GPS disruptions in southeastern US

[+tpb711]

Just found this article on Engadget. Not good for geocachers in the southeastern US. No, your GPSr didn't just die...

 

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

[+Chrysalides]

Just found this article on Engadget. Not good for geocachers in the southeastern US. No, your GPSr didn't just die...

 

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

I just came here to post this, good thing I checked first.

 

If geocachers in the SW can report on any anomalies between January 20th and February 22nd, it would be interesting to see what effect it has on geocaching.

[+Chrysalides]

Link to FAA advisory :

 

https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2011/Jan/GPS_Flight_Advisory_CSFTL11-01_Rel.pdf

 

From the advisory it sounds like effects might not be very significant at lower altitudes.

 

During testing, GPS will be unreliable and may be unavailable with in a circle with

a radius of 370NM and centered at 304906N/0802811W or the location known as

105.25 degrees and 52.1 NM from the SSI VOR at FL400; decreasing in area with

a decrease in altitude to a circle with a radius of 325NM at FL250; a circle with a

radius of 260NM at 10,000FT MSL and a circle with a radius of 215NM at 4,000FT

AGL.

Lots of jargon. Not sure how to convert the coordinate to long / lat. FL is flight level, I don't suppose anyone will be caching above 4000 ft in Florida, wonder what the effect at ground level will be like.

Edited January 20, 2011 by Chrysalides

[+Shevden_&_Fleurrine]

I don't live in that area, but I'm curious as well what kind of issues this will cause for any cachers, so please keep us up to date.

 

Shevden

Edited January 20, 2011 by Shevden_&_Fleurrine

[xyzee]

If, my fast scan/read is correct:

Test will occur from midnight to 2:45 UTC (London or "Other" in the Time Zone) Garmin 60Cx>Menu>Setup>Time>Time Zone, for just out of the box newbies.

That should be from 7PM to 9:45PM Eastern Time only.

 

N 30 49 06 W 080 28 11 DMS Converts to:

 

N 30 14.100 W 28.183 DMM

 

Says this 60CXs.

 

Should be fun to check on how bad the test messes up your GPS receiver! Let us know. Thanks.

[+KI4HLW]

Link to FAA advisory :

 

https://www.faasafet...TL11-01_Rel.pdf

 

From the advisory it sounds like effects might not be very significant at lower altitudes.

 

During testing, GPS will be unreliable and may be unavailable with in a circle with

a radius of 370NM and centered at 304906N/0802811W or the location known as

105.25 degrees and 52.1 NM from the SSI VOR at FL400; decreasing in area with

a decrease in altitude to a circle with a radius of 325NM at FL250; a circle with a

radius of 260NM at 10,000FT MSL and a circle with a radius of 215NM at 4,000FT

AGL.

Lots of jargon. Not sure how to convert the coordinate to long / lat. FL is flight level, I don't suppose anyone will be caching above 4000 ft in Florida, wonder what the effect at ground level will be like.

 

Well just keep an eye on Cacheapalooza 5 (GC2C575) this Saturday, if you hear the combined screams of myself and hundreds of other cachers you will know its not good!

Edited January 21, 2011 by KI4HLW

[+gpsfun]

For air navigation purposes, altitudes above 18,000 feet are expressed as Flight Levels. 18,000 feet = FL180, FL250 = 25,000 feet, FL400 = 40,000 feet, etc.

[+Chrysalides]

If, my fast scan/read is correct:

Test will occur from midnight to 2:45 UTC (London or "Other" in the Time Zone) Garmin 60Cx>Menu>Setup>Time>Time Zone, for just out of the box newbies.

That should be from 7PM to 9:45PM Eastern Time only.

 

N 30 49 06 W 080 28 11 DMS Converts to:

 

N 30 14.100 W 28.183 DMM

 

Says this 60CXs.

I think you got some digits wrong. That puts you less than 1000 miles off the coast of Western Sahara in Africa

 

Taking that as DDMMSS, it puts me less than 100 miles off the coast of Florida. Same thing for DD.DDDD.

 

For air navigation purposes, altitudes above 18,000 feet are expressed as Flight Levels. 18,000 feet = FL180, FL250 = 25,000 feet, FL400 = 40,000 feet, etc.

Thanks!

Edited January 21, 2011 by Chrysalides

[+northernpenguin]

Sorry, my fault folks. I am going to Florida in early February so Murphy's Law has kicked in.

Kinda like how we had a snow drought last year - right after I obtained a snowblower.

[+Egnix]

I find this to be really odd. There has been no NANU (I forget what it stands for, but it's a notice of possible change in GPS service) on this. See herefor the latest GPS constellation status and NANUs.

