anyone here the rumor

[Lloyd Smale]

that there shutting down the satalites that allow civilians use of gps signals and it will make all of our gps units obsolete. A buddy said he heard it on cnn.

[victorcharlie]

No, but the air force want's more money and has neglected the system in favor of NCO clubs, movie theaters, and mega BX's.

We should turn it over the the Army or Navy.

[jls]

basically what I heard was some sats were obselete and some were being taken off line() in a nut shell, there's supposed fewer sats availible for gps units. the info I got may not be entirely accurate but I noticed when my cousin tried to mark the location of our grandfathers homested in s.e. CO. with a high dollar unit, it would only track one or two sats and thats on flat prairie and clear skies. he finally gave up. maybe some one else has better info.

[Siskiyou]

Here is the short and sweet version:

http://gao.gov/products/GAO-09-670T

A little history:

http://edition.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/01/28/us.gps.protection.idg/index.html

The failure of the system dates back to the Bush years, I am amazed that it was not a priority with military needs in Iraq and Afghanistan.   What impact will the current administration have on the gps system?

Other powers are launching their own systems, Russia, China, India, and Europe. 

One of the better reports.

http://www.telecommagazine.com/search/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_5309&SearchWord=

I need to start teaching my grandkids on how to read a map, and use a compass.

Had me scared for a minute I fired up my Garmin 530HCx in our computer room and I am receiving the following satellites within a few minutes..   03,06,09,11,14,18,19,21,22,31,32,and 48.   (0806 hrs PDT, 6/14/09)

I think the system will last longer than my knees will!

[Glanceblamm]

I believe that the last report (provided by Siskiyou) was the one that I saw but there was an additional video with it in an interview format.

Concerns were that the maintenance on the system was running 3 years behind schedual and that the satellites Could fail but it was not a sure thing as they may go years beyond their service life.

Concerns were also that the companys making the satellites had merged and when that happens, the quality can suffer due to cost cutting measures.

I just got back from my youngest daughters wedding which was around four hrs to the SE of my home. The old GPS 12 hit three different programmed routes without a hitch to include a couple of isolated waypoints.
I also used her Tom Tom for a long run to a flower shop on the morning of the wedding into a large intercity area and it worked great.

I used to have the address to an online program that could predict how many satellites would be in your area on a future date but it seems like I get 3D navigation on most any day so I tend to ignore the when and where aspect of the so called good coverage. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the needed maintenance funding will be granted to continue the excellent service that we are now recieving.

[Siskiyou]

MORE!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124520702464422059.html

 

[Glanceblamm]

Ya know what Siskiyou, if I thought that I could get by with it I would try to use a sextant like the old time sailors did. Downfalls are that it would call for some serious off roading and one may even run into a barb wire fence Downfalls are also that the Pirates are often portrayed with an eye patch cause they looked into the sun too long using that instrument thust resulting in blindness!

Guess that we will always have a good ole map n compass to fall back on.

[Siskiyou]

 I am not going to lose any sleep over it.  I would be more concerned if I was using a sexton on a foggy day.  Those one-eye pirates used a compass also.  The only time I was slightly miss aligned in recent years was about 25-miles off shore in the Sea of Cortez.  After a long day out on the water we were returning to Mulege.  I was at the helm of a 21-foot Boston Whaler, while the elderly owner (skipper) took a nap.  He had been a Baja hand for fifty years.  The North winds had come up and we were in a nasty four to six foot chop with spray hitting us.  When the North winds come down the Sea of Cortez boats head for shore.  The rule for the day was slow and steady.  I watched another boat go airborne trying to go fast.  It was a quick lesson for those guys when it hammered back on to the water.

In the early morning light when we went out the owner was at the helm.  My mistake was that I never kept track of our bearing.  It would have been rather simple if I looked and spotted we were running at a bearing of magnetic 358˚.  Mulege sets at the mouth of the Bay of Conception, a few miles South of Mulege overlooking the Bay of Conception on high point is a microwave tower.  I kept looking for that point knowing that if I looked to the West a few degrees the small white light house at the mouth of the Mulege River would be visible. 

One of the important navigation tools we have not discussed here, and what I wished I had that day was a pair of binoculars.  I keep a pair on my boat, but I was not on my boat.  With a pair of binoculars I could have picked up land marks at a greater distance and adjusted the course.  When I am out in the mountains I am forever glassing for deer, but I am also looking ahead and plotting my course.

When we were about 10-miles out the old skipper’s eye popped open and he had me make a slight correction, and in a few minutes I could see the light house. 

The winds rule down there and a lot of fishing days are lost because of rough water.  I grab my surf rod and head for the beach.  I would wake up at night and listen for the wind; if it was not blowing we would get up early and head out.

A few days later when we headed out I had my binoculars with me; I was busy looking across the sea and picked up a large concentration of birds working.  My father-in-law and the skipper could not see them.  The skipper brought the bow of the boat around based on my direction and took a compass bearing.  The surface was slick and he open up the big outboard.  When we got close he cut the motor and we coasted into the feeding birds.  We caught a large number of Jacks, kept some and release some.  It was the hottest action I have seen down there.  This would have been the time to have a gps and save the location.  I would bet there is good structure under that spot and the calm conditions brought the bait fish to the surface. 

I get more use out of my gps units when fishing than when I am hunting.  I do a lot of trolling, at first I was using my hand held Garmin Legend when fishing.  I increased my catch using that simple tool.  When I had the money I bought a combination fishfinder-gps unit.  It has been a good investment.