I moved to Korea and now my GPS sucks!

[+releasethedogs]

Hello, I recently moved to Uijeongbu, South Korea and have been looking forward to finding some caches here. Unfortunately I am never able to get a decent signal, it always gives me between 30 and 40 foot accuracy. Add the fact I don't have maps for Seoul or Korea it makes it very hard to find caches. I cached in downtown Phoenix before and had no problem so why am I having a problem in Seoul? Even when I climb up any of the numerous mountains and hills (there are no leaves here yet so not much cover) do i have this problem? Its with a Dakota 10.

[+thedeadpirate]

Have you reset the gps upon arrival?

 

Also, you might want to post this over in the hardware subboard. You're more likely to get a good answer over there.

[+Viajero Perdido]

It could just be a brain fart in the unit, unrelated to your move to Korea. (My caching buddy swears at his Dakota all the time.)

 

Have you tried a "hard reset"? It's a bit more drastic than removing the batteries, and it'll erase everything stored in the unit, but it can often un-brain-damage a wonky Garmin.

 

You'll need to google for the magic keystrokes that trigger the hard reset on a Dakota; I don't know what they are. (My buddy would probably try holding it underwater for an hour, but that may not work...)

[+Walts Hunting]

Just a thought but without WAAS or EGNOS 10 meters is the projected accuracy. I am pretty sure WAAS doesn't reach there but not to sure about the European system.

[+Chrysalides]

If you're among tall buildings, your accuracy is going to suffer due to multipath. I'm lucky to get 30 ft accuracy in the concrete canyons of San Francisco, and experience in Tokyo is similar. A good street map helps a lot.

[Clan Riffster]

Something else occurred to me. I have no clue if this is correct:

South Korea is still in a hostile status, as the declaration of war betwixt North K & South K was never repealed, and there are still incidents of military aggression. Could it be that selective availability has been slightly increased in the country? Is that even possible?

[+fizzymagic]

Could it be that selective availability has been slightly increased in the country? Is that even possible?

No, and no.

[+releasethedogs]

I will try the hard reset and report back here. Thanks.

[+Jackalgirl]

Another thing you might want to do is a Google search for map software that's compatible with your unit. I actually bought my husband's my Garmin after finding UpUpDown, a company that makes maps in romanji (latin characters) for Japan. The maps have come in extremely handy -- I can read hiragana/katakana and a very little bit of kanji and it's awfully useful to have a romanji map to compare with our large paper atlas. There may be a company out there that has the software for sale for Korea, too.

 

If you're in a populated area, you might be able to find some caches straight from Google. Bearing in mind, of course, that even Google maps is slightly off coordinates-wise, it'll get you close to your goal and then you can let your geosense take over (unless your geosense is like mine, which means that even with a dead-on GPSr you'll take an hour to find the cache).

[+geodarts]

30-40 feet is not too bad for some urban areas. I did a quick google search and found both free and commercial maps for south korea. It would help just to know the general street pattern and how to get to the cache location, without accidentally ending up on the other side of the border!

Edited April 22, 2010 by Erickson

[+GeoGeeBee]

Someone mentioned the right answer earlier in the thread, but it seems to have been overlooked by subsequent posters.

 

There is no WAAS service in Korea. Without WAAS, 30 feet is about as good as you can expect from a GPS signal.

 

From the Magellan website:

WAAS corrects for GPS signal errors caused by ionosphere disturbances, timing and satellite orbit errors and provides vital integrity information regarding the health of each GPS satellite. . . WAAS consists of approximately 25 ground reference stations positioned across the United States that monitor GPS satellite data. Two master stations, located on either coast, collect data from the reference stations and create a GPS correction message. This correction accounts for GPS satellite orbit and clock drift plus signal delays caused by the atmosphere and ionosphere. The corrected differential message is then broadcast through one of two geostationary satellites, or satellites with a fixed position over the equator. The information is compatible with the basic GPS signal structure, which means any WAAS-enabled GPS receiver can read the signal.

 

Currently, WAAS satellite coverage is only available in North America.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Someone mentioned the right answer earlier in the thread, but it seems to have been overlooked by subsequent posters.

 

There is no WAAS service in Korea. Without WAAS, 30 feet is about as good as you can expect from a GPS signal.

