what three words

[PeterC]

Sorry - just posted that before I got to your post.

[ARW]

Pure class.

[Andrew]

In the middle of nowhere !.

What, no log burner ?.

Actually aren't fallen trees best left to rot down naturally ? (depending on location). They support an amazing number of bugs and fungi.

Curiously, there is no such place as what.the.f*ck ?. Shucks they might at least have given that to the North Pole or somewhere remote.

[Andrew]

And out of range of a mobile mast, which is the very place when it would be most useful, your phone reverts to be being a media player and camera.

[Andrew]

Could be in an 18 story tower block. How does W3W indicate elevation ?. It can't from what I can gather.

[Andrew]

Is this the new one-upmanship ? :-)

[Andrew]

And speak proper.

[ARW]

Last year I called 999 when a field was on fire.

The handler was unable to locate the address I gave as "halfway between the villages of Branton and Auckley". The field did not have a postcode or if it did I did not know it.

I eventually gave her the address of the Eagle and Child with the assumption that the firemen could see the fire from there and would probably pass it on their way to the Eagle.

[Tim Lamb]

Indeed. As are most farms:-)

Not any more. The recovered wood will go to our new neighbours.

Yes. Not when they fall on arable land though.

:-)

[George Miles]

I've used what3words a couple of times, I walk around checking squares next to the first one until i find a more memorable spellable combination

g

[Vir Campestris]

Just shows the limits of the system...

The place where I am sitting right now is quite amusing, but I wouldn't publish it on the Internet.

Andy

[Vir Campestris]

You need several satellites to get a fix.

One gives you a location/time that places you somewhere on the surface of an expanding sphere. Two it's a circle; three a line; IIRC you need 4 to get any fix at all.

All it's doing is the equivalent of having a whole load of people shouting "At the third pip it will be 10:37 precisely".

When you get the timestamp it will be later than that by the speed if light delay from the satellite; doing that for several at once is what gives you the fix. More satellites allows it to check its errors.

Andy

[Another John]

Tagging on the end of this discussion:

There seems to be too much emphasis (in the DIY discussion) on accuracy, and competition with GPS etc.

My understanding was that it had been conceived as a rescue device, in particular for teams out on the moors, up a mountain, etc. The phrase "in the middle of nowhere" is literally true in those contexts.

Add to that problem (someone with a broken ankle in the middle of nowhere) the problem that the casualty (and companions) can't read a map (to give a mapref) and can't use GPS apps for one reason or another.

W3W provides an easily understood way to locate yourself. Accuracy down to (say) 100m) is usually good enough for a rescue team.

From what Robin says above, W3W have outgrown their boots by some way.

Personally I resist it -- it always looked like a trendy gimmick, to me, which might devalue proper location systems if taken too far.

Cheers J.

[Another John]

Old joke (around here):

Geordie hobbles to the doctor with a bad leg [you can see how old this joke is]

Geordie: Ah need a sick nert, Doctah - me leg's that bad, lyek.

Doctor: Can you walk?

Geordie (indignant): 'WALK'?!!!! Ah canna even waak, man!

[Andy Burns]

Yet the BBC article shows rescue teams saying it can be worse than useless.

[tony sayer]

Line..

A fix..

Really?, how's that then?.

Three with give you location and height above datum...

Yes and the time delays of each path will give you the necessary positioning. Each sat has a very high accuracy atomic clock..

[Vir Campestris]

Nope, a circle. Are you perhaps assuming you know your distance from the centre of the earth? Or the precise time to atomic accuracy?

"At a minimum, four satellites must be in view of the receiver for it to compute four unknown quantities (three position coordinates and the deviation of its own clock from satellite time)."

Andy

[Clive Arthur]

I wonder where 'Controlled Waste Burn' is?

[tony sayer]

Well a line across the earth;) Assuming the circle is at right angles to the plane of the earth.. -----|----- like that..

Yes it would be a circle the accuracy dependant the Two transmit sources and their configuration.

Yes any source like that would need an atomic clock . Each sat will Transmit to say "right its now exact time" and I'm sending that if the difference betwixt the two sources is the same the length then that can be determined but any lead/lag the difference can be calculated Atomic clock grade r device on t needed in the receiver..

Yes in practice the more the more accurate allowing for such as Urban clutter and fading etc..

Well it does say in that Three can be used if your all at sea;)...

Doesn't really need that does it if you think it thru?.

To get a fix all the receiver needs to know if the differences in the time delay from each sat and its location.

Their bloody good clocks 'tho, we compared then to our Ruby-rid-um standard here.

Least the SWMBO can't bugger them up, so much fast etc:)......

[williamwright]

Don't forget the faeces, blood*, and that interesting green streaked sputum.

In quantity it suggests a knife wound; if a few drips in the middle of the floor a leaking jam rag.

Bill