Can't catch me..

[gaz_l]

Here's a photo of my sat nav. Check out the maximum speed..

Them Golfs shift a bit you know...

Cheers,

Gaz.

 

[BTB 500]

Is that metres/hour?

 

[jaymanek]

did you switch that on on a plane???

 

[01goodwina]

did you throw it at the missus?

 

[gaz_l]

did you switch that on on a plane???

Not deliberately.. it was in my rucksack when I flew back from the US after our driving holiday last year. I guess it must have had a knock and switched itself on at some point. Seeing as a plane is basically a big metal tube and must make a pretty effective faraday cage, I'm impressed that it managed to get a satellite lock...

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[robert.saunders]

That's impressive

 

[Ratz]

You're not from one of those diesel tuning companies trying to tout for business are you???

 

[gaz_l]

You're not from one of those diesel tuning companies trying to tout for business are you???

Did you know if you solder a resistor across two pins of your ECU, you can release over 2000 horsepower from your engine... etc. etc.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[stats007]

Seeing as a plane is basically a big metal tube and must make a pretty effective faraday cage, I'm impressed that it managed to get a satellite lock...
Gaz

As is a car...

 

[gaz_l]

As is a car...

Not really a fair comparison. Consider the apertures in an airliner's fuselage, and then compare that to an average car's glass area.

The Garmin does seem to be above average when it comes to reception, though. And I suppose we were a bit closer to the satellites at the time..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[scumbag]

it only has to pick up radio signals that it can interpret to give you a reading. Its not something that the fuselage is designed to prevent!

One of the reasons they ask you switch off things that use radio signals is in case it interferes with the system on a plane.

impressive fiqures tho. what kind of plane were you on?

 

[gaz_l]

it only has to pick up radio signals that it can interpret to give you a reading. Its not something that the fuselage is designed to prevent!

One of the reasons they ask you switch off things that use radio signals is in case it interferes with the system on a plane.

impressive fiqures tho. what kind of plane were you on?

Can't remember what type of plane it was, but some variety of widebody transatlantic job.. Phoenix back to LHR. I think the satnav must have been jogged into life when we were descending though, as I think cruising speed for most modern jets is 500+?

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[scumbag]

it would be interesting to find out how these devices work in such places. It may convert the speed it reads to ground speed, which could be a bit less or a bit more than what was happening in the plane.

That said, coming back over the atlantic you tend to get a tail wind, so it should read higher. Then again, it may not have had a full signal and could only work that out from what it did get.

I can see now, a mad rush of people going on hols and seeing what their devices pick up.

 

[LastMinute]

it would be interesting to find out how these devices work in such places. It may convert the speed it reads to ground speed

Same as any GPS receiver works anywhere, surely? It doesn't measure speed - it determines position, and derives speed as rate of change of position. (And that speed, by definition, is ground speed.)

 

[GazCaff]

Can't remember what type of plane it was, but some variety of widebody transatlantic job.. Phoenix back to LHR. I think the satnav must have been jogged into life when we were descending though, as I think cruising speed for most modern jets is 500+?

Cheers,

Gaz

Then again, if it is GPS it will report speed over the ground, not speed through the air. There is a difference, especially if there was a head wind.

 

[BTB 500]

It would only have had to get a signal for a few seconds at some point in the flight to register a max speed (which as mentioned, would be ground speed).

What's the battery life of the unit? Presumably it wouldn't have lasted the entire flight anyway?

 

[stats007]

Not really a fair comparison. Consider the apertures in an airliner's fuselage, and then compare that to an average car's glass area.
Gaz

I was referring to your comment about Faraday cages - in which it's a perfectly fair comparison .

 

[davidjpowell]

You were'nt on a 777 which made a premature landing by any chance?

David

 

[smartbrabus]

Then again, if it is GPS it will report speed over the ground, not speed through the air. There is a difference, especially if there was a head wind.

GPS is 3 dimensional AFAIK, so altitude should be factored into the speed reading.

I've had a go at this too, was curious what the take-off speed of a BAe146 was once Only managed to get a satelite lock by holding the gps against the window though...

 

[jimti]

with regard to how gps measures speed, I thought it was measured just as speed and has nothing to do with the ground, mine shows altitude as well as speed, saying that, when I go up or down hill the speed reading shows slightly less than my ground speed..