I'd really like to know where the geometry on earth is poor...
Solar storms are a big problem, as the
GPS satellites only use about 50W of power to transmit. So is rain fade.... in really heavy weather, the
GPS often loses signal for a short time. Although CN doesn't help in the case of rain fade, the other traditional navigation skills, like dead reckoning are needed at those times.
The funniest story I've read on celestial navigation is where a guy kept a
GPS on his boat to use as a time-piece for the CN observations. Didn't really know how to use the
GPS for navigation, but like the fact that it was very accurate as a clock, getting the time updates from atomic clocks aboard the
GPS satellites.
__________________
Sailingdog
Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity (slightly edited)
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