gps and weather conditions

[lambs of cleeve]

i have nornally used my gps in open areas can any tell me does thick cloud cover or thick tree cover effect the signal getting through. I have a garman system and when the weather closed in i lost all signal to the gps.

[nobbynobbs]

i'll take a wild stab in the dark guess and say you use an etrex?

yeah sorry i'm afraid that tree cover and less than perfect weather will affect most GPS's. not much you can do about it other than be patient for it to lock on again or find a clearing to get your bearings from.

[Alice Band]

I must have a weird eTrex then - its terrible when the weather is superb :rolleyes: and works excellently when the weather is poor. I've had my best signal during a thunderstorm. However, I'm told I have a high static 'charge' so that might have a lot to do with it! :D

[nobbynobbs]

i always knew that you were "special" alice ;)

[Bill D (wwh)]

It's debatable whether cloud cover will have a detrimental effect on gps readings. I've heard it argued both ways. Certainly moisture in the atmosphere does impede the satellite signals, but whether it does so sufficiently to significantly affect accuracy is a moot point.

Tree cover will definitely affect readings, though, and so will being surrounded by tall buildings or being below a cliff. And the impact of tree cover is worst when the trees are in full leaf and drenched in recent rain. Anything that blocks your gps unit's "view" of the sky decreases accuracy.

[Rebble]

I've an Etrex and not found any problems with weather in fact only last weekend I was in the hills with some filthy black clouds and got the signal okay.

As to trees yup thick tree cover will affect the signal but having covered 5miles in pine forests on the same day I only find the odd gap in the signal.

Though it's fun to see I managed to walk at 29.5mph when the GPS caught up with my new position.

:socool:

"And the impact of tree cover is worst when the trees are in full leaf" As to this statement I concur as having a 20 tonne tree drop on your GPS certainly ruins your day :applause: though I never thought there would be much difference if the tree was clothed or nakid :lol:

[nobbynobbs]

:lol:

[Alice Band]

Got my best ever signal on my way back from the Pyrenees two days ago on the French motorways while navigating the roads around Poitier - 'Accuracy 9' :rolleyes:

[Tiger-Eyes]

I was driving using my Mio GPS with tom tom, the weather was Very cloudy real thick stuff and I was constanly loosing my signal :o , I've had problems getting a signal at the start of a journey before but this was the first and only time that I kept losing it during a journey (my signal that is NOT my mind).
So I reckon cloud cover must have some effect :wacko:

[DR. Ape]

I have no problem with cloud cover trees etc with my portable navigating system, I just give her a map and say "where to now" :P

[zwei ormers]

In my experience cloud cover / torrential rain / hail / fog makes NO difference to signal. I have been out in my boat in all those weather conditions and never had a problem (GPSmap 2006 with 17n external aerial). Speed up to 35mph makes no difference, nor does going up and down 6ft high waves every 6 seconds. I've had torrential rain and hail bring visibility down to 200m or less and had no problems with signal.
As far as handheld GPS go, my Vista worked fine in tree cover up to 20ft high on the side of a cliff by the sea. OK, so the accuracy suffered a bit, but it never dropped out. I think it all depends on where the satellites are on a particular day at a particular time.

[Bill D (wwh)]

As far as handheld GPS go, my Vista worked fine in tree cover up to 20ft high on the side of a cliff by the sea. OK, so the accuracy suffered a bit, but it never dropped out. I think it all depends on where the satellites are on a particular day at a particular time.
Yes, I agree. If you're below or on a cliff face and you're unlucky enough to have all the sats on the landward side then you'll lose your signal. But if there are enough overhead and on the seaward side the worst scenario is a bit of loss of accuracy.