when setting up mine i had to state what satalite area i was in so maybe that was the problem
maybe diffent areas of the world need differant settings check the instructions
my gps is only a budget one and was bought for fishing
hope this helps for next time

Thanks Gazza, I hadnt thought of that. I reckon you hit it on the head with that.
As for you Mr Smarty Pants Qwertmeister, that might be the case but at least Im on the same planet as everyone else unlike you south coast troglidytes.
Plus its bloody hard sailing backwards when it blows its tits off everyday and its warm.

Gazza is close to the money. Whe first initializing, the GPS has to do heaps of calculations to make sense of the data it is receiving. To give it a headstart, some models ask for the region you are in so it basically can make more sense of the data and recognise the satellites. That's why a hot start ie, where it has only been turned off a few minutes since its last use, is much quicker to establish position- it known roughly where it is, so it doesn't have to do as much processing to work out exact location. Next time get a window seat and turn it on mid-flight. Apart from being able to tell everyone that you had an awesome session in the Pacific sailing at over 900kmh (just don't let them check your altitude), your GPS will "understand " better where it is.
One other thing, if you weren't absolutely stationary when you were trying to get a fix, it could have sent the processor into meltdown. If moving, when getting an initial fix, especially when it's i a "New" area, it adds another degree of complexity to the calculations that will really strain it. Also, proximity to the airport shouldn't make any difference. The GPS works on UHF frequencies transmitted from the satellites. If you can see the sky, ie no tree cover, you should get a signal. And I don't think there should be anything near an airport that would stuff up UHF or any other RF signals.

Hey Nebbian, I dont know about a reset button. I tried a few different times but got bugger all.
Thanks for the tips MikeyS. I was stationery and standing on the beach at Kanaha with clear view of sky. It certainly seemed like it was spinning out, it would get one satellite connect and then drop out continously. It asked several questions like "are you more than 100 miles from your last position?" and "are you searching for different satellites than your last position?".
The day before about a 100 guys had been using GPS for the Maui Race Series so who knows??
If I turned it on on the plane could I download to GPS Speedsurfing and claim a new world record??

Same thing happened to me last year in France. No tracks of my fastest 2 runs on the canal. The first time I switched it on it got so confused it went into "gps off" mode. So I switched it off and on again. It fixed itself after about 25 minutes. No more probs after that.

I believe the satellites are positioned where they are needed most. The Pacific ocean covers half the planet and the Hawaiian Islands are just a little dot in the middle of it. I would imagine they are positioned for the best fix in the Middle East and the Korean peninsular/China etc. Additionally as the US military controls the signal and has the ability to selectively degrade/interfere with the signal it stands to reason in this US Administration's present state of paranoid/beligerant behaviour they would/could make the non-encrypted signal poor at their major military Pacific location. George Bush has taken control of the GPS satellites away from the scientific body that has looked after it since it's inception and given that control to a politicised panel who think like him.

Having said that it does take a gps time to figure out where it is when you move to another location. Can be up to 20 minutes.

quote:

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Originally posted by plev

... Very soon the Euro Galileo system will be up and running -- it'll make GPS look like a steam train in comparison. Not far away is sub 1m accuracy from a hand held recreational device. Now about 5m at very best.

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Not quite - it is possible to get sub-metre accuracy using a hand-held GPS, however the unit would probably require:
- different type of firmware so that it provides the satellite timing codes as a data-output stream (for later analysis),
- it would require a period a time where it is stationary in the area of use to calculate the effect of atmospheric delay within that area,
- hence, more CPU/memory than is currently available to most units.
- you could build a GPS which could lock onto more satellites concurrently. eg: the Fortrex 201, which is being use by most speed sailors at the moment, can detect 12 but will lock using up to 6.

Hey Roo, what makes you think critising George W is Yank bashing? Surely you are not unaware that the latest USAToday/Gallop poll states 60% of Yanks disapprove of George W while only 37% approve. The ABC/WashingtonPost has 60% disapprove 38% in favour and AP-Ipos 63% disapprove to 35% approve. So by your own logic 2/3 of Americans are guilty Yank bashing. But of course there IS no logic to your arguement. It is that which is used by apologists for the outragous and immoral behaviours of a few who have wrested control, via those very immoral acts, of the most powerful nation on the planet.
Though you may wish convince people otherwise, but critising a former drug taking, tax cheating, insider trading , draft dodgeing Texas governer who most feel stole the US presidency with the help of his brother and some unethical Florida electoral practises and some ruthless neocon lawyers, who then uses a lie THEY manufactured to go on to invade and completely smash a sovereign nation resulting in over a 100,000 people being killed in the most horrendous manner is NOT Yank bashing. It's Bush bashing. Most of my American friends are appalled by what Bush/Cheney have done to the institutions and reputation of their country. And in case you are thinking of coming back with some BS about bad intelligence, let me tell you now that I have talked face to face with the chief UN weapons inspector who told me he made it crystal clear to the Bush US officials in 2002 that there were NO WMDs left in Iraq. Their response? They said they didn't care, "we will tell the public there is still 10-20 missles, that's all we need" then true to form they set about destroying his credibility and career with more BS. It comes easy to them.
What I stated in my original post stands. Whether it is global warming, gps or anything scientific. Bush is replacing scientists on panels with political appointees so they can warp reports to the extent of reversing the science.

G'day YoYo
do I get the impression you don't like George "W" Bush. Can you be a bit clearer next time, wasn't quite sure what your feelings were. I have a spare soapbox here if you want to climb up on it and have another go. Seems a simple question on GPS has turned into an opportunity to have a political rant, lets get back to the subject and forget about the politics for a while. Last time I looked this was a windsurfing forum. I'd much rather go sailing than worry about politicians. See ya on the water.

G'day decrepit,

it's easy to be completely divorced from politics, just go out windsurfing. On the water the worries of the world just melt away, it's just you and the wind and your gps. Got too admire little JH, he never gives up and keeps coming back to win.

The fantastic thing about windsurfing is that it's a great equaliser. It doesn't matter what your political views are, religion or race....on the water we are all windsurfers, everyone enjoying the thrill of the sport and sense of well being it provides. It's a great way to escape.