View Full Version : GPS minimum tracking speed
JimmerAB
03-05-2001, 12:12 PM
I was recently talking to a Magellan Technical Service manager about my ColorTrak handheld. The concern I had was that the screen seems to freeze at speeds less than about 2 MPH, but will catch up again once I speed up. This has caused me some grief when I'm drifting or slow-trolling, and I lose my slug-trail. His response was to the effect that "all Magellan GPS units are designed to not track at speeds of less than 2 MPH."
Now, I may be wrong about this, but I would've bet the farm that other non-Magellan units I have used and viewed were tracking corectly at slow speeds. Other than this issue, the unit works flawlessly. Can anyone out there let me know if their GPS units are tracking at <2 MPH? Thanks for your input.
Jim
Sunshine
03-05-2001, 12:43 PM
My Garmin hand held tracks down to 1.0 miles per hour.
Kevin L.
03-05-2001, 03:16 PM
I'm sure that my Garmin is reading lower than your two mph as well. I know that the speed reading has often read lower than one mph. That's not to say that the track line may not be "moving" as fast as I want but the track is true and accurate for what it is used for. This may be just one of the Magellian's querks.
Not sure if this is applicable, but some mention has been made in the past about "position averaging" and its effect on slow trolling. As I recall, if you have this feature and can turn it off, you will see slower speeds. They may fluctuate some but other GPS brands are affected, and I would think yours would be too.
modog
03-05-2001, 05:31 PM
I had the same problem with my Lowrance Global Map.
I had to turn off the 'Position Pinning' feature. Now it shows my position accurately even while slow drifting. (I'm not familiar with the Garmin units but this may be something to look for.)
eyegetit
03-05-2001, 07:21 PM
I'm starting my 2nd full season with my handheld Magellan GPS Tracker and (like you) I've never been able to track below 2.0 mph. I'm going to check right now to see if I can turn off "position averaging" as a previous post suggested.
JimmerAB
03-05-2001, 08:59 PM
I tried to turn my Position Averaging feature off, with (so far) no luck. I read the instruction manual front to back, and went into all the menus manually, but wasn't able to find the right "off switch". Eyegetit, I'd appreciate any information you might find when you try it. Our units are very similar, and if we can turn off averaging on one, the other should work much the same way. Take care.
Jim
Raytheon420D tracks under 2mph.
If your GPS unit has a feature that allows you to change the frequency of position updates, lengthen it. For example, if it is set to update every 1 second, you may not have drifted far enough for it to recognize a change in position. Try setting it at 5 seconds or more while drifting. My GlobalMap 1600 used to do this on a slow drift. The directional arrow would freeze in one position. I lengthened the update frequency and turned position onning off. That took care of this glitch.
ccarlson
03-06-2001, 08:01 AM
The other post is right on. It is a pinning feature. Turn off the pinning. It is designed so that if you are not moving, you will not clutter the screen with a plot trail created by random corrections of the signals. Problem is it also doesn't show a trail when rigging slowly.
I had the same problem on my global map 100 but will show a trail no matter how slowly I creep along. Hopefully you have a feature called pinning. If not, look for something similar.