View Full Version : EDITORIAL: Obama to America: Get lost
EDITORIAL: Obama to America: Get lost
Sweetheart deal for billionaire could cut off GPS service
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/7/obama-to-america-get-lost/
".....In the past decade, millions have come to depend on the seeming magic of the global positioning system (GPS) to guide them to their destination. The navigational gadgets in cars, cell phones and other hand-held devices can even be a lifesaver. Now the system may be undermined by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision last month to allow a well-connected company to exploit a slice of the airwaves in a way that potentially blocks GPS signals.
The FCC bent the rules so the Reston-based firm LightSquared could offer a new wireless Internet service that fulfills President Obama‘s high-profile push for public investment in broadband. Yet the FCC appears to have done its best to keep this particular deal far from the public eye. LightSquared made its formal request for a waiver on Nov. 18, and the agency opened a public-comment period the next day. Those with an interest in the matter had just two weeks to comment - a short period that included Thanksgiving.
The haste may be related to surprising laboratory test results from the world’s top manufacturer of navigational gizmos, Garmin Ltd. The company’s engineers found that popular consumer GPS units started experiencing dropouts when approaching within 3.6 miles of a LightSquared transmitter. A commonly used aircraft navigation unit completely lost its fix within 5.6 miles. “It’s mind-boggling to us,” Garmin spokesman Ted Gartner told The Washington Times. “If it’s implemented as is, we’ve presented a pretty good case with that test that there will be some disruptions.”.........................."
You techy types know anything about this? Filters vs no filters issue?
This should be interesting.
Just about anything you stick in your pocket these days has a GPS chip in side for one reason or another.
Not only the Garmin in your pocket but on you car's dash, you cars black box, cell phones, pods, laptops, kids toys, at-home prisoner ankle tracking devices, your Dish & Directv satellite receiver,, you name it..
If true,, someone is going to have a hole lotta splaining to do Lucy...
:eek::eek::eek::eek:
Dozer523
02-10-2011, 21:30
oh well . . . there is always the "two dimensional representations of a portion of the Earth's surface, drawn to scale".
Now, where did I put those?
Oh yeah, in a geo-cashe.:eek:
ZonieDiver
02-10-2011, 21:32
This should be interesting.
Just about anything you stick in your pocket these days has a GPS chip in side for one reason or another.
Not only the Garmin in your pocket but on you car's dash, you cars black box, cell phones, pods, laptops, kids toys, at-home prisoner ankle tracking devices, your Dish & Directv satellite receiver,, you name it..
If true,, someone is going to have a hole lotta splaining to do Lucy...
:eek::eek::eek::eek:
Not to mention in the Turbo-Tax software to help you get deductions you might otherwise miss? Every time I hear that I say, "WTF"?
This goes hand in hand with the federal gov's sell off to various freq's in the quest for money. There has always been a buffer between a few freq bands to keep this from happening. Looks like greed overrules the good of the whole. The study group published a report about this a year or two ago. That is why you are regulated with your power outputs on every freq to keep your transmission from creating problems for others.
This will be dangerous if they push this through.....
x SF med
02-15-2011, 09:31
I'm glad I know how to use a map and compass... and actually own a nice Silva, and a lensatic, and a thumb compass and a few dozen maps....
I like my Garmin for work travel though... especially in this area.
It appears as though the problem is that the frequency spectrum used by the GPS satellites and the frequency spectrum to be utilized by Lightsquared's land-based antennas are very close to each other. Couple that with the fact that the signal strength from GPS satellites is measured in tens of watts and the proposed land-based system will be generating 1000's of watts and you can see where there might be a problem. The proposed land-based signals will drown out the signals that the existing satellite-based GPS system is generating. At least when you are close to the land-based antennas. The further away from them that you are the better your GPS signal will be. But, the plan seems to be that some 40,000 of these antennas will be built so where can you hide.
This link may explain the situation better:
http://www.saveourgps.org/Satellite_and_Terrestrial_Signal_Differences.aspx
Remember when Wolfman Jack ran his "Pirate radio station" from just over the border in Mexico? Supposedly you could drive from coast to coast and never lose his signal. That was because he was emitting a huge amount of wattage that the FCC (or its equivalent in those days) deemed illegal, which was the reason why he was doing it from Mexico. The FCC did not have the authority to stop him. He was drowning out stations across the country that were operating on similar frequencies, but only putting out just a few watts.
The FCC has seemingly given Lightsquared a sweet-heart deal. Usually the FCC drowns a company in paperwork and testing for years before they will offer up any bandwidth. In this instance the FCC seems to have done a 180. They have already given approval and Lightsquared need only show the FCC that its signals will not interfere with the GPS signals. It appears that Lightsquared is on the honor system with the FCC.
There is already at least one organization established to prevent Lightsquared from being allowed to go forward with their plans.
http://www.saveourgps.org
Thomas
After reading more about Lightsquared and their proposed antenna system there was this nagging thought in the back of my mind and I just had to figure out the answer. Please keep in mind that the following is not exact but is a pretty close representation (I will be changing a square into a circle).
According to wikipedia the area of the U.S. is 3,794,101 square miles. Given that Obama has mandated that everyone in the country should have wireless broadband access we will divide the total area by the proposed 40,000 proposed antennas and you have 94.85 square miles per antenna. But, this is a square and these antennas will broadcast omnidirectionally (in a circle so to speak).
The formula to determine the radius of a circle when the area is known is as follows: A (area) = pi X r (radius) squared
94.85 = 3.14 X r X r
r = 5.49 miles
In order to provide broadband throughout the entire country each of the proposed antennas must maximally broadcast in every direction for 5.49 miles.
Now it becomes somewhat scary when you consider that the quote from "Pete's" post stated that GPS's and airplane have already been adversely affected at distances of 3.6 and 5 miles respectively. (I think that the difference between those numbers can be attributed to line-of sight and/or the lack thereof).
The broadcast footprints of the antennas will have to overlap in order to cover an area completely (pick up four beer bottles together in your hands and there will be a space in the middle). So the more urban areas of the country will probably get the majority of the antennas. Take into consideration that there must also be line-of-sight and the antennas get even closer in certain mountainous areas. Therefore, they cannot provide coverage for the entire country with only 40,000 antennas, but they could cover a damned big portion of it.
If Lightsquared is allowed to continue with their program without some major adjustments by the FCC there will not be too many locations for GPS's to function properly.
I wonder how many antennas Verizon, et al, have and how many watts they are broadcasting with.