[Stephen Lindberg]

I'm learning to use my new Garmin 296. There is a red dot that appears on two pages, GPS and Celestial. It is seen on the horizon line of both the satellite position sky view and the sun/moon position sky view. It moves around slowly with time but seems always to be on the horizon. Anyone know what it represents? I can't find a thing in the manual. Thanks.

 

[Stephen Lindberg]

OK, thanks, that was quick. Is there only one WAAS satellite at a time? I've only ever seen one dot. Wouldn't a geosynchronous satellite be on the celestial equator, and hence above the horizon most of the time?

 

[mburch]

In the US, WAAS satellites are always in the southern sky. What you're actually seeing is simply a marker to indicate which direction you're currently moving. If you are stationary or not moving very fast, it may tend to wander around, especially if you don't currently have a good view of the sky.

good luck,
mcb

 

[Stephen Lindberg]

Figured it out. The red dot indicates the direction of travel. My antenna is sitting stationary on the deck railing while I sit in the shade. The computer thinks I am moving at 0.1 mph in apparently random directions, and so the red dot moves around the horizon. Pretty good confirmation by selecting between "north up" and "course up" and seeing the red dot move to 12 o'clock in "course up".

The WAAS satellites look like any others on the display.