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GPS -- Ending?
Having read the responses to and comments on my original post, I am
still left with a few questions: If I am on the Bahama Bank or in the Bahamian Exumas or in Hawk Channel off Key Largo or in a bay or "river" or "creek" off the Chesapeake Bay, negotiating shoals on a cloudy and windy day and GPS goes out because it was suddenly turned off, is that not an "end" for me? Does anyone believe or expect GPS to be turned off only for a few minutes or hours? I would expect weeks to months, or longer, of "ended" signals. And mo Would anyone want to be in a commercial or private airplane when making an initial approach in low ceiling weather to landing and having GPS suddenly go off? This may well be an "end." |
#2
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wrote in message ups.com... having GPS suddenly go off? This may well be an "end." Not the "end" if you maintain a proper watch and can still remember how to navigate, using traditional methods we used before GPS. I don't mean reverting to Celestial, just maintain your plot/log and use DR until your obtain a position fix using other basic methods. Of my 48 years of boating, only in the last 2 years have I had GPS/Loran/digital charts. I will admit that I find GPS and digital charts very accurate and convenient, to the extent that I frequently neglect to maintain my plot. However, last summer I was reminded the hard way, when the power failed to my nav station while I was negotiating (for the first time) the tricky Hammersley Inlet (So. Puget Sound). With 6-8 knot current running, there was little time to take bearings and plot position. In this case, I relied on the "ole MK I Eyeball" and description provided in my cruising guide (shoreline references, etc.). IMHO, a brief loss (day/month or so) shouldn't be the ended of recreational boating. Just an opportunity to employ the traditional methods we all should be familiar with. My opinion, FWIW. Steve s/v Good Intentions |
#3
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Any book or reference on boating safety and navigation will tell the prudent
mariner to NEVER depend on only one source of information for navigation.... |
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"Jeff Morris" wrote in message ... wrote: Having read the responses to and comments on my original post, I am still left with a few questions: If I am on the Bahama Bank or in the Bahamian Exumas or in Hawk Channel off Key Largo or in a bay or "river" or "creek" off the Chesapeake Bay, negotiating shoals on a cloudy and windy day and GPS goes out because it was suddenly turned off, is that not an "end" for me? Yes. I suggest you stay off the water. Those of us who know how to navigate without GPS will thank you. Does anyone believe or expect GPS to be turned off only for a few minutes or hours? I would expect weeks to months, or longer, of "ended" signals. Actually, its most likely it will be degraded in some locality. It can be made useless for terrorists by degrading the altitude component. And mo Would anyone want to be in a commercial or private airplane when making an initial approach in low ceiling weather to landing and having GPS suddenly go off? This may well be an "end." Commercial flights do not rely on GPS for approaches. There are certain procedures available with GPS that are impractical (or even undoable) for other navigation techniques. For instance I have made dark and stormy approaches to a couple of harbors that I would not have done without GPS and radar. These are comfortable with GPS with radar as a backup and sometimes a calibrator. I would not attempt these by radar alone. Note that lights and other aids to navigation are being retired. In a few years it will be impractical to sail a lot of places without GPS. Aircraft use of GPS provides very quick problem detection. Implemented in WAAS it provides an indication of non-proper operation in seconds. Commercial airplanes certainly fly GPS approaches. I don't think there are any precision approaches flown GPS yet...but non-precision approaches certainly are. Eventually it is likely that the VOR/DME system and the ILS will give way to GPS. We are busily embedding GPS into the fabric of society. It is very unlikely that the gov. will suspend the system at all...if they must it will likely be for rather short periods of time. Jim Donohue |
#7
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On 20 Dec 2004 07:58:48 -0800, wrote:
Having read the responses to and comments on my original post, I am still left with a few questions: If I am on the Bahama Bank or in the Bahamian Exumas or in Hawk Channel off Key Largo or in a bay or "river" or "creek" off the Chesapeake Bay, negotiating shoals on a cloudy and windy day and GPS goes out because it was suddenly turned off, is that not an "end" for me? You reference to the Bahamas reminded me of a epsilon in the Sea of Abaco in 1992. We were in our way back from a visit to Green Turtle Cay. We were approaching the Whale Key Passage, about to go out into the Atlantic and then back into the Abacos. Ahead of us were two sailboats about to do the same. One had a stopped. The other radioed him and asked if he was coming through. he responded that his GPS had failed and he did not know where he was. All he had to do was look around use his chart. Does anyone believe or expect GPS to be turned off only for a few minutes or hours? I would expect weeks to months, or longer, of "ended" signals. GPS will not be turned off world wide. It may be turned off in areas of conflict. GMDSS is closely integrated with GPS. Turning off GPS would endanger lives. And mo Would anyone want to be in a commercial or private airplane when making an initial approach in low ceiling weather to landing and having GPS suddenly go off? This may well be an "end." Commercial airline pilot rely on radio navigation beacons and flight controllers to stay in their assigned air space. Instrument landings also use radio beacons. I would suggest that EVERYONE take a coastal navigation course. You still have to understand tides and currents, chart symbols, compass reading, plotting, the buoyage system, and position finding. Jack __________________________________________________ Jack Dale Swiftsure Sailing Academy Director/ISPA and CYA Instructor http://www.swiftsuresailing.com __________________________________________________ |
#8
