I was speaking with a GPS engineer recently from a different company than
Delorme and he brought up a curious point. He said one of the problems with
hand held or body worn GPS antennas is that human tissue detunes signal
reception. The GPS antennas are optimized to be on the roof of a car and
work better if they have what is called a ground plain, some sort of metal
background. Once you put the receiver and antenna next to the body, the
tissue and high concentration of liquid reduces the signal reception.
I think the Earthmate works incredibly well on one's shoulder if it is
indeed detuned a bit by the body. If there is something to this theory, I
do respect this engineer, it is worth comparing acquisition time of the
receiver by placing it away from the body and on a metal surface when
possible. For example, if you are in a parking lot or on a curb next to a
parked car, try putting the antenna on the car. Just make sure it doesn't
drive away or the owner doesn't get upset.
I have not been able to get an Earthmate engineer to tell me if this human
tissue detuning is something they compensated for or not. Certainly, the
Earthmate more than other receivers is commonly handheld or on a person.
Maybe this is why it works better than most other receivers.
Either way, when I am waiting for a signal to be acquired, I like having
something I can try if acquisition is slow. Perhaps putting the receiver
on a cartop will help with reception or at least help with my patience.
This is of course a lot easier to do with a Bluetooth receiver than a
serial one.
Mike
At 08:48 PM 6/25/2005, you wrote:
Hi folks!
This is one very happy sendero customer, believe me. The gps in this unit
just seems to be operating so much more smoothly. It also helps that I
found the section in the command summary wherethe one-handed commands for
heading and distance and the like are.
Anyway, I just love how effortlessly this program is running. On the old
Braille Note we had almost no problems with version 3 and the lockup but
you somehow knew it was a slightly different program but this pk and the
windows ce 4 has virtually eliminated all of that.
There is one thing which grabs my patience and I am pretty sure it is my
location rather than any computer or receiver problem and this was true
with the earthmate as well. But, the satellites take an awful long time to
come up, at least 10 to 15 minutes and it doesn't matter what time of day
this is.
But, as I have said I think it is my location which is doing this. I'll
know more after I take this around the lanes of the village where my Ohio
apartment is and I have no idea when we will get back there.
Anyway, its hot out and I walked at 5 minutes to 8 this evening and didn't
even draw a sweat.
Mary Ellen Earls
Remember! Today is the Tomorrow you thought about yesterday.
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