How many sats?

[Petekk]

How many sats is it normal to track? (i.e say between 5-7 or something like that?

What is the most sats people have seen?

What is the min for GPS to work on 2D or 3D

[Robin2]

5-7 would be typical, less if you are in a valley, under trees or in a city with tall buildings. I once saw 11 when I was driving across very flat country in Northamptonshire
Robin

[Privateer]

Hi Pete,

As I understand it, the minimum number of satellites to have a lock on for the GPS to work well is 4. If you’re using something like TTNav then the occasional drop to 3 or even 2 satellites for a few seconds won’t compromise navigation. However you should try to position your GPS in your car where it’ll track the most satellites, so you may have to experiment.

3D is a bit of red herring for car SatNav, as you don’t need to know height you are above (or below) sea level as you should always be on the road. 8O If you can get the altitude reading then I believe it can be many metres out from the actual figure. If you desperately need to know the altitude then you’ll have to cross-reference your position against an Ordnance Survey Landranger map or similar. If you must absolutely have an accurate display of your altitude, i.e. if you fly a Micro light or similar, then your best bet is to get an approved GPS unit for flying.

I’ve occasionally seen 10 satellites, and once I saw 11, but I’ve not yet seen the elusive 12. I agree with Robin that you’ll often see between 5 and 7 satellites on average.

Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

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