Lowrance 522 accuracy

[fishinalot]

I just bought a Lowrance 522 with the built in GPS antenna. Most of the time the accuracy is only around 30'-50'.

Today I was out and if I had the boat facing one direction it was around 100' accuracy and if I turned the boat facing the other direction it would be around 30' accuracy, kind of weird?? When I go faster around 30 mph, it gets worse around 200', and then gets better as I slow down.

Anyone else having the same accuracy, or shoud this unit have better accuracy?? I do have it mounted on top of my bench that is wide open.

Thanks

[LMITOUT]

You'll get the best accuracy when the WAAS signal is locked in and the WAAS signal originates from near the equator so you'll have to have good exposure to the southern horizon. This may be the reason why it flucuates so much. I have my external antenna mounted on the boat gunnels and if there are high banks on the south side of a lake, the WAAS signal can be blocked and the error will increase when it loses the WAAS. Since you're running an internal GPS antenna it may be a touch more sensitive to that than an external antenna would be.

[fishinalot]

Thanks Dan! I assume you have the 520? If so, what is your average accuracy reading with the external antenna? Does the speed of your boat effect it at all?

[LMITOUT]

I have the 520 on the bow of my boat and it is networked to one GPS puck which is shared with a LCX-28 in the rear. I haven't used the 520 much yet, but the error will get down to less than 20ft after WAAS locks in. The error will change a little when I'm crusing but as long as I have WAAS it's within 12-20 ft.

[Fishin' Addict]

Dimes to Dollars it's because of your built in GPS antennae - 1) watch the number of locked satellites when you turn your boat one way or the other and 2) Check to see if the distance rapidly changes when you move the baot one way or the other. 3) if these two Quality checks appear to be in question reconsider where you mounted it and/or call LEI and give'em hexx.

I'm not sure if the "built-ins" have a hookup for the external puck antennae but if it does I'd seriously think about getting one and mount it to the rear of the boat. If it doesn't then seriously reconsider where/how you mounted the unit - remember GPS is a very weak signal transmitted by a system of satellites. At any given time there are 6-12 within "line of sight" from the horizon to high-noon. But if anything obstructs the line of sight your gonna lose 3+ satellite feeds on which the system needs to lock your current position.

[fishinalot]

Thanks guys! I did use it on a different lake this weekend, and it seemed to be around 20' postion error most of the day regardless what direction the boat was pointing and was very accurate while at high speeds.

Maybe it was the lake I was on that gave me the problems, there are a few high banks on shore.

Thanks again for your advise!!

[MuleShack]

I have the 334 IGPS and when i had WAAS turned on, i had a tough time getting a lock and holding a lock.

Now i run with it off and it locks quickly and seems to be very accurate. also did the software upgrade from Lowrance.

$.02