FAA warns of ongoing GPS issues in southeastern US

[Kali]

sorry if a repeat, I just skimmed first page of GD, didn't do a search - I have a cold and slow dial up, those are my current excuses;)

Don't panic, but anyone planning on using GPS in the southeastern US for the next month or so will likely want to make sure they have a fallback option. That's according to a flight advisory just issued by the FAA, which warns pilots that their GPS signal "may be unreliable or unavailable" due to "GPS tests" that the Department of Defense will be conducting between January 20th and February 22nd.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/20/faa-warns-of-ongoing-gps-issues-in-southeastern-us-due-to-defens/

[liberal N proud]

1. Curious - will that affect the land based GPS devices also

I didn't see any reference in the article but then it was the FAA.

Just wondering.

[Kali]

2. I have no idea, got that in an e-mail

and thought I would pass it along. Sorry.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. Of course

[Trajan]

8. Because of the nature of the GPS System ...

I believe it will affect all GPS devices, on air, land and sea.

I believe it may be due to one of two possible causes:

1) Selective Availability (SA Modes) might be implemented for system testing ... GPS has a number of possible resolutions; accuracy from within inches to errors of miles .... The military uses the high precision mode, while the general public uses a less accurate but still accurate enough channel ... They also can downgrade the return intentionally, to purposely throw positions off - If an 'enemy' used GPS to guide missiles or fly into our airspace, for instance, they would intentionally degrade the resolution.

2) Satellites are being taken offline for testing - The less satellites available to establish position, the less accurate the position ...

I'm no expert ... But I think these reasons might be why ...

[liberal N proud]

9. Yeah, I just didn't know if they were using the same signals as aircraft

[NightWatcher]

3. I'm near the center of that graphic. Can't wait to see the effect on ship traffic

The ship's GPS has been slow this week, but nothing too bad yet.

[NightWatcher]

4. Second testing area in Southern California (link)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/20/unavailabe_gps_warning/

[bananas]

11. That affects California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Mexico

[drm604]

5. Why hasn't some kind of notification been issued for the general public?

Many businesses and individuals use GPS regularly. Why are they only notifying pilots?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. It has.

The outage was posted by the DoD. FAA has a formal notification system as does shipping that supplements the media

[drm604]

12. Okay.

I guess the reason I hadn't heard about it is that I don't live in those areas.

[hunter]

10. That's just great.

Now my house can get hit by a terrorist cruise missile that was aimed at my neighbor.

:grr: