highest accuracy ever

From what I have found out from the internet, the GPS manufactures use a mathematical formula for error calculation in their firmware, and none of them use the same formula. Some are more liberal then others. From what I have found out by actually comparing error reporting between a Garmin and a Lowrance model error reporting between the two doesn't mean a whole lot. My friend has used his Garmin and I used my iFinder Hunt when we geocached together, and his Garmin might give an error of 15 feet while my Hunt might say 30 feet, but when we get close to the cache they will usually be within a couple of feet of one another as far as telling us how close we are to the cache. So I don't pay too much attention to error reporting.

My old Quest used to report 1 meter accurracy at times (that is just a shade over 3 feet I believe). My Nuvi 660 and 760 I'm not sure about because the accurracy is hidden a few screens deep and I never go looking for it.

I know that accurracy is just an estimate and it varies from gps to gps, but once you get to know your unit, you can get a feel at how well the reception is.

While driving, 1 meter accurracy seemed pretty darn accurrate (crossing streams, intersections, etc). I think it would be harder to tell these days with my Nuvi 760 because it seems to lag a little bit, which I don't ever recall was an issue with my Quest.

One other point about accuracy is that the vehicle icon will compensate for errors. The unit assumes most times you are on a road. Its calculations may show you are off the road but it will keep the icon on the highway. You can see this effect when you turn into a driveway or shopping center; for a few moments the icon may stay on the road. This is called the rubberbanding effect. If the unit didn't do this you may see the icon bouncing on and off the road when accuracy is low. This also means that accuracy reports aren't all that meaningful since the display of your location is not always the exact calculated location.

My Ique 3600 is so accurate using the external antenna it showed a " -1 Ft".

I actually had to move over 1 foot because I was standing on the spot itself.. When I moved 1 foot to the left, it then showed "0 FT"

WOW that was accurate.

When it comes right down to it, when you are travelling in a car at a 100 km/h (60 mph) anything from 15m to 0 feet accurracy is good enough, and really not all that bad for little units that costs only a few hundred dollars.

I have never tried, but I understand some bridges have labels on them with the GPS location of the label itself ... be interesting to input those coordinates into your GPS and see how far away you are from the label on the bridge when you get there.

Holy Hannah, I am a FAN of Sparky. This story is about the most detailed of all, a full Folger story, like the coffee commercials of some years back. You are a super story teller.

And now back to the regular programming...

...um....
accuracy....
My 880 Nuvi got down to 10 feet when I first fired it up. Since then it gets to 12 feet, but in my north facing window it usually runs about 15-20 feet without being moved at all. The 880 has a builtin antenna. And my white SUV always stays on the road.