[mdlug] GPS suggestions

[Joseph C. Bender]

bob dion wrote:
>
> Speaking of GPS
> http://space.com/scienceastronomy/070404_radio_bursts.html
>
	This is one of those "Well, no kidding" sorts of articles.

	Large solar flares wreak havoc on all sorts of commo gear in orbit and 
on the ground.  The weak signal nature of the GPS sats would tend to 
mean there would be issues on a large flare.
	
	Additionally, it's not so much the sats as it is crappy RF front-ends 
in gear by GPS manufacturers trying to keep the price of the units down.

Aaron Kulkis wrote:
 > Ingles, Raymond wrote:
 > I'm not sure
 > exactly what the antenna looks like, as it is contained
 > within a shell -- I tried to break open one that went bad,
 > and had no luck... any stronger force used to break it
 > open will destroy the antenna elements hidden inside.
 >
	Antennas tend to be square patch, conical microstrip patch, or 
quadrifilar helix omni types.  Most handhelds with internal antennas 
tend to use the quad-helix types as they give remarkably good perfomance 
when coupled with a good preamp.  Most of the cheaper external antennas 
for cars are the square patch design, though I did read recently about a 
magmount quad-helix recently.

As for the OP's question, I've heard good things about the eTrex series, 
though I haven't really used one personally.  My uses of GPS tend to be 
for non-navigational purposes.  *grin*
	


-- 
Joseph Bender
jcbender at bendorius com