garmin c330 waas or normal

After reading this description of waas you will be able to decide when to use "normal" or "waas" it will also explain what egnos is

http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/waas.html

thanks for the info

Sounds like it adds accuracy. Are there any drawbacks? I haven't tried it yet.

-Tom

I believe that it uses more power which can be an issue if you are using a portable device.

Also, I think some people have said that WAAS has been slower for them, but I have not found that to be the case for me.
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I have WAAS selected and have noticed that it can take up to thirty seconds to access the satellite. I haven't tried it in normal so I have no comparison. As for using more power, I have mine connected to the power plug all the time. Later in the summer I will have the unit installed in my British Sports car. I will be using it on internal power, so that will make a difference.

Bob

Going from a cold start, 30 seconds is about right, both with and without WAAS.

I use normal - I live in ny and find no problems with it. its quick and as close as I need .. maybe some day I will change my mind, but for now, normal is all I need!!

I use normal - I live in ny and find no problems with it. its quick and as close as I need .. maybe some day I will change my mind, but for now, normal is all I need!!

I have not notice any time difference in finding satellites with or without WAAS enabled.

I have noticed that WAAS definately draws more power then the standard GPS.

I am the type that loves "dead-on" accuracy. I have read some posters state a certain accuracy distance that they have experienced with WAAS. How did you measure this distance? I have been on an "access" road (paralleling the main road - off by 100 feet or so) and my 340 is more than happy to continue with tracking. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

You are never going to get "dead-on" accuracy with a consumer grade GPS unit. Not going to happen.

When people report the accuracy, they are reporting what the unit is reporting. Some units have a field that reports GPS accuracy as a number of feet.

Consumer grade GPS units are generally considered accurate to plus or minus 5 meters. WAAS can bring this down to about 3 meters. But without DGPS, you aren't going to get reliably closer than that.

Many auto units have a "lock on road" feature where the display will show you being on the road that it "thinks" you are on.

wass is more accurate

right on motorcycle mama.

I have tried both mode here in Atlanta and do not see any difference.

Here's a cross link discussing WAAS.

RT

I think I get more accuracy with WAAS turned on. I leave it on when I am plugged into power in the car as I don't see a downside. When traveling and working off battery I set WAAS off as it has a bigger drain on the battery and I am looking for longer run times.

My Nuvi 680 goes through a battery in 2.5 hours with WAAS enabled. I turn off WAAS and don't see any accuracy problems.

Jen

I used to leave WAAS on until I did some testing and was dealing with real numbers (see cross link above). I've found several downsides other than higher current drain which you mentioned. With WAAS on, the lock-on time for the same accuracy I received with it off was longer. Although it didn't amount to much, I received better accuracy with WAAS off while moving (this has been mentioned in other forums as happening under certain conditions).

I don't see any reason to use WAAS for vehicle navigation, especially in light of the fact that at 60 MPH the nuvi 350's display accuracy is off by 88 ft plus the error of the GPS (at the instant just prior to the GPS updating).

RT

By going to the garmin site and calling up the users manual for the 330 you will find info 0n the use or application of waas. From reading this information it is my understanding that you can obtain better accuracy by using waas. I use it at all times on my c330 and find generally "dead on". When the accuracy is slightly off I believe its due to input error rather than the capabilities of the gps units. from my experience the info in the gps is about 95% accurate.

gusb

It seems no one is taking into account the GPS display accuracy.

The nuvi 350 updates the display approximately every second. If you're traveling at 60mph, you're covering approximately 88 feet every time the GPS updates. That means the display is off by 88 feet plus the error of the GPS (at the instant just prior to the GPS updating). If you're using the GPS for vehicle navigation, will WAAS do you any good??

Nothing is perfect .... this includes WAAS. Do a Google search for "disadvantages of WAAS", you'll find several sites. Just a few 'hurts' mentioned in GPS forums are longer access time, higher GPS current drain, sometimes with no better accuracy; in some conditions, it actually hurt accuracy. This is exactly what I found with my 'real number' testing.

RT

Will try again with WAAS off.