I bought a Magellan GPS Sportrak Pro. I drove along a road that was about 500 feet from the ocean and it showed that I was 250 feet out in the water. I took it back and they gave me another. It was just as bad. Were both of these devices defective or is that all the accuracy I can expect? The mfgr. claims it to be sensetive to within 3 yards. Engineman1
Were your feet wet?
The accuracy varies, but is typically a few yeards. However, the map is often very inaccurate, as you have seen. According to my Garmin, my home is in the middle of a lake.
On some GPS there is an option to lock your position to the nearest road. Does your Magellan offer that?
The alt.satellite.gps group is (or was when I lurked there) very active with some knowledgable people who might help more.
-- Duncan
Were there high hills or maybe a cliff on the inland side of the road? Blocking the satellites in one direction can give you poor accuracy like that. If there is a number labeled DOP on the display, it is a measure of goodness of the position fix. DOP numbers above 4 or 5 start giving poor accuracy. Another thing to try would be to get out of the car with the GPS and see if the accuracy improves. The car roof will block satellite visibility.
If there weren't hills or a cliff blocking the sky view, it is probably either a poor map or a poor unit.
Bob
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