How the FCC Plans to Destroy GPS

If not them, then it wouldn't be long before the EPA claimed that GPS transmissions caused birth defects or some such.

But of course, if you have enough cash, you can buy a waiver. Isn't that what everything is headed to?

Wow! I'm calling my rep tomorrow about this.

They can have my Hiper Lite when they pry it from my cold dead hand!

I can't believe this would ever progress to the point that it would start knocking out commercial receivers.

I have yet to understand anything the FCC does. They are not anything like they would appear. They are in control of deciding what frequencies are used for. They decide what limits are placed on all communications by tv, radio, two way communications and the whole entire system.

Then they allow the major networks, broadcasters, tv stations, radio stations and every large corporation owned network the ability to decide who and who can not view their transmissions and charge for service. They do not allow the consumer to choose what they want to be able to view and are told what they can view by the area they are in.

They have sold out the consumers thru every phase of communication development. ONce a product becomes widely used ,they change their usage frequencies in a way that makes the products non-compliant to their new rules and they have to be shelved or rebuilt.

A year ago it was regular tv. Everything is digital now and that signal is only reliable for 40± miles unless a major antenna and signal booster is purchased.

I can remember when all I needed was a hand held AM radio, they had the best music and you could pickup a station in Chicago from anywhere in the USA.

A game changer for sure, if it in fact interferes with GPS accuracies.

This may also be a subtle rollback of the P-Code declassification from the Clinton years, perhaps most telling is the effect on aviation GPS.

For surveyors, this is actually excellent news. Why is the world flocking to GIS, because of GPS. Knock out GPS, and how are the GIS'ers going to get their data? Sure, you are going to have a bunch of paperweights, but do you realize how many guys there are out there in our industry who do not know how to do a traditional survey? And those outside of the industry can forget it. Construction staking, GIS data, all of the things that have been lost over the years are suddenly back in our court.

This is a real gamechanger.

Dude! Yea! I'm in! 😀

And how would you suppose this is advantageous for the surveyor in terms of access of the GPS signal? If all are affected, then so is the surveyor. Am I missing something?

I think what Georgia is saying (please forgive me if I am wrong) is that GIS professionals rely heavily on GPS equipment and few have the knowledge to obtain their data by other means.

We as surveyors have other methods we can use that most of us are very familiar with already. We are not bound to GPS -- it is a convenience, but not a necessity.

Yes, you are missing something.

You do not NEED a GPS signal to survey. People did it for thousands of years without one. A lot of "surveyors" will be lost without one, but us old guys, you know the ones with lots of years under us even though some of us are lacking in degrees, will be able to do it. And those who never learned the mechanics of how to survey, but only learned what button to push will be lost. No more machine control without a GPS, but a surveyor can take the plans and set grade stakes. No more GPS to locate corners, but a surveyor can run a traverse and actually do the math to calculate position. Why a surveyor can even run in control from monumentation with state plane values. That suddenly makes surveyors indispensable!

That is exactly what I am saying. Instead of looking at this as a catastrophe, I see it as an opportunity for our industry. All the markets we have been slowly getting shut out of are suddenly going to need us. Doesn't it feel good to be wanted. 🙂

That's fine. I don't own or know how to use GPS survey grade equipment; am too poor. Am 34 years old, and still survey the old fashion way. So much for age being an issue. However, I often feel like I am missing out with GPS (ability to breakout a section quickly, assume State Plane coordinates, elevations, etc.). So if the signal gets shut down, I am no worse for wear. However, the public is going to freak when every surveyor in town increases their prices for large acre lands, especially in terms of topographical surveys. I just can't see how shutting down the signal is advantageous for surveyors, or even the general public. There is too much infrastructure based on the GPS signal for the FCC to just say, CYA.

RE: Digital TV

>
> A year ago it was regular tv. Everything is digital now and that signal is only reliable for 40± miles unless a major antenna and signal booster is purchased.

Actually, I had the opposite experience. I used to get only 2 TV chennels good and 1 snowy channel with an antenna. After the switch to digital, I now get 6 channels, all pretty good reception. With 5 of the six channels commercial-free PBS channels, I got rid of my satellite dish and save $55 per month.

From the article:

on January 26th, waiving many of their standard procedures, the FCC gave conditional approval to LightSquared’s proposal

From Aviation News:

February 3, 2011
The U.S. Departments of Defense, Transportation, Commerce and Homeland Security, as well as the civil GPS Industry Council–of which NBAA is a member–have filed objections with the FCC over a new satellite-enabled cellular broadband service from LightSquared.

Department of Defense & Homeland Security versus the FCC. If LightSquared was a publicly traded company, I'd be shorting the heck out of it.

> This is a real gamechanger.

The real gamechanger will be in about 5 years when there are enough satellites broadcasting the L5 signal (an open signal like L1) and a $100 dollar handheld will give you centimeter positions.

>...However, the public is going to freak when every surveyor in town increases their prices for large acre lands, especially in terms of topographical surveys....

Heaven forbid surveyors actually make a profit. You are COMPLAINING because you will be able to raise your rates?!?! Seriously?!?!?! The public has to have a survey for design, you can provide that service. This is a great thing. The public will have to pay more. And you tell them, "we used to be able to do it for less, but now we have more manhours in it" and you make $$$$. That is not a bad thing. If there is one surveyor in town, he can pretty well set his rate. But if there are 10 in town, the rate is set by the guy on the bottom. Well, with the FCC action, that guy on the bottom just had to raise his rate. Congratulations, you just got a raise.;-)

James, out of curiosity, what do you think the tests are that DOD is doing off Brunswick GA this month that will disrupt Aeronautical GPS. I have a feeling that GPS being accessible to the public is in ICU and on the way to the morgue.

Whatever they are, they're pretty common. According to GPS World the FAA issued 54 of the same type advisories in 2010, mostly in the White Sands area.

Back in the 1970's and early 1980's my father was the senior scientist in the electromagnetics division of the Defense Nuclear Agency, the successor to the Manhattan Project (he was the lead project engineer on the hardening of the AT&T Long Lines system to protect it from EMP damage). They were always tossing stuff up into the ionosphere and creating electromagnetic interference to run filtering equipment tests. A number of the launches at the time were from Eglin AFB and the tests were over the Gulf or the Atlantic.

Sounds good on paper, or internet, but we already have a lowballer or two in town that screws up the pricing around here. It wouldn't matter.