GPS Advice needed please

I recently purchased an el cheapo garmin etrex GPS and am a first time user of hand held gps.

Played with it for a while and added some way points from google earth and drove to them with the gps seemingly working fine, telling me how far and my speed etc.

But when I was near the way points, around a hundred metres from them and on foot the arrow on the gps would chop and change from one direction to the other.

Later when walking back to the road where I had set a waypoint it was also telling me to go in what I knew to be the wrong direction, it was also telling me the waypoint was 18 metres away when it was at least a hundred.

Is there something you think I may be doing wrong when close to the targets? As I said when in the car and several kilometres away it seemed to be working fine, but when within 200 metres things started going wrong and it was giving me all different directions for the one point. Is there something I am doing wrong or could it be the settings? I am using the default settings.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Just a thought bloke.....One has to be moving at 3, 4, 5 kmh to get a directional fix, other than that maybe heavy overhead cover disrupting satellite signal ? atmospheric factors ?

Yeah, as u308 said, you have to be moving at a reasonable rate. cheers Pete

slugsbrother wrote:I recently purchased an el cheapo garmin etrex GPS and am a first time user of hand held gps.

Played with it for a while and added some way points from google earth and drove to them with the gps seemingly working fine, telling me how far and my speed etc.

But when I was near the way points, around a hundred metres from them and on foot the arrow on the gps would chop and change from one direction to the other.

Later when walking back to the road where I had set a waypoint it was also telling me to go in what I knew to be the wrong direction, it was also telling me the waypoint was 18 metres away when it was at least a hundred.

Is there something you think I may be doing wrong when close to the targets? As I said when in the car and several kilometres away it seemed to be working fine, but when within 200 metres things started going wrong and it was giving me all different directions for the one point. Is there something I am doing wrong or could it be the settings? I am using the default settings.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Have you callibrated the compass, is it set for southern hemisphere and have you set true north or magnetic all these 3 can if not set correctly give you faulty positions and distances.

U308 wrote:Just a thought bloke.....One has to be moving at 3, 4, 5 kmh to get a directional fix, other than that maybe heavy overhead cover disrupting satellite signal ? atmospheric factors ?

Hi, there was not overhead cover. Not sure about atmospheric factors.

So you have to be walking at a decent pace to get a directional fix? Does this mean it is no good to you standing still? I thought it would work the same moving or still?

Quiet Bloke wrote:

slugsbrother wrote:I recently purchased an el cheapo garmin etrex GPS and am a first time user of hand held gps.

Played with it for a while and added some way points from google earth and drove to them with the gps seemingly working fine, telling me how far and my speed etc.

But when I was near the way points, around a hundred metres from them and on foot the arrow on the gps would chop and change from one direction to the other.

Later when walking back to the road where I had set a waypoint it was also telling me to go in what I knew to be the wrong direction, it was also telling me the waypoint was 18 metres away when it was at least a hundred.

Is there something you think I may be doing wrong when close to the targets? As I said when in the car and several kilometres away it seemed to be working fine, but when within 200 metres things started going wrong and it was giving me all different directions for the one point. Is there something I am doing wrong or could it be the settings? I am using the default settings.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Have you callibrated the compass, is it set for southern hemisphere and have you set true north or magnetic all these 3 can if not set correctly give you faulty positions and distances.

No have not calibrated it, not sure how to. It is set for true north, is this right or does it need to be magnetic?

Thanks.

gday slugsbrother with this model etrex yes you need to be walking for it to get a fix.
cheers hoolahoopa

i have a very old Garmin Emap that from one time to another a way point may move 20-30 meters, but i figure if a gps gets me within 20-30 meters , thats close enough
cheers dave

Have not owned a GPS yet that does not require movement to get accurate directional fix .Not a problem in my plane ....True north or magnetic north will affect the indicated north position by a few degrees depending on where you are but will NOT change co-ordinate positions ...the garmin e trex will ask you if you have changed hemispheres since last use[ if this is the case } , so it looks after itself basically ..Sometimes { rarely } the world political/military situation causes temporary signal irregularities ...As i've said before , test your GPS before your car is out of sight when going bush to avoid waypoint errors ...Always let GPS get solid satellite fixes before setting waypoints ..Setting a waypoint before GPS has enough satellite fixes and then not testing the waypoint is the biggest mistake people make with GPS ....GPS basics...Paul....

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

Will test it some more and see how I go.

i also use that same gps when detecting. I have never had any issues with directional problems though. As long as i am moving, regardless of the speed i walk, it points me in the right direction, but if you stop and stand still dont turn around, lol, cos thats when you wont know which way is which. Always be on the move or stop dead and stay facing the same direction if you cant walk and read at the same time.
As i said, i have no problems with mine

Hi slugsbrother, I bought and still use the same GPS when they were not so cheap.
They are all you need for prospecting but they all only work when you are moving
and they all vary in how close you get to your waypoint, depending on things like
how many satellites it has picked up.