Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: Geezer on 29/08/2010 05:05:03
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We just returned from a road trip to Southern California. It's about 1400 miles from here. The route is rather simple. Drive North for about 1100 miles, then turn left and drive West for 300 miles.
The GPS was not really required as I've driven this route more times than I care to remember, but it's handy for finding the next gas station, rest stop etc. It also helps to alleviate the boredom.
On the last leg, I noticed an anomaly. The GPS was indicating that we were 20 miles closer to our home than the distances posted on the signs on the highway. We live about twenty miles out of town, so the distance to home on the GPS should have been about 20 miles greater than the distance to our home town.
I pointed this out to Mrs G and she immediately suggested that I bring this to the attention of TNS. Excellent idea Mrs G! This could be the source of endless hours of debate.
About ten minutes later Mrs G suggested that the distance I was looking at on the GPS might actually be the distance to the next turn rather than the distance to home. @#$%^!!
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My friend and I had experienced a weird thing with his GPS.
We were just testing it and learning its functions.
We needed to visit several out of town businesses.
So he set it to the first address and it worked.
As we were leaving that driveway he checked to see the directions to the next business.
The directions said to first make a left turn and essentially directed the reverse track around about way.
I knew where the next business was located and all we needed to do is take a right and 1/4 mile we would be there.
So my friend mentioned the unit needed some kind of software update.
I told him the machine was dyslexic.
Should there be a couple or three syncronized signals timely recieved and interpreted by the GPS which uses to do the calculations and compare that to a database within the GPS programing?
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Car GPS systems can get confused if you lose the satellites for a while (in a narrow cutting for example) and may temporarily pick up reflections (multipath signals). There is a place on a road I sometimes use to go home from work where it decides I am about 20 miles away. It does its best to fit me on a road there too and then suggests directions. It corrects itself after a while.
When I went sailing in the Ionian Sea a couple of years ago the GPS had me moored up around a mile inland! The charts were accurate, relatively, but not right in absolute terms. They needed a correction to their datum. But that is a different problem.
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We just returned from a road trip to Southern California. It's about 1400 miles from here. The route is rather simple. Drive North for about 1100 miles, then turn left and drive West for 300 miles.
The GPS was not really required as I've driven this route more times than I care to remember, but it's handy for finding the next gas station, rest stop etc. It also helps to alleviate the boredom.
On the last leg, I noticed an anomaly. The GPS was indicating that we were 20 miles closer to our home than the distances posted on the signs on the highway. We live about twenty miles out of town, so the distance to home on the GPS should have been about 20 miles greater than the distance to our home town.
I pointed this out to Mrs G and she immediately suggested that I bring this to the attention of TNS. Excellent idea Mrs G! This could be the source of endless hours of debate.
About ten minutes later Mrs G suggested that the distance I was looking at on the GPS might actually be the distance to the next turn rather than the distance to home. @#$%^!!
Geezer....your Sat Nav is fine...it's the Road-Sign Fairies ! They are delinquent little miscreants who just luff to play 'lets-mess-with-SatNav-Owners-Heads '...catchy title eh ?
They clocked ewe on your outbound journey and have been planning this since that time. They really are a nuisance as they procreate at a phenomenal rate....as soon as they learn to fly they're up and away moving road signs !..
To cure this phenomenon from now on.....ewe and Mrs G need perform a simple ceremony.
Go to your town center....stand in the middle of the road with both your right legs in a bucket of yogurt. Ewe need to be wearing night apparel (they luff spiderman costumes by the way)...and have daffodils sticking out of each nostril......with a snoring mongoose on each of your heads spin around twenty time citing this verse out loud:
"In times Of need when on our route
We'll sing a song and play a flute
To cease the carnage of sign-fairy woe
To go the distance and go where we go "
Then politely bow to each other (Mrs G may curtsy)....and then slap each other with a drunk haddock for ten minutes !
voila !!...it'll never happen again !
Glad I could help !
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We just returned from a road trip to Southern California... @#$%^!!
You took your GPS (the one with the sexy voice?) to SOUTHERN CALIFRONIA!!?? [:o] [:o]
No wonder it doesn't want to work anymore!