Improved GPS Accuracy

[north-north-west]

For walking, a metre and a half is splitting hairs, but I'd still like to know.

For walking in the WArthurs (for instance) a metre and a half could be the difference between being on the top of a mountain/ridge, or falling off it.

[photohiker]

For walking, a metre and a half is splitting hairs, but I'd still like to know.

For walking in the WArthurs (for instance) a metre and a half could be the difference between being on the top of a mountain/ridge, or falling off it.

Sure, but the accuracy of the GPS is well outside a metre and a half anyway, so if you were to use the GPS as gospel then you're in for trouble anyway.

[russell2pi]

For walking, a metre and a half is splitting hairs, but I'd still like to know.

For walking in the WArthurs (for instance) a metre and a half could be the difference between being on the top of a mountain/ridge, or falling off it.

Well, I've heard of people having head-on collisions because their GPS sent them up the wrong side of the freeway .... but really, "I fell off the cliff because my GPS was out by 1.5 metres" is a bit dog-ate-my-homework-ish don't you think?

[Rob A]

For walking in the WArthurs (for instance) a metre and a half could be the difference between being on the top of a mountain/ridge, or falling off it.

When was the last time you had your head in the GPS with a cliff a metre and a half away?

Ive never used a GPS to actually lay out my footprints. Ill establish where I am going, then move along it. When Im actually moving, I dont care what the GPS says. When you are backcountry skiing or snow walking do you actually follow the GPS track in rt?

[north-north-west]

Mostly I use it to log my walks. It never has been and never will be a primary navigational tool.
But I was just kind of trying to lighten u the conversation a bit. Seems to have backfired.

[photohiker]

But I was just kind of trying to lighten u the conversation a bit. Seems to have backfired.

Yep

At least we know you are safe.

[Ent]

For me improved accuracy will always be a good thing but more importantly the ability to hold accuracy under challenging conditions.

It is interesting to watch the increased use of GPS with the growth of asset mapping companies cropping up. Such companies would not have been possible a few years back when the GPS signal was deliberately made inaccurate for military reasons that have now been dropped.

As an active mapper I use Bing satellite images to trace in features such as lakes. Due to misalignment on the ground such traces can be hundred metres out so once I visit an area a bit of realignment is required. But yes practically in open ground such variation is not an issue but it is nice to get it right. It is rather nice feeling plunging through dense scrub and finding your open area is exactly where it should be.

When combining multiple track plots very good accuracy can be achieved which is handy on snow covered tracks. Sure you can get by but I have more than a few experiences where a good GPS track in such conditions can cut a third of the time otherwise achieved floundering around in the snow.

At the end of the day my Garmin data maps can only resolve to 2.5 metres due to the data file design according to my reading so that is the practical best accuracy I can achieve regardless of the GPS system.

Cheers

[north-north-west]

For walking, a metre and a half is splitting hairs, but I'd still like to know.

For walking in the WArthurs (for instance) a metre and a half could be the difference between being on the top of a mountain/ridge, or falling off it.

Sure, but the accuracy of the GPS is well outside a metre and a half anyway, so if you were to use the GPS as gospel then you're in for trouble anyway.

OK, to be serious for a change: If you're trying to navigate a line through some of Tassie's more interesting boulder fields (Thetis comes to mind, for instance), in bad weather, a couple of metres can be the difference between *&%$#! hard work and totally impossible. Scrub can create similar issues: there are often pads that make the walking easier, but you have to be on them to see them.
If you're using the technology, you want it to be as accurate as possible. Even down to one metre or less. If possible.