FAA warns of a potential GPS outage

[melm00se]

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

The Department of Defense will conduct GPS tests on January 20th through February
22nd, 2011. During testing, the GPS signal may be unreliable or unavailable.

[SpiralHawk]

1. "All your GPS coordinates are belong to us." - DOD

[ProgressiveProfessor]

14. Indeed it does

Originally a military only system. It was under Reagan the process was started to give civilians access, but not at the same accuracy as military users. More recently that was changed to give all uses the same accuracy, though that could revert in seconds if needed, or even turned off for civilian users.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Did you know it was Reagan who proposed opening GPS to civilians?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Timeline_and_modernization

In 1983, after Soviet interceptor aircraft shot down the civilian airliner KAL 007 that strayed into prohibited airspace because of navigational errors, killing all 269 people on board, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that GPS would be made available for civilian uses once it was completed.

Until recently, I didn't know that...

[melm00se]

3. one of his smarter moves

GPS access has refined many daily (but rarely visible) tasks, among them are

- Surveyors (they can use GPSs to provide their location down to centimeters (http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/applications.html)
- Police/Ambulance dispatchers (can locate the car closest to the event)
- Scientists

GPS access is now something many folks take for granted and rely on instead of paper maps.

[customerserviceguy]

6. Clearly, GPS saves fuel

Before I had mine, I did a lot of driving around in circles trying to find things. Multiply that by millions of drivers, and we're talking some serious fuel savings.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Minor point...it is specified to 10 meter accuracy

Though it often does better

[DFW]

4. This will be the explanation

When you drive your car off a cliff, and the last thing you hear will be "recalculating...."

[Zephie]

12. My GPS tried to drive me off an overpass once

The bridge was new and the map was outdated, so it told me to turn right directly in the middle of it. It was funny, but would be a bad thing if you were dumb enough to believe everything the machine tells you to do.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. The real usefulness of GPS comes when it is tied to geographic data which makes latency a

big issue. Latency is not just the failure to install an update, but in the collection process as well. My "street" has been in existence for 15 years. It is just now on the Garmin maps because I submitted it.

[Possumpoint]

5. Won't bother me

I have never used a GPS receiver.

[texastoast]

7. NOO

Don't tell me I'm going to have to brush up on my map skills.

[Viking12]

8. Looks like the only areas to be impacted are the SE states

Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Alabama. Thankfully, it should be working when I go ice fishing next week.

[Ian David]

9. OBAMA'S GONNA TAKE AWAY YOUR GPS!!!

:sarcasm:

[katnapped]

10. Oh puh-leez

Everyone knows this "test" will be so they can "download" govermint propaganda to everyone's GPS. How can some of you be so damned blind?!?

:sarcasm:

[melm00se]

11. no....

it's a test to see if they can reprogram progressives' GPS so they get sent to the wrong polling place on election day.

:sarcasm:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Self Delete - wrong place