[time-nuts] The Demise of LORAN (was Re: Reference oscillator accuracy)

[Steve Rooke]

2009/11/16 Didier Juges <didier at cox.net>:
> Not all GPSs are on airplanes, but those I am really worried about are.
>
> I don't care if the GPS receiver in my cell phone stops working in some
> locations, it does not work everywhere to begin with (like in the house, I
> can't use it to find the bathroom in the dark...), but I worry that the one
> guiding a missile or a fighter plane might not work. I also worry that the
> one abord a large passenger aircraft might not work. Most of those that are
> stationary or move on the ground or on water, I am not too worried about.

And I'm really worried about statements like this that seem to
indicate just how vulnerable we are if something seeming as fragile as
GPS is compromised. People found the bathroom, drove from place to
place and flew vast distances without GPS in the past but now have we
taken a step too far. Surely all commercial and non-commercial pilots
are able to navigate without such systems, this must be part of their
training and are people not driving round with a set of maps in the
glove compartment any more. If Starbucks is really reliant on GPS as a
means for getting it's customers, perhaps they should review their
business model.

> For instance, the local garbage pickup people use GPS to locate the houses
> of customers who have unusual (large or unsafe, or possibly contaminating)
> garbage to pickup. I have had a dead TV on the side of my house for 3 weeks,
> three times I called and 3 times they missed it because the GPS guided them
> to my front door (my normal mailing address), but I live on a corner lot and
> the garbage pickup is on the side of the house, by the garage. If that
> particular GPS receiver stopped working and forced the employees to look
> around, it would not bother me (the TV ended up in the trash can. After 3
> times and 3 weeks, I assumed I had done a reasonable attempt at avoiding
> putting too much lead in the garbage, and it had to go.)

Maybe your local garbage company should look at increasing the
intelligence level requirements in it's recruitment process. Surely
they could have looked around a bit to find it or were they lazy and
gave up when the item was not at the exact spot as recorded by the
GPS. That is surely a ludicrous system if you ask me. Perhaps the guys
need more training, a course in map reading and the inclusion of maps
in the vehicle.

Steve

> Didier
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com
>> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On Behalf Of Magnus Danielson
>> Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:03 PM
>> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
>> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] The Demise of LORAN (was Re:
>> Reference oscillator accuracy)
>>
>> Francesco Ledda wrote:
>> > Considering that the GPS antenna in aircrafts is mounted on top of
>> > fuselage, and that its radiation pattern is upward, it seems that a
>> > ground jammer will have an uphill battle.
>>
>> Not all GPS receivers is sitting on flying airplanes. Far from it.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Magnus
>>
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>
>
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-- 
Steve Rooke - ZL3TUV & G8KVD
A man with one clock knows what time it is;
A man with two clocks is never quite sure.