OpenStreetMap

EGNOS now Live

Posted by kevjs1982 on 4 October 2009 in English.

I noticed in the press over this weekend that the EGNOS service has been activated across Europe, and sure enough enabling WAAS on my Garmin Vista HCx now offers actually offers useful benefits unlike the previous battery drain only - The indicated accuracy has increased from 11m to between 2m in the garden - and even inside on my computer desk its now down to 4m vs the previous 15m :o)

Garmin Vista HCx Screenshot

Sat Nav just got five times more accurate. For Europeans at least. (The Times Online Blog)

Now I'll just have to go and redo those traces where the path jumps over a canal ;o)

Location: Tollerton, Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Discussion

Comment from RichardB on 4 October 2009 at 13:01

There must have been something available before "EGNOS" was officially live as I've been able to get the "D" icons on the satellite signal strength bars for many months.

And I've had location +/- 7ft displayed before the "switch-on".

Comment from kevjs1982 on 4 October 2009 at 13:34

I believe they have been testing for a while, never had much any luck getting the D's before but have only sporadically tried turning WAAS (and therefore EGNOS) on.

Comment from chillly on 4 October 2009 at 15:29

I've seen the D on and off and got down to 6 feet briefly a few times over the last few months while the testing has been taking place. The EGNOS birds are geostationary, unlike all the standard GPS sats, so you need a clear view of the southern sky to see the EGNOS improvement. They come up as sat 33 and 37 on my Garmin and I never get a full lock on them, apparently this is how the WAAS function works. I just tried outside and got 28ft with both EGNOS sats visible. They do give a better position sometimes, and work better the further south you are in Europe. Roll on Galileo.

Comment from kevjs1982 on 5 October 2009 at 08:28

I was seeing 37 and 39 here in Nottingham - 37 especially coming up strongest of all with a solid bar (i.e. the Garmin has locked on) but understandably no "D" on that column.

Not bad considering I did the first tests in a north facing garden!

Comment from Anna_AG on 7 October 2009 at 00:57

Yep the 'D's are common - but strangely more at nighttime. Update your Legend or Legend HCX software ( sorry I only know Garmins ) as older firmware will not support or find the 'D' signals. Yes it it does improve accuracy. Note there is V3.10 firmware for Garmin HCX users as of last month ( I only noticed yesterday )

Bri

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