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JadedCaveman
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:08 am Post subject:
Question-GPS and obstructions |
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Hi all,
I had been planning on buying my wife a handheld GPS for her to use while
horseback riding.
Most of the trails that she rides would be in State Parks and other heavily
wooded areas.
One of her friends had a GPS, but they had problems with it loosing a signal
while riding.
I know nothing about these things, so I don't know if all these devices will
loose their signal
in wooded, hilly areas, or if my wifes friend just had one that didn't work
so well.
How well do even the *best* of these devices work in wooded areas, or are
they completely
usesless under these conditions?
Also, would she be able to store the device in a saddlebag while riding?
Thanks |
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Redwoods Mtn Biker
Joined: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 75
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:08 am Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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peter wrote:
| Quote: | JadedCaveman wrote:
I know nothing about these things, so I don't know if all these devices will
loose their signal
in wooded, hilly areas, or if my wifes friend just had one that didn't work
so well.
Depends on the type and density of foliage, the particular device, and
how it's being carried.
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And the particular configuration of the satellite constellation on any
given day and time.
Rich Owings
http://www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com/
http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/
"We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as
others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey |
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peter
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:08 am Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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JadedCaveman wrote:
| Quote: | I know nothing about these things, so I don't know if all these devices will
loose their signal
in wooded, hilly areas, or if my wifes friend just had one that didn't work
so well.
|
Depends on the type and density of foliage, the particular device, and
how it's being carried.
Here's an aerial view of a trail on Mt. Tamalpais (Steep Ravine trail)
with an overlay of the red tracklog from my GPS:
http://home.comcast.net/~prathman/Screen03.jpg
I never lost satellite coverage on this hike and as you can see there's
plenty of tree cover - enough so that neither the trail nor the stream
alongside it are visible. OTOH, I lost coverage for almost a whole
mile while climbing alongside Tunitas Creek through a pretty dense
redwood forest last week.
| Quote: | Also, would she be able to store the device in a saddlebag while riding?
The saddlebag itself probably won't hurt the signal much, but anything |
with significant water content or metal will block the 1.5 GHz GPS
signals very effectively. That includes your wife and the horse she's
on, so she'd need to position the GPS (or its antenna) so as little of
the sky as possible is blocked by either the horse or rider. The
orientation of the GPS unit is also important. There are two types of
GPS antennas; units with a patch type should be kept close to
horizontal with the flat patch aimed at the sky while those with a
quad-helix antenna should be kept more vertical with the axis of the
antenna spiral pointing at the sky. Some models also let you substitute
an external antenna which might be easier to position in an optimal
spot.
Are there some specific units you're considering and particular
features you'd want included? |
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JadedCaveman
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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Thanks for your replies, they were very helpful! From Peters incredible
picture I see that it is possible to use one of these things in the woods
(looks very dense). I wasn't expecting perfection, but was worried that the
device wouldn't function in the woods at all. From your descriptions, I
will probably look around for one with the helical antenna, since it would
probably be easier to position. Maybe poke the antenna out the zipper of the
saddlebag and it will stay upright that way (hopefully).
I am looking for something very basic, very easy to use, and durable. As
long as she is able to find her way back to her starting point, I will be
happy. Any recommendations?
Thanks
"JadedCaveman" wrote in message
| Quote: | Hi all,
I had been planning on buying my wife a handheld GPS for her to use while
horseback riding.
Most of the trails that she rides would be in State Parks and other
heavily wooded areas.
One of her friends had a GPS, but they had problems with it loosing a
signal while riding.
I know nothing about these things, so I don't know if all these devices
will loose their signal
in wooded, hilly areas, or if my wifes friend just had one that didn't
work so well.
How well do even the *best* of these devices work in wooded areas, or are
they completely
usesless under these conditions?
Also, would she be able to store the device in a saddlebag while riding?
Thanks
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peter
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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JadedCaveman wrote:
| Quote: | I am looking for something very basic, very easy to use, and durable. As
long as she is able to find her way back to her starting point, I will be
happy. Any recommendations?
|
The Garmin GPS60 series has a quad-helix antenna that sticks out from
the case and those models also accept an external antenna input if you
want to add that at some point. They come in various price and feature
points:
GPS60: b&w screen, no maps but would show track of where she's been,
any waypoints she creates and 'TrackBack' navigation to retrace path
back to start.
GPSMap60: b&w screen and rough basemap plus ability to download
optional detailed street or topo maps (for more $$).
60c: color screen and more memory for optional detailed maps.
60cs: adds magnetic compass and pressure sensor (for somewhat better
elevation accuracy).
If you want to add an external antenna I'd recommend the Gilsson model
which is available for about $20 from the GPSGeek eBay store. |
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Guest
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Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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When I need to have hands free (as your wife will undoubtedly want
while on horseback), I use the 60cs clip which attaches to the back of
the unit and clip it to the shoulder part of my backpack; keeps the
signal until I can get back to it. |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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Apparently on date Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:16:38 -0600, "JadedCaveman" <none> said:
| Quote: | One of her friends had a GPS, but they had problems with it loosing a signal
while riding.
I know nothing about these things, so I don't know if all these devices will
loose their signal
in wooded, hilly areas, or if my wifes friend just had one that didn't work
so well.
|
Generally they need to receive weak signals from satellites to function. A unit
shut in a safe is not going to work.
Having just gone from sirf2 to a SirfStar III based receiver, finding it able
to work indoors, even, I would certainly expect something using that chipset to
work even in heavy woodland, or at least, better than anything else that can be
bought over the counter (dunno about military kit).
| Quote: | Also, would she be able to store the device in a saddlebag while riding?
|
Not generally, no, but experimentation is key, maybe it would work. The thing
about being in a saddlebag is almost immediately, half the satellites which
might be in the sky at that time, are now the wrong side of a horses's, er,
flank, and GPS won't penetrate that.
The Sirf 3 unit I just got, though, is designed to plug into a pocket PC or use
bluetooth to communicate with a smart phone, etc. The bit doing the GPS is only
about the size and weight of a man's wristwatch less the strap, so you can
imagine a lot of possible mounting points, e.g. velcroed to the side of the
hard hat. |
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Mathew Newton
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 20, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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Nospam@nowhere.com wrote:
<snip>
| Quote: | The bit doing the GPS is only
about the size and weight of a man's wristwatch less the strap, so you can
imagine a lot of possible mounting points, e.g. velcroed to the side of the
hard hat.
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For a minute there I thought you were going to say velcroed to the side
of the horses head...
Although joking aside... ;-)
Mathew |
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JadedCaveman
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 21, 2005 7:41 am Post subject:
Re: Question-GPS and obstructions |
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Wow, thanks for all the great information.
The SirfStar receiver looks interesting, and the ability to get a signal
indoors would be a major plus, but unfortunately I don't have a pocketPC.
Peter had recommended the GPS60, and chereathey mentioned an external clip
for it, so I looked at that model. The more I looked at it, the more I
liked it, so I went ahead and bought one. Got a new one for $150+free
overnight shipping from ebay. (ok to flame me here : )
Without your help, I would have had a hard time picking from all the
different models and features. Of all the different ones I looked at, the
GPS60 seemed to fit our needs perfectly.
Thanks for your responses and recommendations. I really do appreciate it! |
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