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"Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message ... On 20 Dec 2004 07:58:48 -0800, wrote: It does get locally turned off once in a while for tests, military exercises, etc. Usually they give plenty of warning. For instance, here's an AP line about an outage back in June for the Carolinas to Florida: ---------- Military testing system designed to jam GPS signals off coast WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - Military officials are testing a system for jamming signals from navigational satellites - an experiment that could disable boaters' GPS devices and force them to rely on dead reckoning. The test began Friday and will run through June 20, as part of a NATO training exercise along the Atlantic Coast. The Coast Guard said GPS signals will be unreliable or unavailable in waters up to 60 miles off North Carolina and along the coast of northern and central Florida. Officials said the testing may affect cell phones as well as GPS navigation devices in boats, airplanes or cars. Coast Guard stations are trying to get word out about the interference. "What we kind of foresee happening is some confusion on the mariners' end," said Petty Officer 1st Class David Christensen. ---------- And mo Would anyone want to be in a commercial or private airplane when making an initial approach in low ceiling weather to landing and having GPS suddenly go off? This may well be an "end." No, that won't be the end either... unless the plane doesn't have a pilot and it's being flown automatically, directed by GPS. Steve Actually Steve I think the military jammed the signal rather than turning it off or degrading it. I also believe that there are antennas that would make it difficult or impossible to jam a GPS particularly from a boat a few miles away from the jamming site. I doubt the military will talk about it but reasonably simple shielded antenna with deliberate limitation of the sky viewed can probably provide pretty good reception even in the face of heavy jamming. On the other side jamming GPS in a relatively close in situation like a harbor or a city is a piece of cake. I am sure the hacker community already has a couple of desings on the internet. None of this in any way applies that the gov can't easily screw around with the signal to any desired extent. I would also point out it would be relatively trivial for the gov to take out Russian or European sattellites as well. Probably construable as an act of war but why else would the gov. do it? Jim Donohue |
#9
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Jim Donohue wrote:
"Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message ... On 20 Dec 2004 07:58:48 -0800, wrote: It does get locally turned off once in a while for tests, military exercises, etc. Usually they give plenty of warning. For instance, here's an AP line about an outage back in June for the Carolinas to Florida: ---------- Military testing system designed to jam GPS signals off coast WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - Military officials are testing a system for jamming signals from navigational satellites - an experiment that could disable boaters' GPS devices and force them to rely on dead reckoning. The test began Friday and will run through June 20, as part of a NATO training exercise along the Atlantic Coast. The Coast Guard said GPS signals will be unreliable or unavailable in waters up to 60 miles off North Carolina and along the coast of northern and central Florida. Officials said the testing may affect cell phones as well as GPS navigation devices in boats, airplanes or cars. Coast Guard stations are trying to get word out about the interference. "What we kind of foresee happening is some confusion on the mariners' end," said Petty Officer 1st Class David Christensen. ---------- And mo Would anyone want to be in a commercial or private airplane when making an initial approach in low ceiling weather to landing and having GPS suddenly go off? This may well be an "end." No, that won't be the end either... unless the plane doesn't have a pilot and it's being flown automatically, directed by GPS. Steve Actually Steve I think the military jammed the signal rather than turning it off or degrading it. I also believe that there are antennas that would make Right. That's what the article says, that the military was jamming GPS signals from 60 miles off North Carolina and along the coast of northern and central Florida. Of course, it doesn't really matter why it's unusable ... whether it's jammed or turned off, it's still unusable. it difficult or impossible to jam a GPS particularly from a boat a few miles away from the jamming site. I doubt the military will talk about it but If you increase "few" miles to a hundred miles or more, I'd agree. That also depends on how they jam it. I.e., whether it's from the air or ground. You can possibly get directional antennas and point the null in the direction of the jammer. But that assumes there's only one and that it's not somewhere above you. There's also ways of decreasing the effectiveness of a jammer via signal processing. Of course, most boaters don't go out equipped to handle possible jamming. reasonably simple shielded antenna with deliberate limitation of the sky viewed can probably provide pretty good reception even in the face of heavy jamming. It's got to be a little better than that. It has to have a pretty good null specifically in the direct of the jammer. That's because GPS signals are so weak (actually, they're below the level of background noise and signal processing is needed to dig them out) that just about any interference can cover them up. On the other side jamming GPS in a relatively close in situation like a harbor or a city is a piece of cake. I am sure the hacker community already has a couple of desings on the internet. You want a link? I've seen several make your own designs, complete with schematics and parts lists with sources, design considerations, etc. To take out GPS up to maybe 50 miles or more you only need about 4 watts ERP, same as a CB walkie talkie. If you're equipped to handle the jamming, you can overcome that and limit the range of the jammer to maybe only a few miles. But again, most boaters aren't equipped to deal with jamming and it would render the GPS of most boaters useless. None of this in any way applies that the gov can't easily screw around with the signal to any desired extent. I would also point out it would be relatively trivial for the gov to take out Russian or European sattellites as well. Probably construable as an act of war but why else would the gov. do it? It's just as trivial for another sophisticated government, one with space capability, to take out our GPS satellites. Also probably an act of war. Steve |
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