GPS signal quality

[steppenw0lf]

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As I am lately only sitting on a single continent (Europe), I wonder how reliable GPS is with the SL in other geographic areas.

Of course it will work perfectly in North America where GPS was invented.

But I'd like to hear from experiences in different parts of other continents:

Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, Antarctica, ...  

On safaris to Africa or expeditions to the south pole or the Andes, Galapagos.

Maybe also from cruises on the big oceans, the South Sea, Easter Island, the Bermuda Triangle, ...  

 

Can we assume that it is simply perfect everywhere, or do we have to prepare for pitfalls (between skyscrapers, in the mountains, in glacier crevasses, in dense jungle) ? Or is the question too naive ?

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[scott kirkpatrick]

As I am lately only sitting on a single continent (Europe), I wonder how reliable GPS is with the SL in other geographic areas.

Of course it will work perfectly in North America where GPS was invented.

But I'd like to hear from experiences in different parts of other continents:

Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, Antarctica, ...  

On safaris to Africa or expeditions to the south pole or the Andes, Galapagos.

Maybe also from cruises on the big oceans, the South Sea, Easter Island, the Bermuda Triangle, ...  

 

Can we assume that it is simply perfect everywhere, or do we have to prepare for pitfalls (between skyscrapers, in the mountains, in glacier crevasses, in dense jungle) ? Or is the question too naive ?

 

smart phone and SL GPSs work for me in both the US and Europe.  There are known problems at high (and low) latitudes.  In Antarctica enough GPS satellites are in view and at high enough angles above the horizon only for a few hours each day.  See http://www.usap.gov/travelAndDeployment/documents/FieldManual-Chapt21AntarcticNavigation.pdf .

 

scott 

[Peter Walker]

As I am lately only sitting on a single continent (Europe), I wonder how reliable GPS is with the SL in other geographic areas.

Of course it will work perfectly in North America where GPS was invented.

But I'd like to hear from experiences in different parts of other continents:

Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, Antarctica, ...

On safaris to Africa or expeditions to the south pole or the Andes, Galapagos.

Maybe also from cruises on the big oceans, the South Sea, Easter Island, the Bermuda Triangle, ...

 

Can we assume that it is simply perfect everywhere, or do we have to prepare for pitfalls (between skyscrapers, in the mountains, in glacier crevasses, in dense jungle) ? Or is the question too naive ?

I have used my SL all around Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. As long as I am outdoors, the GPS works fine. I can't see any issues with any outdoor location.

 

Except that, from looking at my images as they are imported, it seems to take about 3 to 5 minutes to acquire enough satellites to record the location data. At a new location, the first few images have 0,0,0 in the GPS data field.

 

Usually, I copy and paste it from the later images into any keepers in the first few images.

 

Regards

Peter

[pop]

... do we have to prepare for pitfalls (between skyscrapers, in the mountains, in glacier crevasses, in dense jungle) ? 

Yes, we do, and it's exactly those situations you mention where the reception of GPS signals might be compromised.

[Jared]

Well, I just took my SL on a trip to Patagonia, and the GPS worked as well there as it does in California--meaning it is quite reliable outdoors, a little less so indoors, and has trouble with skyscrapers and tall, nearby mountains.  It correctly identified my pictures as far south as Cape Horn Island, Chile--the last stop before Antarctica.  

 

- Jared