Re: [SOCALWUG] GPS in China

[HQ54]

Hi,      Well, I know with my Magellan,  if I go over several hundred miles from my last location, with out the GPS on to track me there, I must re initialize the unit.  It needs to know an approximate location, and time and date, so that i has an Idea what satelites are in what approximate location at that time.  Interestingly, if I reinit the unit at home, with incorrect information, it can't find the satelites.      I don't know about your unit, but I suspect it might be similar.      I certainly don't think it has anything to do with the lack ot technology in the part of China you were in, and the fact that Hong Kong is technilogically advanced should't make it more possible to track satelites.     I wonder if all the cell phone and 1.2 gig interference in Hong Kong would make it harder to track the satelites, but maybe someone else can chime in on that one.      I think the problem was that the unit wasn't initialized for that geographic location.  Satalites are inorbit, and although they can stay in some general location, I am confident that the US Gov didn't forget about China.   Hope that answers the question.   Michael         In a message dated 2/12/2004 9:59:39 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I have a Garmin eTrex Venture GPS unit.  Works fine in here in Pasadena.  I get the minimum number of satelite needed to make it work.  I dont use any external antennas.  It works fine out of the box plus batteries. I visited southern China and was sad to find that i could only pick up 1 satelite from the rural area i was in.  I went to a 'larger' city and tried it from the roof of my hotel, and still just 1 satelite. There were no significant mountain ranges within sight, and I could see a long way off. I later visited Hong Kong where there is lots of technology, but only could hit 1 and sometimes 2 satelites.  Not enough to work. When I returned to Pasadena I opened my suite case, fired it up, and it worked like a charm. Does our military cripple GPS signal strength over China?  Can anyone offer another explaination? Chris