
86-87
Product Survey - GIM's Product Survey on Geodetic GPS
Receivers: Supplement.
22-22
Conference Report - INTERGEO/80th German Geodetic Day:
Bridging the Gaps.
42-45
Conference Report - Hydro '96 Successful.
58-59
Market Interview - Towards a Broader Oriented Profession:
GIM Interviews Four Representatives of the Educational
Institutes.
68-71
In Focus - VirtuoZo Systems Pty Ltd: Fitting Digital
Photogrammetry into the End User Environment.
72-73
Interview - GIM Interviews Dr Karl Harmsen, New Rector of
ITC.
84-85
--
Reprints:
GITC bv, P.O. Box 112
8530 AC Lemmer, The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0514) 56 18 54, Fax. +31 (0514) 56 38 98
Email: 
For reprints, contact Ruud Groothuis.
For issues & contributions, contact Koos van der Lei.
------------------------------------------------------------
Tables of Contents in Geodesy
WWW 
FTP 
Subscriptions & comments 

Peter Dendy (dendyp@admin.fcbe.edu.on.ca) wrote:
: Has anyone been able to get more than 8-10 hours out of their 45 on
: battery/save mode?  I use this unit to navigate of a sailboat.  I thought
: the manual said we would probably get 20 hours on this mode.
: Also, the antenna is extremely loose in the mounting.  It still works fine
: but it feels like it is going to fall out.  Has anyone else had this
: problem and been able to fix it?
Yesterday, I happened to be out in the field using the company's Trimble
equipment and for humor's sake I brought along my G45 with a fresh set of 
NiCad's. (Not a new set, just fresh off the charger that morning, they no
doubt have a bit of a memory to them from my CD player). Anyway, in battery
saver mode, I got 5 hours straight on NiCad's. 
If your sailboat has an engine, it may be worthwhile to buy a Garmin
power lead/data cable and run from the main battery. No doubt, any 
marine starting battery will be capable of powering the G45 for several
days before the mAh add up to anything near the draw of your standard
stern or anchor light current draw in an hour.
Then again, if you're sailing your Hobie 18 to Catalina or Bimini, you may 
be more concerned with the battery life on your VHF. :)
    Anyone tried running the G45 off a "Solar trickle charger"? I guess I
need to measure the current draw of my G45 and see how much panel it will
take. :)   Satellite Navigation using Solar Power, what an idea...
     Mark Wendt "Where?" 26N 80W more or less...

In article <328CDE5B.3F55@HomeMail.com>, jll@HomeMail.com wrote:
>stimpy@tstonramp.com wrote:
>
>> The Garmin may cost less but it doesn't track satellites as well as the
>> Magellan.  With Magellan handhelds, you don't need to go to an external
> antenna
>> because their internal antennas are already very sensitive.  The Garmins may
>> have a couple of extra bells and whistles but it lacks horribly in its
> primary
>> job:  tracking and holding on to satellites in adverse conditions.
>
>Since your opinion is exactly the opposite of the one commonly used in
>this newsgroup, it would be very interesting to listen to your arguments
>and/or experience.
>
>It is true that the reception of Garmin units in adverse conditions can
>not be considered as outstanding, but only multiple channel receivers
>seem to be superior for those situations. Magellan receivers are
>single-channel units like the Garmins, but a lot more problems have been
>reported here than with the Garmins. 
>
>Jean-Louis
Jean-Louis,
        Wrong on both counts....
        At least the newer Magellan units (such as the 2000/300/4000) are two 
channel units.  One channel "finds" the satellites and the other channel 
tracks them.  I've verified this by watching the "unit test" screen. I don't 
know about the Meridian or TrailBlazer series...but suspect they too are dual 
channel units.  All of them have the capability to track 12 satellites at 
once.
        My Magellan 4000 is quite sensitive.  The very first day I got it, it 
was raining quite hard, inside my home (obviously the roof was wet) I was able 
to lock into 3 D mode fairly quickly.  This is an older home, full brick 
construction, real plaster walls and at least 2 layers of singles.  All sats. 
received based on the display were well above the horizon and so I wasn't 
receiving them thru the one window that had some view of the horizon.
        I've also had no trouble either locking or keeping a lock under most 
tree cover situations I've gone into (Colorado mountains...mostly pine and 
some aspen trees).
        From the messages I've seen in this newsgroup...at least any unit 
that's been produced by Magellan in the last year or so has performed very 
well based on the owner's comments.  There have been a few messages about 
defective units...but that's true of any manufacturer.  I have seen messages 
bout the older Meridian series that indicated that a few years ago...Magellan 
units did have some problems...but that seems to have all been cleared up with 
the latest models of Magellan units.
                                Don

In article <328C0769.49F9@ccm.ut.intel.com>, Brett Miller - N7OLQ
 wrote:
> Ian Bailey wrote:
> > 
> > I must of missed the eariler post giving details of the Garmin GPSII, can
> > someone give another run down?
> > 
> > Ian Bailey
> 
> Try:
> http://www.imaginegps.com/garmin.htm#gpsii
> http://www.mvangel.com/gps-2.htm
I assume it has the speed limit, am I correct?
There are many motorcycles that can go over the 90kt (or whatever it is)
limit--might even be leagl to do so in Montana (or off road)
> Brett Miller - N7OLQ                    brett_miller@ccm.ut.intel.com
Brian
-- 
Brian P. McCarty, N9IWP
e-mail:brianm@ptel.net
snail-mail:410 S. Ramsey, Apt. 4 Caledonia, MN 55921-1116
ICBM:43deg 38' 05" N  91deg 29' 48" W