[+ecanderson]

I find this to be really odd. There has been no NANU (I forget what it stands for, but it's a notice of possible change in GPS service) on this. See herefor the latest GPS constellation status and NANUs.

First place I looked, and was also surprised that there was no mention there at all. If it hadn't been posted on the FAAST site, I'd have been over to Snopes next!

[+Egnix]

There's not even anything on the GPS Testing Notices page. Hmmmm...

[+Egnix]

I just got today's Operational Advisory. It did show that SVN62 went into "maintenance" yesterday. SVN62 is the first GPS satellite of the new "Block IIF" flavor. I'm going to guess they might playing with one of the new capabilities if this bird.

[xyzee]

Good catch, Chrysalides, thanks.

Worse than a senior moment boo-boo.I should have caught it if I had of previewed it. And when I looked at the test waypoint this morn, it read N 30 14.100 on this 60Cx.

Now N 30 49 06 W 080 28 11

reads N 30 49.100 W 080 28.183

on this unit. I hope that this is the correct conversion.

[+Shilo]

What I posted to the GGA(Georgia Geocachers Association) forum:

 

According to a FAA Flight Advisory dated January 19, 2011 this is what we know.

 

- During testing, GPS signal may be unreliable or unavailable.

- Several tests will be active for 45 minutes with 15 minutes off time.

- Testing will be from January 20 - February 11 AND February 15 - February 22 between the hours of 19:00 to 21:45(7pm to 9:45pm), DAILY.

- NOTAMs(Notification of all Airmen) will be issued by the FAA at least 24 hours in advance of any testing.

 

What we don't know for sure:

Alien landings, Terrorist attacks, Russian or N Korean subs off GA shore, Chem trails or whatever else the conspiracy theorists have come up with.

Also, No mention of civilian GPSr's if they are affected. But since the FAA deals with commercial aircraft and I highly doubt commercial aircraft have Tom-Toms or Nuvi's on the the windshield I suspect this will affect all GPS receivers.

 

Looks as though this will only affect the Atlanta area FTF hounds at this point.

 

Edit to add: The time above is given in US Eastern standard time.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Shilo

[+Shilo]

Found a link to the FAA GPS NOTAMs here.

 

NOTAMs were issued on Wednesday and Thursday for Thursday and Friday night GPS testing per the FAA Flight Advisory rules(At least 24 notice on tests).

 

If you look closely, it appears this affects more than just the Southeast US

[+Chrysalides]

Alien landings, Terrorist attacks, Russian or N Korean subs off GA shore, Chem trails or whatever else the conspiracy theorists have come up with.

It's obviously alien terrorists landing in N Korean subs off GA shore, attacking with chem trails.

 

I had to look up "chem trails" to figure out what it is...

[+mtnbikerik]

Along the same line, some may find this article out today to be of interest.

 

Newark Airport GBAS Vulnerable to Truckers’ GPS Jammers

GPS designers understood from the beginning that the system’s weak signals would be vulnerable to inadvertent or deliberate interference, with the threat formally recognized by the DOT’s Volpe Center in Cambridge, Mass., on Sept. 10, 2001–one day before 9/11. Since that time, the Department of Defense has run annual all-altitude tests–over the Western U.S. last month and currently over the Southeast–of the jam-resistance of military GPS equipment. In 2009, Newark Liberty International Airport installed a Honeywell GPS ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) to enhance terminal airspace operations, and Continental Airlines has since equipped 18 of its Boeing 737s with GBAS avionics, with the FAA providing GBAS support. But system tests last year revealed intermittent and unpredictable interference, causing the ground station to shut itself down. The culprits were small GPS jammers that drivers of passing 18-wheelers used to disable the tracking devices installed by trucking companies. Reportedly, thousands of these jammers have been sold, with one model selling for only $22.95 online. The FAA and Honeywell are now investigating protective measures, but in the meantime Newark’s GBAS cannot be certified for instrument landings.

[+Chrysalides]

Interesting, thanks. I'm blaming my future DNFs on truckers

[+KI4HLW]

GPS Jammer??? I have a new idea for a Difficulty 5 cache!

[+cx1]

GPS Jammer??? I have a new idea for a Difficulty 5 cache!

That is just evil, pure genius type of evil, but still evil.

I like it

[AloricG]

Hellos.

 

From the Tampa Bay area - vehicle GPS systems seem to have gone to crap in the last hour. Have a few different friends who are lost and who called me - i remembered seeing the GPS notice and so googled it to see if there were updates and found this site.

 

So current status: People are lost.

[+Chrysalides]

From the Tampa Bay area - vehicle GPS systems seem to have gone to crap in the last hour. Have a few different friends who are lost and who called me - i remembered seeing the GPS notice and so googled it to see if there were updates and found this site.

 

So current status: People are lost.

Thanks for the update!