An interesting read on the security of GPS

[caltexflanc]

Oh, I forgot something...

What about FCC allowing LightSquared to camp out on GPS frequencies, to build IOT networks?

Coalition to Save Our GPS

Note the age of that website. LightSquared went bankrupt, as it did eventually get prohibited for interference. A big player in the fight was John Deere and other "precision agriculture" companies, as well as other industrial and users. The assets were bought out of bankruptcy and renamed Ligado Networks are trying to revive it, using technology to (supposedly) eliminate interference, so the fight is on again to a lesser degree.

 

[stubones99]

The bad seed can't be killed... LightSquared went belly up and was reborn as Ligado Networks and got 100 million in investment capital, hired a bunch of lobbyist and took another run at the same business plan. This time FCC said "Why not, it shouldn't impact GPS too much, right?" I wish they required those in charge of these agencies to know what they were doing, and the effects of their decisions farther down the road.

 

[StarChaser]

Portage Bay,



I actually saw & read that article a few days ago.An interesting read and one of the reasons I have printer/Plotter (44" wide carriage) on Star Chaser. USCG updates charts as often as possible and you're supposed" to have the most up to date aboard as I was taught by USCGA. When my son & I were bringing Star from Tampa towards Baltimore the plotter made all my charts to back up my Chart/Plotter. There were a few times that the Chart/Plotter crashed and I was able to drop back to my paper chart. There were a few "Teaching Moments" that my son now appreciates.

As a aside USCGA offers courses on navigation for ~$30 including materials.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

All this reinforces the #1 rule....Don't forget to look out the window....

 

[Portage_Bay]

I understand..but I wory about a lot more than GPS inteferance....practice with a decent computer nav program and it is way faster and mote accurate than dividers and rules.

This conversation and my question to you is about navigating without GPS when it's down or untrustworthy. I'm curious what computer nav program you find is faster than dividers and rules. I am an early adapter of computer nav programs, all the way back to Micro Mariner on a 286. With more hours and miles than I can count on a variety of computer nav programs doing very precise positioning. I have yet to find a nav program that is quicker to use than paper charts, dividers and rules when I have to use bearings and ranges to get my lines of position. I am specifically asking about inland and near coastal work, not sextant sights at sea.

As to accuracy, if GPS is gone then accuracy is dependent upon skill with other tools. Not paper vs PC display.

 

[psneeld]

I use OpenCPN on a Dell laptop....I have it on my pad and phone but they are way slower than the computer but would give paper a run for its money for just routes.

But my Raymarine e7 is a close second.

On a computer I can click and make 20 waypoints in almost so many seconds... in other words .... a route the entire length of the Chesapeake Bay.

I now have distances and courses to follow. I can type in an estimated speed and get ETAs at all those waypoints.

I am darn good at paper nav as I taught it for 15 years in various classes and I couldn't come close to a computer route in terms of speed or accuracy.

As far as p,ottinger a fix with LOPs....pretty much the same....cl iij ck measure distance....cursor to distance and bearing from first click...repeat.....fix at crossing....add waypoint. Maybe not as fast as someone good with paper depending on which program you use...but for me darn close and routes are way faster.

 

[garychurch]

GPS vulnerability is old news. Jamming and spoofing concerns be knowledgeable experts go back 20+ years.

The father of GPS, Per Enge of Standford University, has been a strong advocate of a GPS backup known as Enhanced Loran (eLoran).

While DOT and others have advocated eLoran backup the USCG who had direct responsibilty for Loran resisted all efforts to spend $15 million to deploy eLoran and decommissioned virtually all of the US Loran infrastructure.

Fortunately US GPS has company with other national GNSS systems from Russia (GLONASS) and China (BEIDOU) with Japan and India joining this party.

Lastly manufacturers like Garmin are adding multiple GNSS systems to their electronics for greater precision and redundancy. For example, Garmin has some chartplotters using GPS, GLONASS and BEIDOU.

 

[bill.kimbell]

In my opinion, electrical/electronic failure on your vessel is much more likely culprit than GPS hacking/spoofing/failure. And is reason that paper charts, dividers, parallel rules, binoculars and hand bearing compass are on all my boats.

 

[Capt.Will]

I totally agree with bill,don't give up on the older basic methods of navigation,
You never know what the future has in store. Stay safe!

 

[Joe Pica]

Additional Navigation tool.

Don't forget your radar in addition to depth contours and compass if you can paint land.
I keep paper charts handy as well as dividers and calipers.

 

[AMG]

Can you imagine the roads if the GPS system went down, most youngsters cant drive without a GPS directing them, it would be the end of civilisation as we know it;-) Us old guys who know how to read a map would be like Gods paid millions to drive young people around.