Thread: Project "HB Donut"

Originally Posted by Cane Pole

I gave up on bass fishing many years ago, I came to realize that my kids needed a college education more than I needed a ranger. I am happy with my Jon Boat. Be happier if my Jon Boat HB didn't have a donut winking at me though. Notice my yellow gps. It is the U-pitch model. ha

I like that yella GPS, got a few just like it. AND they float!

I know this is a subject dear to many and you want the problem solved but lets keep it civilized. Making accusations is not going to solve anything. I really don't want to lock the thread but will if need be.

ALL SI Models - Unit loses GPS signal at slow speeds - Below .6 mph

Garmin: GPSMAP 76CSx specifications there all the same hummingbird/lowrance/garmin

Okay Guys, 25 pages worth here, and it looks like we have about 25 people that seem to think something is wrong with the H/B GPS. Last night there were over 700 folks on crappie.com, so it doesn't look like a whole lot of folks are disappointed in their H/B GPS. It was also posted on Walleye Central yesterday and with about 150 looks, here's the only response.
I looked at a couple of the links that you provided. I, too, would love a unit that could measure speeds accurately down to .1 mph and show the true direction being travelled. The reality of things may prevent that.

From my understanding of the technology involved in GPS (I'm an engineer and have owned/used GPS since the early '90) I'm not sure that you can get what your want in a reasonable priced package.

Have those involved in your "quest" looked or had someone look at whether or not it is technicaly feasible?

Without some extreme averaging, a unit with a 1 meter accuracy ( meaning the point from which you will be measuring your speed can jump around by appprox 3 ft which could be about a 2 mph instantaneous jump from each new fix)

Yes I know that it appears that the typical unit today displays speeds in .1 mph or even higher resolution but what is the manufactureres claimed speed accurracy? That's done by heavy averaging and throwing out "outlying" datapoints.

When I troll with my electric motor. It takes my Non HB unit 20 sec or more to come to a stable speed reading after I've made a minute change in speed. Sometimes it doesn't even pick up the change at all.

I am aware of (was involved in the purchasing a a GPS unit with less than 1" accuracy, Cost was about $10,000) units that can get a better fix than the units we put in our boats. The real time speed accuracy on those units is not that great. They need to be stationary for a while to get the location accuracy they can achieve.

Again I would agree with what you want. I just am not convinced that it is technicaly feasible in a price rance the average person would be willing to pay. I don't believe it is a software update.

They way I'm reading his response, and it seems he has some professional GPS knowledge, it looks like it's just a fudge factor giving people what they think might be better accuracy with their GPS. It was even stated here on CC that other brand GPS's software uses a matter of averaging and guessing where the boat position is at speeds less than .5 or so. I'd have to think between BBC, Walleye Central, and Crappie.com, there ain't a whole lot of people that got a problem with H/B GPS's.

good post shellback...............now lets all go fishing.......................hummingbird rocks.......................

How much would this cost to fix, shellback? I can tell you for certain, that even if it's a guess with Lowrance, I've not seen it guess wrong yet. So yes, it's possible, no it won't cost and extra 1K per unit, and yes it can be done. If you and Kosmo are so against this, then please don't read it. There's nothing forcing your mouse to click on this thread. This thread is not affecting your quality of life, or stopping you from enjoying your day. Simply don't click the link.

Kosmo, Shellback, Others. All are welcome, all indeed.