Better GPS is on the Way
By Rocky Thompson on February 26th, 2010
The Government has been holding out on us. While they keep 24 global positioning satellites in orbit that we can access on our handheld GPS devices, they have three more floating out there that they’re not using. They keep them in a slightly different orbit so they can be dispatched to replace satellites that could break. Those three satellites will be put into place to offer better GPS coverage in forested canopies and deep canyons. Soldiers in Afghanistan have been losing signals on their GPS devices, and this better coverage will benefit civilians as well as them. They say calculations to move the satellites into place are lengthy, but that’s what the cable company says about getting you hooked up, too. Then they just flip the switch one day and they’re all on.
via Backpacker
Hmmm. Mine has always worked beautifully in forest canopy, but when I hike next to cliffs ( that’s like half a canyon, right? ) I can see the accuracy go down.
I do all my kayaking on bigger bodies of water ( like the Pacific ) but if I did the river thing, through canyons, I’d think this was great news. A GPS is useful for a lot more than “turn left here.” It’s great to know your speed for a lot of things like cycling and kayaking … and it’s fun to be able to show people who didn’t go hiking with you a map of where you went. Wouldn’t recommend relying on them for navigation, though - the batteries will cut out sooner or later.
I would absolutely recommend relying on a GPSr for navigating all the time. And carrying extra batteries means never having it cut out.
^^^ I’m guessing your being facetious salt, always carry a map and have some basic navigation skills. I’ve got an in car gps and a 10 year old base Etrex. Both work awesome and are very useful but occasionally they cut out in some canyons or downtown areas with high rises so any better sat reception would be welcome.