Lloyd Bonafide wrote:
"jeff" wrote in message
. ..
Lloyd Bonafide wrote:
"Bart" wrote in message
oups.com...
If your GPS unit has a satellite status page, which
most do, check to see if it is receiving data from
satellite #51 on the east coast and/or satellite #48
on the west coast.

The satellites are not in geosynchronous orbit.
I believe they are. The two new satellites Bart mentions are listed he

http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/incoming/...Geo_Status.pdf

They are not in geosynchronous orbit. If the were, how could they possibly
cover the globe? A geosynchronous orbit is in the equatorial plane only,
with that configuration the accuracy towards the poles falls way off to less
than that of terrestrial radionavigation. This shows they are clearly not in
geosynchronous orbit:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm states:

"Each of these 3,000- to 4,000-pound solar-powered satellites circles the
globe at about 12,000 miles (19,300 km), making two complete rotations every
day. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, anywhere on Earth, there
are at least four satellites "visible" in the sky."

The military can shift their orbits a bit to provide even greater accuracy
in required areas.

Even the satellite location display on the GPS unit itself shows they are
not geosynchronous. You can watch the satellites move to the horizon on the
display.


You're confusing the WAAS satellites with the GPS satellite. The WAAS
birds cover individual regions - one for the East Coast and one for the
West.