"jeff" wrote in message
. ..
Lloyd Bonafide wrote:
"jeff" wrote in message
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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.

The WAAS satellites are geosynchronous, the GPS are not. I did confuse WAAS
with GPS.

Lloyd