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GPS question
#1
It's me, the electronics dummy, with another question about electronic magic. Big Grin

I heard someone (a stranger) say something about a GPS working when cell phones don't.  Is this true?

If you have a GPS, does it always work, no matter where you are?  Does it depend on cell phone towers, or is it direct from satellites?

If you woke up in Africa (for example) and had a GPS, would it always tell you where are?  What about running out of power?

This is today's question that popped up while I was sweeping up the dust cattle (related to dust bunnies, but much larger).
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#2
GPS doesn’t work all the time and can be inaccurate but I love mine anyway. You can buy one on shopgoodwill for around $5 plus shipping and handling if you are lucky. Be sure it has a cord but we have rigged a cord anyway by finding one that fit the gps and ran to a thingy in the cigarette lighter. I wouldn’t buy a new one.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
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#3
Yes.
yes
satellites
yes
Power ? Plug it in ciggy etc 12v.
stay tuned 
popeye


 Weirdo Overlord : FMS Fleet Ops , Awards , Badges ,  aka Tamerlane the Impaler Mod.
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#4
I've never lost signal on my GPS unless im in a tunnel. That being said it doesn't always know what roads im on and when it gets confused it shows me in a big open field. However, it always knows an exact GPS coordinate for my location, at least I assume it's accurate, i've never checked it but assume it's pretty close.

My truck has satellite radio and that loses reception quite frequently, albeit only for a few seconds at a time at very random times where as the GPS unit doesn't. Not sure why. I really enjoy it traveling as you have the same stations country wide and don't lose them as you go through states like local stations.

Cell phone loses reception all over, I hate Sprint but have had it so long I just stick with it for some reason. I guess I like the plan and the price and the inconvenience factor has never affected me.

GPS's have internal batteries like cell phones and you charge them with a 12v cord plugged into ciggy outlet or you can hardwire them directly in so they're always plugged in.
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#5
As Pops and ERLH have said, GPS gets its signal from satellites, your cell phone relies on cell towers. 
According to these folks, your cell phone's GPS also relies on satellites.
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/gps-work-...21574.html
 The Captain and Crew Finally got their stuff together. 
 Now if they can only remember where they put it.   Rolleyes
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#6
A GPS does not eliminate a need for a map. I have had one tell me that I was going in the wrong direction (I was not), tell me to make turn that would have taken me off road into some bush (I was not driving a 4x4), tell me that the quickest route was a secondary road along side of a highway (I figured it out after I was on the secondary road), tell me to take an exit from a highway and then tell me to take the on ramp, and other delightful things.
They have their place but you can not depend on them.
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#7
(01-10-2018, 11:27 PM)BCGuy Wrote: A GPS does not eliminate a need for a map. 
<-------->
They have their place but you can not depend on them.
Nope, don't bet the farm on them. Just today I was using google maps which is a form of GPS, and when it said "you've arrived," I was in the middle of an intersection surrounded by three industrial complexes. At least it got me close. Rolleyes
 The Captain and Crew Finally got their stuff together. 
 Now if they can only remember where they put it.   Rolleyes
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#8
Okay, thanks -- it's a matter of use it, but don't turn off your brain, I guess.
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to TrainChaser for this post:
  • Ballenxj (01-11-2018)
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#9
BC guy pointed out what we all should have. They don't replace a map. Just another tool in the shed for getting from A to B. Though I imagine most people using them now a days don't have any clue how to use a map. 98% of the time they are great and get you very very close to where you need to be. I'll never understand the stories of people that drive into lakes and rivers and other sorts of things of that nature because the GPS told them too?
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#10
When I drove RR crews around, I didn't trust the GPS too much. It would say that I had arrived at my pickup point, but I was on an elevated freeway overpass, or out in the weeds with no tracks in sight. I guess they're pretty good for named places, but when my company couldn't seem to enter the actual coordinates for a boondocks pickup, it was a real crapshoot. One time, I asked the engineer to blow the whistle to see if I was getting close. I had never realized that when you're in an area with NO lights, a shut-down train can be sitting near you and you won't know it until/unless your headlights actually hit it.

Thanks for the information.
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