WAAS question

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I have a Lowrance H2Oc, which I love. I have the WAAS feature turned on but I'm not getting a WAAS signal. Drove all the way to Grand Rapids on Friday and never received a WAAS signal. Is there something wrong with my GPS?

[LMITOUT]

You'll need a clear line of sight to the southern horizon as that's where the WAAS signal originates (near the equator). Any high cliffs, shoreline, or other obstruction to the south side of your location can block the WAAS signal fairly easily.

Due to the signal coming from the south and the curvature of the earth, the further north you go the less reliable it can be also.

[Questor]

I have the same occasional problem with my Magellan. Having a good antenna is important, but even with that you may not get the reception you need from the WAAS satellites. I wouldn't call it a defect of the GPS unit. Atmospheric conditions seem to matter a lot. I've had no WAAS reception in one spot, then suddenly atmospheric changes happened and I started getting WAAS.

[sparcebag]

TRead this link on WAAS http://www.gpsinformation.net/exe/waas.html

[iffwalleyes]

You seldom will get WAAS to come in. I am seeing it more than I used to these days but still not all the time.

[LMITOUT]

It really depends on where you're at. I get WAAS pretty much everytime out, but if you're fishing on the south side of Sakakawea for instance, it's very spotty due to the high bluffs blocking the signal. It's always going in and out. Down here where there really isn't any tall ground surrounding the lakes it's almost 100%.

[Muddog]

Maybe you need an Aircraft not a boat.

[LMITOUT]

[Muddog]

If you read the manual. WAAS is designed for aircraft.

[LMITOUT]

Yes, it was intended for aircraft but works just fine in my boat!

[Muddog]

On BIG WATER!

[wishing for walleyes]

I get a great waas signal as well on my garmin sounder/plotter

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Was up on Kab this week and suddenly got the WAAS signal. Position error went from 38 to 14 ft. Didn't get it every day however.