GPS Accuracy?

[cristphoto]

Have the latest gps devices increased in accuracy (compared to gps from several years ago)? Or are they simply dependent on satellites and weather conditions? I'm asking about gps watches and not a phone app. Thanks.

[redrover69]

No idea how they work...

 

Ive been using a garmin g8 and I have played with guys using a leupold and bushnell.

 

My yardages on the g8 are within a few yards typically of the rangefinder and I dont have to aim and shoot or shoot and aim.

[kiwihacker]

No idea how they work...

 

Ive been using a garmin g8 and I have played with guys using a leupold and bushnell.

 

My yardages on the g8 are within a few yards typically of the rangefinder and I dont have to aim and shoot or shoot and aim.

 

Me too!

 

I have a Garmin G6 and Bushnell V2 and find the GPS very accurate when I check it versus the laser.

[High Plains Driver]

I have the Neo XS and Tour V4.

 

I have on several occasions, stood on the 200, 150, and 100 markers and got distance with GPS (to check the accuracy of the markers.) Once on the green, I have stood in the middle and shot the 150 marker (to check the GPS.)

 

Most of the time (>80%) the GPS is within 2-4 yards of the laser (at 150 yards.) A few occasions have seen it in the 6-8 yard difference.

 

GPS is plenty accurate for day to day play, and it's not that GPS isn't accurate. It's that all companies(unless something has changed), with the exception of SkyCaddy, use google Earth or maps to map the course. Exactly how accurate this can be is debatable.

[ZA206]

I use a golfbuddy gps and it tells front back and center. If I can see where the flag is on the green, I can deduce the number to the pin within 1-2 yards of a laser almost every time. The only time this doesn't work is when I play on a course that's recently had rebuilt/changed greens. Happened recently and was totally screwing me up the whole round.... lol

[larrybud]

Consumer gps is +/- 3 yards at best. So if it says 100, you can only be sure it's between 97-103.

 

Doesn't matter if it's a dedicated gps or your phone. In fact, I used to use skydroid and it has a feature which would tell you its current tolerance.

 

Also note that gps is only as good as the mapping.

[sui generis]

Bushnell, and perhaps others, use GPS augmented by WAAS. WAAS uses an extra time signal to enhance accuracy. WAAS GPS is usually + or - 1.9 meters.

 

Bushnell, through a vendor, iGolf, usually maps their courses via aerial/satellite imagery. My home course in Asheville recently underwent a major renovation which is not yet reflected on Google Earth. Eventually, iGolf sent me access to their alternate mapping technology. In one afternoon, I mapped the course using my mobile phone. I sent the data to iGolf who sat on it for a couple of days and then released it to the general public. (My conversations with iGolf, both by email and telephone, convinced me that they had their act together.)

 

Now when I play, I know the data from my $50 Bushnell Neo is good!

[cristphoto]

Bushnell, and perhaps others, use GPS augmented by WAAS. WAAS uses an extra time signal to enhance accuracy. WAAS GPS is usually + or - 1.9 meters.

 

Bushnell, through a vendor, iGolf, usually maps their courses via aerial/satellite imagery. My home course in Asheville recently underwent a major renovation which is not yet reflected on Google Earth. Eventually, iGolf sent me access to their alternate mapping technology. In one afternoon, I mapped the course using my mobile phone. I sent the data to iGolf who sat on it for a couple of days and then released it to the general public. (My conversations with iGolf, both by email and telephone, convinced me that they had their act together.)

 

Now when I play, I know the data from my $50 Bushnell Neo is good!

 

That's good to hear as I just got a Bushnell Excel watch. It seems to be accurate when compared to my Bushnell V4 laser. I updated a few of the courses in my rotation and each update took less than 30 seconds. A neat feature included is a swing speed monitor. Works for each club and I can see how my speed changes from first to last hole.

[larrybud]

Bushnell, and perhaps others, use GPS augmented by WAAS. WAAS uses an extra time signal to enhance accuracy. WAAS GPS is usually + or - 1.9 meters.

 

Bushnell, through a vendor, iGolf, usually maps their courses via aerial/satellite imagery. My home course in Asheville recently underwent a major renovation which is not yet reflected on Google Earth. Eventually, iGolf sent me access to their alternate mapping technology. In one afternoon, I mapped the course using my mobile phone. I sent the data to iGolf who sat on it for a couple of days and then released it to the general public. (My conversations with iGolf, both by email and telephone, convinced me that they had their act together.)

 

Now when I play, I know the data from my $50 Bushnell Neo is good!

 

Waas is 2-3 meters.

 

http://www.benmeadows.com/refinfo/techfacts/techpdf/gps_accuracy_waas_300.pdf

[sui generis]

Bushnell, and perhaps others, use GPS augmented by WAAS. WAAS uses an extra time signal to enhance accuracy. WAAS GPS is usually + or - 1.9 meters.

 

Bushnell, through a vendor, iGolf, usually maps their courses via aerial/satellite imagery. My home course in Asheville recently underwent a major renovation which is not yet reflected on Google Earth. Eventually, iGolf sent me access to their alternate mapping technology. In one afternoon, I mapped the course using my mobile phone. I sent the data to iGolf who sat on it for a couple of days and then released it to the general public. (My conversations with iGolf, both by email and telephone, convinced me that they had their act together.)

 

Now when I play, I know the data from my $50 Bushnell Neo is good!

 

Waas is 2-3 meters.

 

http://www.benmeadow...cy_waas_300.pdf

 

Achieved results are better than that. :)

[ThinkingPlus]

SEP (Spherical Error Probability) is ~10 m for standard, non-locally augmented GPS. Most of that error is in the elevation axis. The previously mentioned values for the the horizontal axes under local augmented conditions of 2 - 3 meters is reasonable although signal strength (weather impacts, geographical impacts, etc...) at the course location may make accuracy better or worse.

[North Butte]

Alls I know is, with every GPS I've ever tried I can stand still in one place and it will occasionally show a yardage, the change its mind by 4, 5 or occasionally even 6-8 yards then a minute later change to some third number which doesn't agree with the first or second yardage.

 

I ain't moving and I'm pretty sure the center of the green ain't moving. So all three of those numbers can't be accurate.