“Sorry if that came across as overly critical ykh, it was not meant to be.”
not at all. only a 4-day effort.
“if you cover them with anything more than air and thin plastic (2-3mm) they don’t work very well at all. Anything metallic over the path will shield the signal; this includes anything like LED, LCD or OLED displays.”
Patch is new term for me tbh. but if you read closely, i accomodate -
“RadTag sends via wireless and receives GPS/wireless.”
i didnt depend on this device receiving GPS signals. but based on some new child-tracking tech, figured wireless could accomodate high density areas. for rural areas, radiological contamination is less likely (poor terrorist target) and GPS signal reception would be clearer. [edit>]big issue in remote areas is sending an alert. receiving one is also issue, but there are options for resolving that (e.g. emergency broadcasts from private satellites - like XMRadio. etc). thinking rural folks get shortchanged if they’re attacked though.[/]
“the line of sight from the GPS receiver to the satellite overhead. If anything solid gets in the way (building, big trees etc) the signal is lost. A GPS receiver needs to “see” three satellites minimum to work. If you are surrounded by lots of tall buildings, there is only a small area of sky in which to see the satellites, and since there are a limited number of them up there, the chances of being able to see three or more is reduced.”
iirc GPS satellites send out an low-power, omni-direction radio pulse. there is no “sight” similar to microwave reception (hi-freq/high-power = directional). and GPS uses intersection of three satellite distance “spheres” to triangulate position. Earth is the fourth sphere to reduce errors. i believe the issue w buildings is ghosting. radio wave reflections induce errors similar to what you get on a tv screen. but there is always 3 satellites above… somewhere. that’s how its designed.
feel free to correct me if i’m wrong. been awhile since i’d worked w GPS stuff.