Jump to content

Could geocaching be on it's last legs due to failing GPS satellites?

pamlicojack

By pamlicojack
in General geocaching topics

Followers 1

Recommended Posts

Team Cotati

+Team Cotati

Posted
Posted (edited)

I apologize in advance if this belongs in another section...

 

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2...collapsing-plus

 

No, it isn't "on it's last legs" and it won't be on it's last legs, it will only get better as more and more creative people and companies around the world find new and useful things that can be accomplished by location based systems.

Edited by Team Cotati
Link to comment
TheAlabamaRambler

+TheAlabamaRambler

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yes, the secret shadow government that really runs this country is being paid to allow the GPS constellation to fail. Glenn Beck said so, and there is no higher source of information. The plan is for Google to buy the system at a secret government surplus auction in it's bid for world domination. Google will then team with powerhouses Groundspeak and McDonald's to waymark every Burger King and Wendy's so that no one will ever find them again.

 

 

Trust me, if you read it on the interweb it has to be true. :)

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
Link to comment
sseegars

+sseegars

Posted
Posted

Yes, the secret shadow government that really runs this country is being paid to allow the GPS constellation to fail. Glenn Beck said so, and there is no higher source of information. The plan is for Google to buy the system at a secret government surplus auction in it's bid for world domination. Google will then team with powerhouses Groundspeak and McDonald's to waymark every Burger King and Wendy's so that no one will ever find them again.

 

 

Trust me, if you read it on the interweb it has to be true. :)

:):lol::D:D:D:D:D:D

Link to comment
DragonsWest

+DragonsWest

Posted
Posted

Yes, the secret shadow government that really runs this country is being paid to allow the GPS constellation to fail. Glenn Beck said so, and there is no higher source of information. The plan is for Google to buy the system at a secret government surplus auction in it's bid for world domination. Google will then team with powerhouses Groundspeak and McDonald's to waymark every Burger King and Wendy's so that no one will ever find them again.

 

 

Trust me, if you read it on the interweb it has to be true. :)

Shades of Bullwinkle J. Moose!

Link to comment
Andronicus

Andronicus

Posted
Posted

No.

 

And for the guy who is about to bring up solar flairs, Cylcle 24 is likely going to have the lowest maximum we have seen in the since the early 1900s. So that is not a problem either. Could a large solar flare temporaroly digrad or even disable the system? Yes, but it will not be a common occurence this solar maximum.

Link to comment
Sioneva

+Sioneva

Posted
Posted

Yes, the secret shadow government that really runs this country is being paid to allow the GPS constellation to fail. Glenn Beck said so, and there is no higher source of information. The plan is for Google to buy the system at a secret government surplus auction in it's bid for world domination. Google will then team with powerhouses Groundspeak and McDonald's to waymark every Burger King and Wendy's so that no one will ever find them again.

 

 

Trust me, if you read it on the interweb it has to be true. :)

Shades of Bullwinkle J. Moose!

 

Must kill Moose & Signal!

Link to comment
bittsen

+bittsen

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm glad this article came up. It has some interesting, if misleading, information.

 

What they tell you in the article is that the system will never drop below 24 satellites but what they won't tell you is how they calculate the criteria for an active satellite.

 

I was able to install a small "upgrade" to my Colorado unit that tells me the reliability of a satellite. It basically gives me the raw data that I can look at with a partner program to tell which satellite lock is more reliable than the others. I can also turn certain satellites off so they aren't calculated but that's a different topic.

 

Even though there are 24+ satellites, the data shows that over half of the satellites are operating below 50% efficiency, displaying error rates that are actually unacceptable by most standards but there is that wonderful "error correction" that's implimented to make them appear to be more accurate. That's accomplished by using the few more reliable satellites to repeatedly realign the signal from the failing satellites. This error correction "works" but is only as reliable as the satellites they are using to correct the signal. It's a catch 22. This is why your signal will all of a sudden start moving many feet while you are standing still. What causes that is another satellite enters the visible constellation and it creates a new "correction" but if the new satellite is one of the failing ones it will throw off the whole calculation. That's the great thing about the Colorado add-on. I can set it to ignore those failing satellites as they enter the constellation.

 

Though the conspiracy theorists are often mocked, sometimes they are getting it right. In this case, the mocking is a coverup for the truth. There was a document that was "released" accidentally in October 2007 that addressed the failing satellites and how it would be created. Though a few people have printed the document it's not available on the internet. Every once in a while it will pop up but mysteriously disappears within a few hours. I suspect that the Google web crawler is utilized by the government to find certain documents and nuke them. That is just a theory, of course.

 

While it's true that the current GPS system is "working", what you aren't being told is just how bad of shape it is really in. Most of the older satellites have been put on a limited reliability cycle (or LRC). What the LRC does is it allows the satellite to save fuel used in repositioning to keep it in orbit. In most satellites the orbit is regularly corrected to keep it within a few feet of a set position. With LRC the satellite is allowed to drift by more than 100 feet of it's intended orbit and even up to 250 feet in many instances. Then the correction is made and it's allowed to move through it's orbital position another distance. This causes the satellite to drift in a seesaw of 500 feet total. Of course with the "error correction" this effect is minimized and our personal GPS devices remain reatively accurate.

 

So with all that there is the 30% reliability factor. Another thing that isn't being said is that the satelites are considered "reliable" if it's operating at 30% of nominal. So by lowering the standards of operation, factoring in the LRC, and adding in the "error correction" the government is confident that the system will never drop below 24 satellites, even though they are barely working.

 

What is the government doing to fix this? In 2006 the federal government started negotiations with the Communication Satellite companies to begin carrying GPS signals. For this the Communications companies receive a subsidy or credits to offset the costs and increase revenue. That, by the way, is how those little cell phone companies were able to pop up and offer their cheap cell service. Of course the bigger cell providers called foul and threatened to blow the whistle on the entire coverup of the failing GPS system and also threatened to turn off the GPS signal broadcasted by the communication satellites.

 

What is really important to understand is that I have made all of this stuff up. Not an ounce of it comes from any real factual data but it sounds completely plausible. I did this as an exercise to help reinforce the point that not everything on the internet is true. Though the internet is great for some things, factual data should always be taken with a grain of salt. Without a checkable source, those news articles don't mean anything. I hope you enjoyed my little farce even though it's not true... Or is it?

Edited by bittsen
Link to comment
MikeB3542

MikeB3542

Posted
Posted

so i guess those new satellites they're shooting up there to be added to the GPS S segment don't really exist then...

The point isn't that they aren't replacing the aging satellites, it's that they aren't replacing fast enough. For geocaching and car navigation, probably not too big of a deal, since we aren't demanding too much accuracy. For military and land surveyors that demand very high precision, it has turned into something of a scramble.

 

Rising fuel prices present a way bigger threat to geocaching.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
Followers 1
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...