Is GPS Really Falling Out of the Sky?

[ggood]

I, Cringely Blog Archive WAAS Up? - Cringely on technology

"The Government Accountability Office, a Federal watchdog agency, reported on May 7th that the Global Positioning System of satellites used for navigation and many other business and scientific purposes as well as for proving that your teenage son was actually driving down the Interstate at 100 miles-per-hour last Thursday night when he claimed to be bowling, well that satellite system is in danger of becoming unusable because satellites are not being replaced quickly enough by the U.S. Air Force.

Only it isn’t true."

[snead_c]

That's an interesting link. I wonder what ( why) Cringley drives...

[David Beale]

They aren't going to "fall out of the sky" for a very long time, due to their higher orbit. They are, however, failing as they get old. Note that the GPS system is a -MILITARY- GPS system, never intended to be used by civilians. Which is why the military isn't really interested in spending their "shortage of funds" on a system to support civilian ops. The poor guys have hardly -any- money after all.

[ggood]

Originally Posted by David Beale

They aren't going to "fall out of the sky" for a very long time, due to their higher orbit. They are, however, failing as they get old. Note that the GPS system is a -MILITARY- GPS system, never intended to be used by civilians. Which is why the military isn't really interested in spending their "shortage of funds" on a system to support civilian ops. The poor guys have hardly -any- money after all.

Yeah, my headline was just meant to be attention grabbing.

[FL_Prius_Driver]

Originally Posted by David Beale

......Note that the GPS system is a -MILITARY- GPS system, never intended to be used by civilians. Which is why the military isn't really interested in spending their "shortage of funds" on a system to support civilian ops. .....

Not true. The C/A code was fully intended to be totally civilian used and employed. This is clearly layed out in the original specifications and justification to congress, much like the "Defense Interstate Highway System" was originally proposed as dual use. There are two aspects not accounted for in the original design however;
1) A GPS receiver would cost less than a couple of bucks
2) The military freedom to turn off or degrade the system when and where desired for military use has gone away completely (just like the military ability to clear the Interstate for defense use only).

Having spent too many years of my life working on the dang thing, I certainly don't waste time listening to BS about the system being on the fritz. Since it is used for FAA navigation and ATC purposes, if there was a real problem, the airlines and FAA would be yelling (quite rightly) louldly about it.

[daniel]

Since I almost always drive alone, and cannot read a map while driving, I'm glad to hear that the GPS system is not about to stop working. As a gadget freak, I like my Nuvi.

[David Beale]

Originally Posted by daniel

Since I almost always drive alone, and cannot read a map while driving, I'm glad to hear that the GPS system is not about to stop working. As a gadget freak, I like my Nuvi.

Yeah, Jill -usually- knows better than I where to turn.

[daniel]

Even when I know the way, it's nice to see exactly where the turn is coming up. And at night I cannot read the street signs. And at some streets, the signs are not visible. And then when I'm going somewhere unfamiliar, I could find it easily walking with a map. But driving, forget it.

[darelldd]

Just a bit OT... you guys with Nuvi's... and TTS: Does some of the speach get clipped? Of course I expect the robotic nature of the voice, but sometimes whole syllables are removed, and even replaying them comes back the same way. Other times, the entire word or phrase is spoken without interruption. I've always wondered if mine is working properly, but have never compared to another. This is my first TTS unit, though I've had Garmins since they were introduced in the automotive market.

[Tech_Guy]

Originally Posted by darelldd

Just a bit OT... you guys with Nuvi's... and TTS: Does some of the speach get clipped? Of course I expect the robotic nature of the voice, but sometimes whole syllables are removed, and even replaying them comes back the same way. Other times, the entire word or phrase is spoken without interruption. I've always wondered if mine is working properly, but have never compared to another. This is my first TTS unit, though I've had Garmins since they were introduced in the automotive market.

I know exactly what you are talking about. My Nuvi does the same thing. However the latest system software v4.8 (available for free via the Garmin WebUpdater) seems to solve most of the the speech problems.

Keith