 

 

I have had significantly better results in several countries. 30 feet may be typical but it's not the best one can get. On a cache in Tanzania my GPS was showing 5' to the cache when I found it. When I first bought my GPS I didn't even realize that I had WAAS turned off until I'd found about 200 caches.

[+Moose Mob]

I believe Signal is not due to arrive until June.

GC24J89

[+Chrysalides]

Are the maps at http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php for that area any good?

[Andronicus]

Just a thought but without WAAS or EGNOS 10 meters is the projected accuracy. I am pretty sure WAAS doesn't reach there but not to sure about the European system.

Yup. Untill some Asian country anti-es us the cash, there will not be any better accuracy. Sorry.

[+Chrysalides]

Just a thought but without WAAS or EGNOS 10 meters is the projected accuracy. I am pretty sure WAAS doesn't reach there but not to sure about the European system.

Yup. Untill some Asian country anti-es us the cash, there will not be any better accuracy. Sorry.

Thought you might find this wikipedia link interesting.

 

Japanese

Indian

 

MSAS is compatible with WAAS and EGNOS. I'd imagine GAGAN to be the same.

 

Edit : added Indian link, and I think I figured out what the word is, so removed original question

Edited April 23, 2010 by Chrysalides

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Moving to the GPS and Technology forum.

[+dakboy]

Someone mentioned the right answer earlier in the thread, but it seems to have been overlooked by subsequent posters.

 

There is no WAAS service in Korea. Without WAAS, 30 feet is about as good as you can expect from a GPS signal.

I frequently use my PN-40 with WAAS disabled. The difference in EPE between WAAS on and WAAS off is usually less than 10 feet, and whether it's on or off I'm within 15 feet 90% or more of the time (except when I've got multipath or other signal interference) and often under 10 feet.

[+releasethedogs]

30-40 feet is not too bad for some urban areas. I did a quick google search and found both free and commercial maps for south korea. It would help just to know the general street pattern and how to get to the cache location, without accidentally ending up on the other side of the border!

 

My google skills must be lacking, could you send me the links?

 

Someone mentioned the right answer earlier in the thread, but it seems to have been overlooked by subsequent posters.

 

There is no WAAS service in Korea. Without WAAS, 30 feet is about as good as you can expect from a GPS signal. Currently, WAAS satellite coverage is only available in North America.

 

Blah. I was fearing that.

 

I believe Signal is not due to arrive until June.

GC24J89

 

Yes, I will be attending that.

 

Are the maps at http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php for that area any good?

 

I found that once but dont know how to make it work with my Dakota 10. Could some one help me?

[+gardengorilla]

That would explain why we had such a difficult time finding caches there....and I thought it was me

[+releasethedogs]

That would explain why we had such a difficult time finding caches there....and I thought it was me

Oh it IS tough. The combination of no maps and having your GPS bounce all over the place is hard enough. Then add in that I am Caucasian in one on the most Homogeneous countries in the whole world. I stand out like a sore thumb, and people are naturally suspicious of me. Kind of hard to avoid muggles.

[+ecanderson]

 

Are the maps at http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php for that area any good?

 

I found that once but dont know how to make it work with my Dakota 10. Could some one help me?

Select the tile(s) for the area you need. Give it your email address. Tell it to start cooking.

 

You will receive an email when the process is complete and a pointer to the url where you can download the results. You'll be offered several files in different formats. All you need for your Dakota is the *.img file. Download that *.img, give it a name that is meaningful so you can remember what it is (just be sure it's an *.img when you're done) and copy it over into the "Garmin" folder on your Dakota.

[+Entropy512]

Could it be that selective availability has been slightly increased in the country? Is that even possible?

No, and no.

Actually, no and yes. SA was turned off earlier than expected because the Air Force figured out how to do regional "denial of service" (likely regional SA) earlier than planned.

 

So the military retains the ability to degrade the civilian C/A code on a regional basis if necessary. However, I think it is unlikely they will ever do so except possibly in a situation with intense combat. (Not a "cold war" style situation like Korea is now.)

[+hdarpini]

Just a thought but without WAAS or EGNOS 10 meters is the projected accuracy. I am pretty sure WAAS doesn't reach there but not to sure about the European system.

Yup. Untill some Asian country anti-es us the cash, there will not be any better accuracy. Sorry.

 

Or until the Chinese steal the technology from us.