MMMM Could be. Seems to be a lot of that sort of think of late.
Would real expediters?
- Thread starter PTN2011
- Start date
MMMM Could be. Seems to be a lot of that sort of think of late.
My first thought, exactly. Someone teaching these things should already know precisely what "blind as a bat" means in the context of a GPS unit within the steel canyons of a large metropolitan downtown. It means the GPS cannot see the satellite and thus cannot determine its own GPS coordinates with any accuracy, so it cannot determine where it, and more importantly, me, is located. All it can see are the reflections of the satellite signal bouncing off of nearby buildings, much like a bat's echolocation sonar would be reflected. This is known as "Signal Multipath", and occurs when the GPS signal is reflected off objects such as tall buildings or large rock surfaces before it reaches the receiver. This increases the travel time of the signal, thereby causing errors. Things become even more confusing when there are many large tall buildings as there are multiple signals coming from multiple building reflections. WAAS and SiRF chips can compensate for some of that, but not when they are overwhelmed by conflicting signals.Will you be the one teaching this course?
Its sight returned after I cleared away from the tall buildings, and I could determine when that happened in two ways, one, when the little car thingy on the GPS screen (it's an industry term) matched my actual physical location as verified by looking out the window, and two, when I cleared away from the tall buildings, also verified by looking out the window.
Doesn't know what blind means, things a GPS will tell you which door to deliver to at the Javits, thinks the GPS is used to plan a post-delivery layover, and thinks formalized GPS training in any form at all is even remotely necessary to the trucking industry. I'm beginning to wonder if the old adage of, "Those who can't do, teach," is more accurate than I thought.
Turtle, Thanks to you so much for your “Blind” explanation. It is evident you have an understanding of your Garmin GPS limitations.You described the “Blind” problem well. Many GPS users experience signal reception issues daily for more varied reason than those you included.
Importantly for us is, with training, an individual would further understand not just the problem, but the solutions to eliminate such signal degradation issues.
Thanks for your response.
It is becoming evident that our timing may have been unexpectedly poorly chosen to post some feeler questions on the EO forum. I do see that the forum members are experiencing some issues which we wish to be no part of. Our intent was to receive some feedback to determine if advertising here should be part of our rollout. We want to offer our deepest apologies if we have offended anyone or broken any rules.
I personally apologize for not responding to everyone who asked questions, I do indeed appreciate your time but constraints on my time do not always allow for me to respond to everyone.
Thanks for your time and comments.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Phil wrote:
LOL, thats what I was getting at in post #28 and #30...
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LOL, thats what I was getting at in post #28 and #30...
Phil wrote:
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LOL, thats what I was getting at in post #28 and #30...
Any 'troll' who encourages us to engage in conversation about what we do and how and why, [and does so with politeness and attention to spelling and punctuation] is welcome, far as I'm concerned.
The conversation serves to help newbies, by discussing things it wouldn't even occur to us to write about, because we're so familiar with them, and I fail to see the downside to that.
Turtle's 'blindness' issue is a good example: knowing ahead of time that a concrete canyon will not allow the signal to penetrate, it's wise to be prepared: pressing the 'next turn' arrow to show the turns, and either memorizing [I use a mnemonic sentence] or jotting quick notes will avoid the OMG! panic factor when you're down to the last 3 turns and the GPS isn't helping. Because pulling over isn't always an option for us.
This is something I've learned by experience, and that first experience wasn't much fun - helping another driver avoid it seems a better use of time than identifying possible 'trolls', you ask me.
You're quite welcome.
There is no solution to eliminate such degradation issues, tho. That was my point when I said I managed to find the destination despite my extensive GPS knowledge and training, because all of that knowledge and training (experience, actually) played no part in my finding the destination. At times like those, the GPS is useless, and no amount of training will change that. I suppose you could teach them that there will be times the GPS doesn't work, so be prepared, but then you'd be reinforcing the notion that a GPS is not necessary for trucking and there is no need for GPS training, which something we've been trying to tell you for a while now.
Timing isn't the problem. The problem is it's silly and not needed. The problem is in order for you to cover all that you want to, and to cover all the possibilities of different hardware and software and all the limitations of each, it would be a three-day course at least. I promise you, not a single carrier will allot that kind of time in an orientation. Not many trucking schools will, either.
Slo-Ride
Veteran Expediter
Well I for one hope you guys didn't cause Lawrence (EO) some future revenue from this developing class.
Anyways this was great,,first thread I read front to back in one sitting in months,,LOL thanks ppl ya made me remember what I like about this place
Ragman,The tools explained was great. Had me rolling,,I gotta steal it from ya and forward it off.
golfournut
Veteran Expediter
What's the distance?
golfournut
Veteran Expediter
Charts, compass and dead reckoning skills can take you around the world. Eventually you'll bump into something. With a sextant, and the ability to do a sun shot at minimum would help to identify what you bumped into! Lol
PTN, I'm still waiting to hear how you would handle the Javits situation you asked about.
golfournut
Veteran Expediter
That is correct unless you can get about 10-11 miles of unobstructed view and know your elevation. Keep in mind, 5' above sea level is only about 11 miles to the horizon. The best accuracy I can get on pitching and rolling vessels was 3 miles of position using sun and moon shots. The guy that taught me how to use the sextant does the routing for the space shuttle at Johnson Space Center. He can get down to .5 mile using stars and planets.
GPS is a little more accurate. Lol
golfournut
Veteran Expediter
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
when you went to truck driving school,was there not a class on maps.gps is for the brainless,I found when useing it,has made me brainless.It sure makes you dependent,and worst,it isnt always right.
golfournut
Veteran Expediter
There was mapping in truck driving school when I went in the 90's. I learned mapping long before that tho. Just a topo map and compass, shooting azimuths and back azimuths.
so I am out buying this item..and it has a 20 year warranty and the sales guy says for $100 more I could get a lifetime warranty.....DUDE I am 61 years old!!! How gullible am I?....
Gee whiz....
Gee whiz....
jujubeans
OVM Project Manager
so I am out buying this item..and it has a 20 year warranty and the sales guy says for $100 more I could get a lifetime warranty.....DUDE I am 61 years old!!! How gullible am I?....
Gee whiz....
No you aren't...not until October anyway...
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
OVM wrote:
LOL, I have a family friend who is 66, at 61 he won a smallish amount in the state lotto..it was big enough that they offered him a "payout over time" or a "reduced 1 time payment"...like OVM, he stated "I am 61 yrs old, I know i am not long for this place, my kids can take care of themselves, "give me the cash!"....
LOL, then he proceeded to give his 2 kids part of it, gave a few bucks to his church and then went about spending the rest....
LOL, I have a family friend who is 66, at 61 he won a smallish amount in the state lotto..it was big enough that they offered him a "payout over time" or a "reduced 1 time payment"...like OVM, he stated "I am 61 yrs old, I know i am not long for this place, my kids can take care of themselves, "give me the cash!"....
LOL, then he proceeded to give his 2 kids part of it, gave a few bucks to his church and then went about spending the rest....
Dependent? I wouldn't say that, any more than I'm dependent on anything else I use to do my job. If it quits working, I simply go back to what I use to do, and when I'm sent on a pick-up with a tight time frame, they'll just have to give me a few extra minutes to figure out where I'm going.