Howling/Pepper Chef Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Saw this link while surfing the web. Dont know if its been posted before. Sorry if it has been. Link Quote Link to comment
+Hemlock Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 (edited) Looks like a Sloof Lirpa to me. Edit: woohoo my 1,000th post Edited April 2, 2005 by Hemlock Quote Link to comment
Alphawolf Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Yup...It's being planned! Get ready fellow geocachers! Did you really think it would stay free? Name one other thing the U.S. Govt. lets us use for free... Quote Link to comment
+Team Benhamtroll Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 To me as well. Can you imagine the cost that would be incrued by the DoD to update all of their equipment to handle a new signal that had to be decoded in order for a subscription plan to work, not to mention the new regulation that would have to be in place to update all the consumer equipment for such an endeavor? It would make the struggles over HDTV look like trying to break a kid of their blanky . . . Quote Link to comment
+hardwire Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 hmmmm what is today..... Guess I better read the FULL details..... Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 every time you get a paycheck, a portion goes to pay for the GPS birds in the sky. Quote Link to comment
+Couparangus Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Yup, this has April Fools written all over it. Reminds me of modem tax. Quote Link to comment
+Greymane Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 The modem tax was an April Fools Joke?!? Who am I paying every month??? I suppose you are gonna tell me that the scientifically formulated "cologne" I just ordered won't have chicks flocking to me, either! Quote Link to comment
Z15 Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 (edited) .l Edited April 2, 2005 by Z15 Quote Link to comment
joe_shmoe Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 the US taxpayer already pays for the service. does anyone have a figure for how much it has cost us thus far to build and maintain satellites? would it make sense to charge a fee to users outside of the US? Quote Link to comment
joe_shmoe Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 was just reading a geocaching article and it is $12 billion thus far for the american taxpayer. Quote Link to comment
+NightPilot Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 How would you propose to collect user fees from anyone, inside or outside the USA? The signals are broadcast continuously, and anyone with a receiver can receive them, just like any radio signal. The Russian system, GLONASS, has been in service almost as long as the US system, and the European system, EGNOS, is in service now, so there is plenty of competition. Quote Link to comment
joe_shmoe Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 you'd probably have to scramble the signal in some way and then each unit would need a certain code or chip... i figure the "user fee" would be a one time built in cost at time of purchase. Something like manufacturers of mp3 players who pay a per unit royalty so their users are immune from prosecution under copyright law in the US. I'm not saying that I think there should be fees. At least our government spent $12 B on something that is useful for everyone. I can't say that about a lot of things that taxpayer money is spent on. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 I wonder if the people who don't Geocache, and hear it is about looking for Tupperware hidden in the woods, think spending "$12 B on something that is useful" would agree . . . Quote Link to comment
+NightPilot Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Geocaching is one of a huge number of minor uses for GPS, only a small side effect. The system was originally developed for the military, and all civilian use is just a bonus, but today shipping and aviation rely on it so heavily that it's just not possible to suddenly start scrambling the signals. The installed base of receivers is huge, and the ones used by ships and aircraft cost tens of thousands of dollars each. It's just not economically feasible to require all of them to suddenly be replaced. The military signals are already encrypted. The genie is out of the bottle, and isn't going back inside. Quote Link to comment
+scott9282 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 Go back to the website and read it again. The title has been changed. It. Was. A. Joke. Quote Link to comment
peter Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 The Russian system, GLONASS, has been in service almost as long as the US system, and the European system, EGNOS, is in service now, so there is plenty of competition. GLONASS has been up for awhile, but it's hanging on by a thread. Last I checked there were only 11 operating satellites in the constellation. You'd better be in a very unobstructed location and schedule your activity based on the satellite orbits if you want to get a reasonable fix using GLONASS. EGNOS isn't a separate system at all, but the European equivalent of WAAS, i.e. it provides correction data for the GPS system and gives higher accuracy. It augments GPS, but it doesn't replace it. Eventually the Europeans plan to have the Galileo system provide an alternative to GPS, but they're still haggling over funding and control issues. Scheduled for 2008 but I wouldn't be surprised to see it slip Of course if there really were a serious proposal to restrict access to GPS then the Europeans and others would be much more motivated to get Galileo off the ground. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
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.