trip down east river

[endevour]

did the trip down east river from the LI sound yesturday and ran into a gps problem......right before i hit the throgs neck bridge, the gps went completely out...nothing i could figure would get it back working. as soon as i passed under the verrizano br it came back on like nothing had ever happened. was wondering if it was cause obama was in the city yesturday.....could it be?????

[xsboats]

You passed La Guardia Airport at about the same time . Maybe it had something to do with that.

[CalebD]

I have been up and down the E. River a few times and never experienced a GPS outage as you described. We were also using a very simple (read, old) GPS 76 hand held unit that seems more reliable then the 'newer' GPS 376 I recently acquired.
I have heard that the GPS signal can be messed with or rendered more inaccurate but I have not heard of it being blacked out before. I would suggest a very simple hand held backup.
It could still have been an Obamanation.
What GPS were you using?

[paulk]

Originally Posted by CalebD

.
It could still have been an Obamanation.

Yup. That's why all the GPS units on all the tugs in NY harbor went out at the same time and they all hit each other and you heard about it on the news yesterday, didn't you?

Just because someone's electronics lose track of where they are, or get interference (like, maybe, from radar at Laguardia??) let's be responsible for ourselves and not blame it on everybody else, even in jest. On top of that, with the channel so well marked and so much traffic to follow behind most of the time, why would you need the GPS to work anyway?

[scottyt]

i have a ? or two.

first did it shut down as in off or just act dumb to where it was?

what was the distance from where it went out to when it came back on?

because of the freq's involved i doubt it was radar, if radar was the issue then many airplanes would be in trouble. but simple jammers for the gps freq's are easy and instructions can be found on the web. a simple oscillator on the right freqs putting out less than a watt will black out about a 1 mile radius for a gps.

now i doubt secret service would block it out, but maybe they where running some sort of drill at the same time in the area where they wanted to shut down gps. i am sure the SS has the equipment to do the gps and cell phone freqs. it is normal for the SS to run a low key drill in the area where the pres is, just because of all the equipment they have in place already

[endevour]

it didnt black out...it like you said started playing dumb at about executioners rock right outside the throgs neck....even though gps was out still had the charts for the rest of the way home

[CalebD]

Since you did not indicate which chartplotter/GPS you were using we can be of very little help.
The buildings in close proximity to the E. River can cut off a lot of satellite access AND if you do not have a special GPS antenna for your sophisticated unit. That is why I recommended a simple handheld GPS like a Garmin GPS 76 as a backup unit. The more functions they build into these things the less functional they become, IMHO.
Fortunately the E. River is well marked and obvious for the most part so a GPS is not really necessary except to record your speed over ground when you hit the following +/- 5 knot current.
Charts are obviously helpful as are eyes and a lookout.
What electronics were you using that that 'played dumb' with you from Execution Rock down to the Verazzanno?

Glad you made it anyway.

[endevour]

i wasnt avoiding what i was using just forgot to hit that part of the question....its a raymarine c70 chartplotter....never had problems with it and didnt have any problems for the 2-3 hrs after the Verrizano, thats why i thought it had something to do with the city...

[CalebD]

I guess we are going to have to assume that there was a black out of some kind due to Obama being in town that day. We may never know for sure unless the CG have this info.
I still think that a cheap, simple GPS is good to have as a backup.