Geocaching will get easier soon, with the introduction of the next generation of Global Positioning System satellites. The latest satellite was launced Sunday from Cape Canaveral.
9/30/05 Update: Hahahahaha…whoops. “GPS” now replacing the old “GSP” which was in the title. Thanks, Jim, for pointing that out. WordPress needs a spellcheck.
Pssst… GPS, not GSP.
For a second I couldn’t figure out why the Garden State Parkway would need satellites, but if you know of the traffic problems, launching some satellites to track the problems isn’t such a bad idea.
Given some of the trials and tribulations that Jim, Robin, and I had geocaching around here, more sats will be a welcome addition to the sport.
Stuff I’ve learned hanging out with surveyors lately: GPS receivers that aren’t differential (with a base station sitting on a known point somewhere) will NEVER get better accuracy than 3 meters. The handheld version that you and I own cannot be said to be accurate to better than 30 meters under ideal conditions, despite the claims of the manufacturers. Your receiver may say 3 meter accuracy, but it’s better to multiply that number by 5 or 10 for true accuracy.
This is straight from a professional surveyors mouth. So, add up all those little discrepancies and it’s no wonder that I can’t find one of my local geocaches which is sitting in a dense forest.
Leave a Reply