Mysterious tests will scramble GPS signals on Americas west coast his -month....
Sounds like the 'Skunkworks' out at Area 51 is going to be testing Aurora's cloaking devices...
Glad I don't live near the runways at LAX.
I wonder how serious they are about the AGL limits on the effects. If those are dependable numbers I have nothing to worry about (I don't have any 50-foot tripods). It's they're just "sorta" figures I may have a couple of unhappy days coming up. It was no small task getting 5 different agencies to commit to an observation schedule, and I don't want to try to change it now.
I
As I said in the other thread, I don't think staying below 50 ft will give any guarantee of less interference. The announcement left that unspecified.
For what it's worth, the 5-hour sessions we ran yesterday (June 7, one of the noticed dates) are nice and clean. So either they weren't testing during our session or it didn't affect us. We'll roll the dice again tomorrow and see what happens.
Good to hear that your primary observations on Tuesday were not impacted Jim. Hopefully you will get through the rest of your project without it being an issue. There have been a couple of reported issues in southern California that I am aware of, but pretty minimal thus far.
Just received word that this testing has been cancelled.
PNT MEDIA ITEMS
6/09/2016
GPS:
Navy Cancels Planned GPS Outage in Southern California
By: Elizabeth Tennyson
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
8 June 2016
The U.S. Navy has canceled plans to jam GPS signals in the vicinity of the China Lake, California, Naval Air Weapons Station. AOPA had raised concerns about the impact on civilian air traffic and the size of the affected area. The Navy did not reveal the cause of the cancellation, other than to say the reason was ÛÏinternal.Û
AOPA had contacted the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZLA ARTCC) and relevant FAA offices to express the associationÛªs concerns about the planned outage and its likely impact. The association also had asked the Navy to provide justification for the large geographic area to be impacted by the planned event.
ÛÏWe have asked the military and FAA to be more transparent around planned GPS outages so that civilian pilots can understand the possible impact on their activities and plan their flights accordingly,Û said Rune Duke, AOPA director of airspace and air traffic.
The planned outage was scheduled for an area with a radius of up to 432 nautical miles on six different days in June, running from 4:30 pm to 10:30 p.m. each day.
The outage could have affected GPS and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast signals. Degraded GPS signals also have been associated with ÛÏunplanned pitch and roll eventsÛ in Embraer's Phenom 300.
The Department of Defense conducts an estimated 50 GPS jamming events each year to train personnel to operate in an environment where the GPS signal is degraded or unavailable.
Before a GPS outage can be scheduled, the military proponent must submit its plans to the FAA, whose spectrum office analyzes the potential impact. That impact is then depicted graphically and sent to air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs) that would be affected. The ARTCCs and military then work together to minimize the impact on civilian aircraft, including setting limits on the duration of the jamming and the time of day it takes place. When agreement is reached between the military and the FAA, the FAA issues notams and flight advisories.
To protect civilian traffic, the FAA can call a halt to the jamming if it believes the jamming is creating an unsafe situation for aircraft, for example if navigation is impaired in the vicinity of convective activity.
AOPA closely monitors planned outages and works with the FAA, air traffic control facilities, and the military to minimize impacts and provide information to pilots.
ÛÏItÛªs worth noting that the graphics depicting the impact show the worst-case scenario in order to provide a margin of safety for aircraft, and most outages have a minimal impact on civilian aviation,Û said Duke. ÛÏNevertheless, itÛªs important for pilots to be aware of GPS jamming and how it could affect their flights.Û
AOPA is working with the FAA to incorporate GPS outage graphics into its Notam Search system, and some flight planning providers are looking for ways to provide the graphics to their users as they do now with temporary flight restrictions.
ÛÏAnytime pilots are affected by a GPS outage event, we encourage them to report their experience,Û said Duke. ÛÏWithout reporting by pilots, itÛªs difficult to know the extent and severity of impacts.Û
NAVY CANCELS PLANNED GPS OUTAGE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media...els-planned-gps-outage-in-southern-california
Can not believe that the navy had overlooked LAX aircraft movement !
LA Stevens, post: 376438, member: 2391 wrote: NAVY CANCELS PLANNED GPS OUTAGE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media...els-planned-gps-outage-in-southern-california
Link is gone...
It
Jim in AZ, post: 376587, member: 249 wrote: Link is gone...
It went 404 very quickly
I'm hearing there were issues in Southern AZ yesterday... perhaps they weren't cancelled?
ages ago I did a lot of work on military bases, GPS (all static) was often blocked or scrambled. sometimes we were able to get a schedule of when it would be clear to work. I suspect it is ongoing, but sporadic and not noticed... "sun spots they said"