Egnix

Exactly. Can't wait until the TOTUS/"squatter in chief" is kicked out on his azz and out of the White House for good.

This has been the most active thread on the topic.

Spaceflightnow.com's launch schedule is the best I've found.

The on-orbit tests should be a month or less. SV 62 (or SVN62) is the permanent designator. It will be using PRN 25 (this assignment could change, but that is not likely). 25, not 62 will be the number you see on your GPS receiver.

for anyone who missed it.

As of the last report I got, everything is going nominally. They should be uplinking ephemeris by now, if it has not already been done.

No, IIF is the first to have L5 on it. The 7 active IIR-M's have L2C. I stand corrected regarding L2C! Here, I've been mislead all this time by a IIF poster here which says "New civil signal on L2"! I guess "new" was used loosely. As an aside: IIR-20 (a IIR-M) has L5 on it.

Active on what? IIF is the first to have L2C and we don't have IIF SVs on orbit yet (cross your fingers for the launch tomorrow night).

I think I heard Europe was going to do that with Galileo but then backed off under pressure. Maybe instead of charging, they'll just add advertisements: Every 15 minutes you lose your location while your GPSr shows an ad for the latest must have product!

The new Block IIF satellites are not getting rid of or changing the "old" signals. They just add signals and (I believe) boost the signal strength of the "old" signals. Nothing to worry about.

What terrible journalism! Did they do no research? GPS receivers put 0 load on the satellites and infrastructure. GPS receivers are just that - receivers. The satellites put out the same signal and are under the same load whether there are 50 million receivers or just one. Also "aging quickly" is also completely inaccurate. The average life of a GPS satellite has been around 2 times longer than the designed life! Also, the current infrastructure as only been operational for less than three years. Now is hardly time for an infrastructure overhaul. They're just adding the next-generation satellites. "There are 24 satellites that provide GPS data" is also inaccurate. GPS needs 24 satellites for whole-earth coverage. Currently, there are 31 operational satellites (minus any temporarily disabled satellites). The launch of IIF-1 will be #32. There are also a few spares on orbit. "...working in tandem to pinpoint the location of GPS-enabled devices around the world." Wrong again. It's the receiver that pinpoints its location; not the satellite. "The upgrade process will have to be seamless, so the satellites will be replaced one by one." The launch schedule is more driven by an as-needed basis with consideration of the maximum number of supported operational SVs (32). They're not going to replace a perfectly good older satellite just because they have a new one ready to go. Some other things to note: While the new Block IIF satellites should boost our accuracy as I believe they have more powerful transmitters (I'd have to double check that), the real benefit to us will be the addition of a second civilian signal. However, this won't be a benefit to us until there are significantly more of these new satellites being operational and we have new receivers which can receive and use this new signal. Just trying to dispel some GPS untruths.

For the geeks out there, gpsworld.com has an in-depth article series on the origins of GPS technology. Here is Part 1.

I'd like this as well. I'm a Facebook user, but not a Twitter user.

Thanks! I just got a Droid and was wondering about this.

Click the link for a good description on how GPS works and how the flares can affect it. In short, the flares will affect the signal strength, so your receiver will have a harder time picking up the signal. Secondly, the flares affect the ionosphere which will cause even more delay to the signal. The delay in the signal is a big contributor to decreasing accuracy.

I just got a Droid and I'd like an official app.

A more accurate measurement of cell capacity is to discharge a fully charged cell at a constant discharge rate.

I got today's so I canceled yesterday's. I think it's unfortunate that queries seem to be tied to specific server. If a server goes down it would be really nice for another server to pick up the slack.

I'm still waiting on 1 from yesterday and 1 for today.

I see the almanac file, but not the planning software. Is it free? If so, where is it at?

Here's a writeup on the cause of this. Read the "HDOP Warning." section. Incidentally, another HDOP was issued today:

Hmm, the only advisory I saw was: Is this what you were referring to?

I love the low-discharge NiMHs! I have Eneloops as well as similar batteries from Rayovac, Duracell, and Hybrio. I get similar results with all of them. When the weather is cold I carry along a pair of alkalines since NiMHs don't do well when it is really cold (sorry, I don't know the recommended operating temperature of the battery).

SV IIR-21 (SVN50) was set to "usable" on Thursday, so it can now help you on your next geocache hunt (assuming it is in view)!