It would seem there are lots of other people who have issues with the reliability of What 3 words.
From the British Mountaineering website:
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/what_3_words_and_mrt-751425
1 Like
I bet itās coordinates!
73, Sylvia
In order to know three words you need to install w3w on the phone. You may also install Locus maps free. There is a way to use offline maps but it uses internet to show map. But, there is little satellite dish icon and if you touch it you have access to gps location. It also gives you your speed and height
Itās a bit of a minefield if you start diggingā¦ I think most consumer-gade stuff defaults to WGS84 and Lat/Long in some format or other, but way, way back I was given the job of re-writing a simple navigation system for a new microcomputer platform. The previous system presented positions as eastings and northings, and had fifty or more geoid datums for use around the world. The new system had a fair few more added. Some were a bit specific, to tie in with cartography from particular survey areas. Obviously, selecting the wrong one could put you, apparently, somewhat off the (paper) map of the survey area.
My Garmin GPSr lists even more datums, with something like 130 to choose from, and connects some with particular co-ordinate representations. I usually keep it in WGS84 and Lat/Long with degrees and decimal minutes, because that works well enough for me everywhere Iām likely to visit (and is the combination usually used for geocaching).
This topic helped me a lot. I decided to stay with lat/log in dd mm ss. Simply, my old etrex10 and paper maps use same format.
I am using offline maps on my mobile phone and gps shows me exact location. But, that is not fun. Etrex10, paper map, compass, eh, thats fun. After that I confirm my possition on mobile phone and off line map. So, double check.
Now, I have very biiig question. In case of need, how to send my position?
2 Likes
Perhaps Iām missing something, but isnāt the problem with all these āappsā, is what do you do if, or when you run out of battery power?
There are numerous references on MR websites of customers/victims devices running out of battery power.
A system such as OS grid references using a paper map doesnāt run out of battery power.
5 Likes
Bitter personal experience here Tom.
I have direct experience of mangled w3w references causing complete confusion and delaying rescues. Itās got a bit better recently due to w3w offering a āguessometerā that tries to find local references. Butā¦ despite assertions to the contraryā¦ similar sounding word groups can be found quite close together which is a big issue.
In 14 years the number of failed OS grids is tiny in comparison. Numbers seem to be more distinct when sent over a scratchy and windy mobile call.
Edit: to be 100% fair, I did get one last week that was spot on. Butā¦ maybe the difference was it was in a strong signal area on a lovely sunny wind free day. Less communication problems.
3 Likes
Which is, letās face it, complete acknowledgement their system is not superior to any of the others despite their significant marketing push that it is.
1 Like
This is exactly the problemā¦ but what happens if you think you hear the read back correctly, so you ultimately donāt fix it. That seems to be what happens (a lot!).
3 Likes
What is missing in this discussion is the use of AML (Advanced Mobile Location).
I usually get this info if it comes from one emergency service, but another one doesnāt pass it over. I darenāt name names!
The operators need to combine AML with any spoken information to confirm the location. Thatās a training and time issue.
4 Likes
This is why Garmin devices are still very useful in my opinion, my now a bit long in the tooth 62st will last about 20 hours on a good pair of AA.
Then you need the paper map.
The mobile is just for browsing sota forumsā¦
2 Likes
Okay, i am going to open another can of worns and naively ask why when 999 is called from a mobile, <inset_location_system> data is not automatically sent? While I hate the idea of data leaks of tracking data, as a rescuer in the mountains of California it was handy getting GPS coordinates at the 911 center. IF we needed to get updated location for any reason our coordinator would call the individuals and say please call 911 again etc. The key here is those people had to have access to at leaat 1 cell tower which up until a few years ago was a stretch. It allows those panickād individuals in the field needing services to not have to care. It cut down our needles in a haystack searches by a measurable amount in the time I was on the team. while I do not advocate lowering the bar of the knowledge needed to enjoy the mountains, reducing burden in a fecal oscillation situation is not a bad thing.
1 Like
I think that problem is attitude. Most people live in controled enviroment. Houses, streets, electricity, gas, running water, artifical light, mobile signal always strong. They expect that mountains are also controled enviroment. But they are not.
2 Likes
True. Mountains are a lifelong learning curve.
2 Likes
The Steierische Bergrettung wrote back today. They prefer UTM.
73 de Matt
3 Likes
It is. Since the mid 2010s this has been available to emergency services on the UK.
See
I would point out that it is not infallible. It tries several ways to locate the phone, but itās not always successful.
1 Like
How well/badly does AML work if Location isnāt turned on on the mobile phone calling, do you know?
AML (which enabled for 111 calls in NZ) claims to turn on location automatically - overriding your settings. At least on my version on Android. That said, this means it will be trying to get a cold-fix which may take some time to a) get, and b) settle down.
2 Likes
Interesting, thanks!
Part of their issue, IMHO, is that they tried to get too granular, causing exponentially more words to be needed. This forced their hand and caused them to use plurals and homonyms.
For example, the pavilion that I operate POTA from at my home park is covered by 20 W3W grids. Is that really necessary for emergency services to find you? A 12x12 grid would be perfectly adequate for that use, and require 1/16th the number of word combinations needed by their current system.
5 Likes