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taylor27
Occasional Visitor
Joined: Dec 07, 2004
Posts: 16
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 Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 4:01 am Post subject: GPS IN LONDON |
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| I hear gps is no good in london, is this true? |
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nej
Frequent Visitor
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 454
Location: London, Ingerlund
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:29 am Post subject: |
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| Not exactly. GPS is dependant on a good view of the sky, which can be restricted in London, due to tall buildings. However, it is also very firmware dependant, and some GPS's will perform a lot better than others. |
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wingerii
Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 08, 2004
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:20 am Post subject: |
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My Fortuna Clip-On works pretty well in XT (sensitive) mode. However, it's certainly better if you 'drive through' it retains a lock well, rather than undertaking a cold start which is where it can occasionally struggle uness its in an open space/still.
IN my view the only problem is really around the 'city' now anyway and most people want to avoid it becasue of the congestion charge. |
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Skippy
Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12
Posts: 2946
Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:10 am Post subject: Re: GPS IN LONDON |
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| taylor27 wrote: | | I hear gps is no good in london, is this true? |
GPS systems do have a problem when surrounded by tall buildings, typically in the square mile of the City of London and some parts of the West End. It doesn't work very well in Manhattan, NY either. Generally, if you can't see the sky without looking straight up then GPS won't work very well. The unfortunate thing is that this is probably where you need it most.
I wouldn't go as far as saying that it is "no good" though. 99% of the time it works fine - there is only a small area where you will have intermittant problems. The other 600 square miles of London work just fine. 
These limitations can be partially overcome by the use of external aerials and (in the more expensive systems) Dead Reckoning.
_________________
Gone fishing! |
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DavidW
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: 17/05/2003 02:26:21
Posts: 3747
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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I find that much of the time even standard SiRF firmware works reasonably well in Central London. SiRF XTrac 2 is recommended as an option - which is why I have a Clip On where I can switch between standard SiRF and XTrac 2 firmware.
If I know I'm headed into a GPS hostile area, I switch the GPS to XT mode, and find it usually works pretty well that way.
SiRF XTrac 1 firmware has been reported as somewhat laggy for in car use.
David |
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