4G Broadband may Jam GPS

[carl762]

Carl--These are the same rectums that rendered tens of thousands of trusty, reliable, LORAN units worthless as a backup for the fragile GPS system. Keep this in mind at the next election.

Yup, except we don't vote to decide who works for this agency. Boy oh boy, I hope this never happens.

[PalmettoSailor]

Originally Posted by LarryandSusanMacDonald

Lot's of good points here. I've long felt that before the government mandates sweeping legislation that it should be tested on a small scale to test the efficacy. (Yeah, like THAT will ever happen!)

But I'm now wondering if this may turn out to be a non-problem. Talking to a dock mate over rum yesterday evening, he said that Verizon already had 4g towers up in the Annapolis area. (Not verified.)

If it is true, if it were a problem, it seems that it would have already manifested itself in the Annapolis area - especially with the car map GPS. And given that there are many federal legislators living in this area - who would be affected - if it is indeed a problem, it will probably be rectified.

The problem apparently is not 4G per se, but how LightSquared plans to implement it and Garmin among others sees it as a real problem.

It you think boaters are upset about investing several hundred dollars in a GPS consider how an airplane owner that just spent north of $20k for an IFR approved GPS system feels.

[travlineasy]

Some of the new GPS Plotters I've recently looked at have USB connectivity for updates of both the operating system and mapping. I suspect that if there were a problem, bandpass filters installed via the OS updates would alleviate much of the problem. This was the case in the music industry when the FCC gave away wireless mic frequencies to cellular telephone companies. Unfortunately, only a handful of the wireless mic systems were updatable, thereby rendering many of them obsolete.

Gary

[J36ZT]

Remember, this is only in the "proposal" stage. It's up to the FCC to grant or deny the request. In light of what Garmin found, I doubt the FCC will approve.

Suppose, worse case, the FCC went ahead and let LLC use the frequencies. I'm sure they'll quickly reverse... as soon as they become defendants in a multi-million dollar suit following a plane crash, loss of a cruise liner, or oil spill from a grounded tanker.

If the FCC does give the "go-a-head", I'm keeping all my equipment!

Skipper,
J/36 "Zero Tolerance"

[seabreeze_97]

Couple things. Just because a company has towers up, doesn't mean they're active. Verizon is planning a 140 city rollout in 2011. Also, just because a 4g handset uses GPS doesn't in any way put it on the same level as one the 40,000 transmitters (the big, tall, high power tower thingies). GPS is a great tool, but even it was beginning to be augmented by Loran for realtime updates to make it even better.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by rmeador

Hmm...

Separately, the FCC will deny a license to any device that broadcasts outside of its licensed spectrum....

With all due respect Meador,don't count on that. EG, minimum frequency range separation on SSB channels is 3kHz to avoid interference between channels, even with DSP frequency modulation. That's nearly the full spectrum they're describing with separations of only 10's of Hz. But. If it's spectrum that the Fed's can charge for--which they cannot for GPS--rest assured they'll use it, and sell it, and the consequences be damned, eh?

It is the same mentality whereby DOT will not authorize signalizing intersections on Interstates until the "...need for signalization" is evidenced by a defining fatality rate (i.e. "body count")-even though anyone with an ounce of common sense can look at a given situation and conclude "Damn! That intersection needs a Red Light."

"Naw, ain't enough people been killed yet to justify the cost. 'Sides, stoppen people every 3-1/2 minutes 'ill be real inconvenient--for some anyways..."

[SabrinaKS]

All very interesting and a bit concerning. Unsure yet what it all means for us sailors. Has everyone seen this? Below link is to a letter from US Department of Commerce to FCC with an attached letter from Dept of Defense on this topic. Again...interesting reading. Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't. Just thought I would share.

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/filings/2011...r_01122011.pdf

[travlineasy]

Very interesting!

Thanks,

Gary

[HIPAR]

Lightsquared will not transmit in the GPS band. It transmits adjacent to that band. So, if your GPS device has proper filtering that favors GPS signals, there is no issue. If your GPS receiver 'looks into' Lightsquared's band (their words) then your equipment is obsolete.

FCC has caused these kinds of problems on many occasions .. splitting land mobile communications channels .. transition to Digital TV.

--- CHAS

[sck5]

dont get your shorts in a twist. this is just another silly excuse for hysteria. Do you REALLY think the government is going to effectively disable everyone's GPS including their own? And for those of you who get all cynical about the government, you might want to remember that the govenrment had a little something to do with setting up the GPS system in the first place.