We had our Trimble dealer in today to help get a new dc up and running. In the process of doing so he tried to activate the L2C signal on our gps heads and to his shock it wasn't available. We have Trimble R6 Model 1 so it was no surprise when he figured that out. Then came the kicker, supposedly in 2021 the government is going to shut off the L2 signal from what he is told. Now we have had these heads for about 10 years so they owe us nothing and if one would break we are forced to upgrade anyways because parts aren't available unless we buy a used one on ebay for parts. So by 2021 if this holds true we are into a forced GPS upgrade even though we have nothing wrong with the performance of the R6's because they will in turn be good paper weights when the L2 signal gets turned off. Anybody else hear anything about this?
This is my understanding also, your L1/L2 receivers are soon to be paperweights,,,,,, at least for most applications.
You can still do L1 only I suppose.
Do they turn off the old L2 signal or just stop putting up new sats that send it?
Bill93, post: 455666, member: 87 wrote: Do they turn off the old L2 signal or just stop putting up new sats that send it?
I would have to ask again, sounds like the sats are getting old and not being replaced. The L2 signal is weak and not as useful as the newer ones, anyway that was what I was told a while ago.
I've never seen or read anything indicating that L2 will be shut off. As I tried to tell the dealer I worked for at the time, the reason I sold R8-3s while one of my co-workers was selling a lot of (cheaper) R6s was this exact issue. It never made sense to buy a receiver that didn't support GPS modernization signals when for a little more money you could buy one that did. Even if your R6 works just as well in five years as it does today, a receiver with L5 will run circles around it.
If anyone sees something reliable indicating that L2 is to be deactivated I'd appreciate a link to it.
If there is a plan to deactivate L2, it isn't discussed anywhere on www.gps.gov, as far as I can tell. L2 is on the Block III satellites, 8 of which are either completed or being built.
gschrock, post: 455710, member: 556 wrote: Not quite, and maybe not, and/or maybe not so soon.
2020 was the date in the original 2008 federal register notice as to when the commitment to support certain code-less and semi-codeless signal elements "could" end. But that notice was superseded in 2014 and 2017. The delays because L2C and L5 may not be fully deployed until 2024 or even further out, plus the more recent notices touch on longer periods of transition for backwards compatibility.
Chances are that by then the cost and quality of multi-constellation gear will be so compelling, and having 40+ satellites in view will make it much more appealing to put the old gear in display case along with the analog transit.You can email the folks at gps.gov directly and get an official answer. That is the best way to get the real answer. Not what we kinda-sorta know on this forum
But there is also a good discussion about it on this page.
I'm in the hearsay boat. The last time I heard it discussed was a couple of months ago, and that wasn't from any "official" source.