I just saw a program on the learning channel which characterized GPS as
a spy satellite system.  With "educational" programs like that, no
wonder people don't understand the world.
J. Giles

The problem with all of the "time signal" stations I know of is that
you need a LW or MW or HF receiver - and I don't have anything in the
house that will receive anything below 30 MHz except the AM broadcast
band.  I don't want to buy a receiver solely for time signals.
But I already have a GPS.  That's what makes it attractive.
	Dave

Gentleman,
          I am attempting to connect a MAGELLAN 3000 handheld GPS unit
to my laptop computer through the serial port.  I have connected the
Data Send (yellow wire) and Data Recieve (orange wire) to pins 2 and 3
of a DB9 respectively.  Do I have to connect the signal ground to pin 5
of the DB9.  If so where do I connect the other end to the 3000 unit?  
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  I am a novice at this
stuff.
                         Thanks in advance,
                                           Reply to: inxes@aol.com

Has anyone found any long life NiCads or NiMH batteries that will fit into the 
GPS unit???  I have mostly Sylva-Charge 850mAh NiCads and they will not fit 
within the unit.  If anyone has the source for batteries that fit it would be 
greatly appreciated.

Bob (chainsaw@tfs.net) wrote:
:   Anyone else notice Garmin's vaporware web page at
: http://www.garmin.com??
:   It said under construction, please check back after November 12th,
: for the last two weeks.  Now it says under construction, please check
: back after November 27th.  What a slow leak.  People have been looking
: for them on the WWW for months.  I wonder if their customer service is
: as prompt as their support to the net community...
Actually, if I were to guess, I'd say they've got some $6/hr college
student doing the page during spare time between studying for exams.
I have a couple of friends who do this sort of thing, and fortunately,
one is nearly a genius so he can spend more time writing web pages during 
his last semester in Mechanical Engineering than most of his classmates
can spend sleeping. Its too bad that we all can't be borderline genius'...
   Mark Wendt "Where?" 26N 80W more or less....

I live in Orlando and would suggest E&B; Marine (407/644-8557) at 5135 
Adanson which is near the intersection of Lee Rd and Interstate 4 as the 
nearest to downtown and the easiest to find. Boat/US ( 407/339-8005) is 
on Hwy436 east of Interstate 4 and while a better store,I think that  
you need to be a member and it is a bit futher from tourist areas and 
downtown. Hope this helps.
Phil Hildebrand
shiane@magicnet.net 
In article <01bbce48$55657420$142e0182@joopv>, 
joopv@solair1.inter.nl.net says...
>
>Short vacation in FL.   Would like to buy a garmin 45, prices here in
>Netherlands are like $500.
>
>TIA,
>
>Joopv@solair1.inter.nl.net
>

James Giles (JGiles@cris.com) wrote:
: I just saw a program on the learning channel which characterized GPS as
: a spy satellite system.  With "educational" programs like that, no
: wonder people don't understand the world.
They spy on a number of things including atomic explostions.  They might
also have missle launch detection as well.
-tim
http://www.abnormal.com

Brett Miller - N7OLQ wrote:
> 
> 
> I've been thinking about getting one to mount on my Honda XR400 dirt
> bike.  I affraid it just will not withstand the shock and vibration.  I
> wonder if there is any sort of guarantee of if it is just marketing
> hype.
> 
I put my 45 on  my harley dyna wide clyde and took it on a 2,000 mile
trip in all sorts of conditions it worked great. If it can handle the
vibes of the big twin it should handle your XR400.
-steve-

randy@agames.com (Randy Davis) writes:
>As I was indoors, the
>unit went from being locked up with about four sats to sometimes losing
>fixes entirely - and I have the feeling that not having a fix seems to use
>more power, for some reason (its thinking harder? ;-).
If the unit doesn't have a fix, it almost certainly has the RF section
on all the time scanning for satellites.  Once it does have a fix, and
if you are in "battery save" mode, the RF section is turned off 2/3 of
the time to save power.  There probably isn't any difference in power
consumption in "normal" mode, though.
	Dave

Keith Hollister wrote:
> 
> rfdesq@datadepot.com (Robert F. Danelen) wrote:
> 
> >Anyone have any thoughts on the new Lowrance Global Nav 200 $250.00
> >retail.  It is an upgraded version of the new Eagle Explorer $199.00
> >retail.  It appears to have: 12 Channel parallel, DGPS ready, external
> >antenna connector (powered), cigarette lighter adapter, lighted
> >display and keys (maybe), programmable windows, speaker, lat/lon, UTM.
> 
> Lowrance emailed me that the Nav 200 does NOT have UTM. It does have
> multiple map datums, though. There are also some reported problems
> with the NMEA implementation relative to DeLorme SA 4.0
> 
> ______
> Keith Hollister
> khollister@ACM.org
Might be worth checking the UTM thing, because Lowrance/Eagle emailed me
and told me the Eagle View didn't have multiple datums or UTM and it has
both.
-- 
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garin@tempest.com.au
What do you mean... You DON'T dive ??
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