SiRF Star III receiver

don't worry about it. I suspect it's sort of like saying "Should I be worried if my Toyota doesn't come with a Honda engine." They both get you there.

GC

ok, thats good to know... Thanks...!

My TomTom 510 and Magellan 3000T both have it, but my Garmin 2610 doesn't. In typical suburban driving situations, I don't really notice much difference with or without SiRF.

I ran some side-by-side tests last year, and the SiRF models usually were tracking a couple more satellites than the 2610, but all had enough to get an accurate fix as I drove around the burbs.

I've heard SiRF receivers can be helpful in areas where GPS reception is difficult (e.g., urban canyons). I haven't tested this with my models though.

JM

thanks for the info JM.......

Brand spankin' new to this forum so I apologize for a (probable) newbie question. I just purchased the Nuvi 650 and can't tell by Garmin's product description whether it contains the Sirf III receiver or not. Their website shows the Sirf logo, but I can't find reference to the specific receiver. Is it assumed to be the Sirf III or can it be other versions? Does it even matter as long as it has the Sirf receiver? Thank you in advance.

Yes, the 650 has the SiRF III chipset.

Watch the start up screens, Loading maps..... etc

Garmin 650 page. Towards the bottom, you'll see three logos: NAVTEQ, WAAS, and SiRF.

So that you know those logos are product specific, click on the nuvi 200 link on the right and you'll see that it only has NAVTEQ logo.

Thank you all for your very quick reply.

My nuvi 200 has both SiRF and NAVTEQ logos.

Glenn,
I believe you're mistaken in that the Nuvi 200 does not have the sirf chipset.

Here is the link for the 200:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&pID=9160

Ray

Perhaps the new ones don't, but mine does. It says so when I start it up, and in the System About screen. (Copyright 2007 SiRF Technology, Inc.).

I've been in some pretty remote places (dense forests, canyons) with my GPS and I think that the Sirf chip made a difference in getting a good signal. However, I didn't have a GPS with me that didn't have the Sirf chip, so I don't have any scientific proof that it really improved my reception. All I can say is that I did maintain a strong signal.

Hi Glenn,
That's odd but good news for you. SirfIII is definitely the way to go!

Ray

Well, I for one can say that I have NEVER lost signal in my car. Now, if I go inside, I will loose it, but not in my car.

But it was going into an underground parking area....and signal comes & goes depending on where one is in the parking ramp.

I have lost signal when I went through a long (2 miles) tunnel downtown Montreal. This was scary because my exit (according to Garmin before entering the tunnel) was right after the end of the tunnel. It's a good thing I remembered because Garmin was so busy trying to find its satellites, it forgot to tell me where to go!!

However, even if I had taken the wrong turn, it would have "RECALCULATING" to take me back the right way.

Ok, let me correct myself, I have lost signal in a car, as Keith said, in a parking garage or tunnel, but that is too be expected.

I heard the new chipset MTK (?) is beter han sirf III chipset.

Well excuse my imprudence but can anyone tell me wath the Sirf III exactly do??? because if is made to mantain the signal its incorrect , i have a digiwalker c230 and they mention the Sirf thing and i lose signal with the simply entrance to a multi parking lot or pass trough a tunel, they recover in a few but lose the signal so what is the diference or may be im wrong and the sirf is made for another thing???

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/7954
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1002

The minute you loose the sky neither the MTK or SIRF will help you, the satellites transmit on very low power and will not penetrate concrete.

Tell me how it is that I have never ever lost satellite connection with my Lexus navigation system...doesn't matter where I am in tunnels, garages, parking garages, downtown, uptown,etc. In fact upon starting my car the connection is immediate. Do autos have different chips or satellites??

My guess is that those units are faking it, giving the user the impression that they are still locked to the sat when they are probably estimating the location from the last transmission received.

Since the unit in the Lexus is always in the vehicle it is guessing that you haven’t taken the vehicle across country on an airplane transport, but I bet if you did that with the lexus off it will have the same problem as the portable units do when moved more than 500 miles from the last known location.

Those units are totally faking it.

They are likely extrapolating the data based upon the speed and direction the vehicle had when it entered the tunnel.

I'm a geocacher. I started with a fairly high end unit - the GPSMAP 76CS. This was a pre-SiRF model. It worked great but, when in my wife's car, I could only get a signal if I held it up to the window or used an external antenna. There was no signal inside my house.

I later sold it and bought a GPSMAP 76CSx - with the SiRF chipset. The new unit gets a killer signal in my wife's car and I can usually pull in 6 - 8 satellites sitting at my desk at home which is at least 12 feet from the nearest window.

When geocaching under tree cover, etc. I grab and maintain a signal in areas where I would definitely have lost signal with the older unit.

I don't know how important it will be in a car based system but I can tell you I'm a believer in the superiority of the SiRF chipset.

Also for what he said about the instant on the Lexus it could be that even if the screen in the unit is off the receiver being feed by the car battery is constantly receiving the signal when out in the open.

I am not knocking the Garmin units..I love mine. I was simply asking a question about an automobile GPS...If they do fake it I like it....

Farrissr, neither MM nor myself where knocking the car system, we were just clarifying that even though they are both GPSr they operate differently.

Because the car GPSr unit is always affixed to the car it can assume based on last known location plus speed and direction of travel where it should be, giving the user the impression that it never looses satellite reception inside the tunnels, in the garages it just uses it last known location to give you that immediate connection you mentioned.

Portables are another story since they maybe at a different location than where it was last turned off, like I mentioned before I suspect (not sure) that the car unit is always receiving information.

Regardless I still envy your Lexus...

The short answer is "NO".-:)

Basically in Nuvi 2xx serial, they may
have MediaTek,Bravo,or Sirf III chipset. You can check it out from setting-system in your GPS to see which chipset in it:
2.10m - MediaTek
2.10b - Bravo
2.90s - Sirf III

My Nuvi250 bought from Dell has a MediaTek chipset, which works just as well as Sirf III in my previous Tomtom One, if not better.

I have no problem with the Bravo, even indoors.

You don't need a gps to get your location. May be those high priced system has a gyroscope built-in.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/29/sat-nav-flashback-hondas-...

The newer portables are now including accelerometer for dead reckoning when gps signal is lost.