NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Dependence on GPS
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2009 Oct 30, 19:03 -0700
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2009 Oct 30, 19:03 -0700
Thanks for sharing your personal experiences. Based on them, I don't
blame you for extra distrust of the reliability of GPS.
I have a similar distrust of chartplotters -- at the Newport Boat Show I once played with one and discovered that its "chart" failed to include some very crucial buoys marking reefs outlying a very popular small craft harbor in the Cape Cod area. I brought this to the attention of the chartplotter vendor who just shrugged and said "we don't make the cartridges." Ever since then I have had an innate distrust of chartplotters. On the other hand, I have friends who regularly use them and are perfectly happy with them.
Apache Runner wrote:
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I have a similar distrust of chartplotters -- at the Newport Boat Show I once played with one and discovered that its "chart" failed to include some very crucial buoys marking reefs outlying a very popular small craft harbor in the Cape Cod area. I brought this to the attention of the chartplotter vendor who just shrugged and said "we don't make the cartridges." Ever since then I have had an innate distrust of chartplotters. On the other hand, I have friends who regularly use them and are perfectly happy with them.
Apache Runner wrote:
Crossing from Mount Desert Island to Little Cranberry Island in the fog, my GPS failed, and I used my chart (in a waterproof case) and my deck mounted compass to make the crossing. I had to alter course to deliberately hit the northern end of Sutton Island. I'm glad I planned on the backup.
Bushwhacking in the Sandwich Range in New Hampshire, another time, my GPS failed. Again, map and compass to the rescue.
It wasn't an issue of the conditions of the moment, but rather what I suspect was the build-up of crud on the receiver over time that led to a failure. After two failures, I threw in the towel on the devices. Maybe I was too hasty, and I'm not suggesting people toss them, but for me, I simply cannot put my faith in them anymore.
On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 9:34 PM, Lu Abel <lunav@abelhome.net> wrote:
Do we have specific examples of "unreliable in practice?"
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