Neil Brown22h ago
Can you navigate reliably with a map and compass?
Yes
No
You really are old, Neil. We have smartphones now. No-one needs these basic offline skills.
Poll ends at .
Show threadPaul_IPv6

@neil

i used to think that smartphone map app and GPS backup was fine. but there are places where that isn't an option. we're doing a vacation in July where the host warned us that there will be no internet on the road and that GPS and cellular are very spotty. i'll be printing a map before we go.

holidays with spotty internet/cellular for the the win! :)

Jun 7 at 4:23pmWeb
Show threadAMS21h ago
@paul_ipv6 @neil GPS will still work, and offline OSM apps work great. Take both.
Show threadPaul_IPv621h ago

@AMS @neil

you'd be surprised. there are places where GPS satellite signal is flaky enough that you can't count on it...

in this case, the cherry on top is that the road the place is on is wrong in all the mapping databases too. so you use GPS coordinates and a paper map and hope for the best.

Show threadMarty Fouts17h ago
@paul_ipv6 @AMS @neil some of those places are here on the San Francisco peninsula in open space preserves where old growth redwoods and steep terrain mean that even a GPS with a good antenna wonโ€™t see any satellites.
Show threadnotsoloud6h ago
@paul_ipv6
How does GPS gets spotty unless there's jamming involved?
@neil
Show threadNeil Brown6h ago

@notsoloud @paul_ipv6

> How does GPS gets spotty unless there's jamming involved?

Being in a place with lots of tall buildings around, in my experience.

Show threadDave Rahardja4h ago
@neil @notsoloud @paul_ipv6 Yup. Multipath (GPS signals bouncing off multiple surfaces, creating echoes) and attenuation (foliage or covers blocking signals) are the main culprits of GPS degradation.
Show threadnotsoloud4h ago

@drahardja
Thanks ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

I think we can rule out lots of tall buildings as the cause here, must be canyons or foliage the. Places with tall buildings usually have good cell coverage.
@neil @paul_ipv6

Show threadD Ingram4h ago
@neil @notsoloud @paul_ipv6 Urban canyons or actual canyons will degrade nav. Fortunately in Australia we get the benefit of Japan's QZSS augmentation that's really needed in their mega cities. It flies high in a figure of 8 giving that extra help. Multi constellation receivers are a big improvement too.
Show threadSteve Hill ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ5h ago
@notsoloud @paul_ipv6 @neil deep canyons.