Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Proteus on May 20, 2009, 09:11:23 am
-
sat nav's are about to plummet in price , soon you will be able to buy a top of the range one for a £1 <:( %%
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Technology/GPS-Network-Could-Fail-Next-Year-Leaving-Sat-Nav-Useless-US-Government-Accountability-Office-Warns/Article/200905315284843?lpos=Technology_Second_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15284843_GPS_Network_Could_Fail_Next_Year_Leaving_Sat_Nav's_Useless%2C_US_Government_Accountability_Office_Warns
Proteus
-
there are loads of phone beacons around, the next step would be to develop sat navs to use those if the satellites went off line
-
Maybe the EU wasn't quite as foolish as everyone said they were when they decided to launch their own satellites :-))
Barrie
-
Or people could go back to using maps .., used a freinds satnaf to go to Warwick last year and it went all round the houses.. For the return trip used a map and those strange things on the road side , think there called Road signs and got home a dam site quicker..
-
My old sat nav couldn't even find Coventry on a clear day.
60 odd years ago the Germans found it in the dark without a map
I like maps and road signs, and being a man getting lost and not asking locals for directions O0
-
even I have found my tomtom to be somewhat vague sometimes and have had to resort to popping into the local post office
-
Posting yourself home?
-
Sat nav never,give me a map anyday.
Chris
-
I agree maps (and a navigator :-))) are best, but to find a specific address in a strange town, then sat nav does have its uses, unless you have all the 'A to Zs' for the country %%.
Barrie
-
Horses for courses and whatever you are comfortable with.
But you don't see a driver doing 25mph going through the M6, M6 toll, M42 junction reading his sat nav <*< <:( <*< <:( <*< <:( <*< <:(
There are times when all you want is to be somewhere else or phasers set to obliterate {:-{
Doug
-
tom tom sat nav everytime !- get the best unit you can affoard....but set it up before you set off <*<
nothing winds me up more that idiots trying to set it up at 60mph on a dual carraigeway !
keep the maps up to date by doing frequent updates via the tom tom website - work out if you want quickest route or the shortest route ( which usually takes you round the houses) and you wont go wrong ... well mine has never sent me wrong and i use mine all over europe too -
i have used it to find tiny little fishing villages in denmark and giant industrial parks in the CZ republic and its never let me down...... (hope i did not speak too soon)
-
Another doom and gloom news story. Always ready to print the sensational, without actually printing the facts. So typical with todays news services. I love my Tomtom, and I love my Magellan for when I'm riding my off road motorcycles. I'm also not the least bit worried about a lack of satellites operating any time soon.
-
Do European sat-navs use European satelites ?
I was under the impression that the satelites used by sat-navs belong mainly to the American military? I have heard that they can turn up the resolution at times when they perceive there to be a crisis or conflict.
If that is the case, you can bet that they won't allow themselves to be without them for too long?
Malc
-
Do European sat-navs use European satelites ?
Not at the moment, but the EU is putting its own series of satellites into orbit - Galileo I think is the name.
Barrie
-
All current GPS (Sat Nav) systems use the American constellation of satellites. The European Galileo project which is more sophisticated in some ways is not due to become operational until 2013.
The US Military have the power to reinstate "selective availability" which was turned off some years ago. This effectively "dumbs down" the system by introducing a degree of artificial innacuracy to civilian users whilst retaining pinpoint accuracy for the US Military. This is not likely to happen in future unless there is a war situation.
It is inconceivable that the US will allow the system to degrade significantly as it is crucial to the delivery of smart bombs and similar ordnance on which the US forces depend.
Colin
-
I wasn't going to bring up the point about munitions and such, but since Colin did, I'll elaborate. Virtually every US military vehicle now has GPS. Can you imaging navigating the dessert without one? Not to mention, the "Blue Force Tracker" system that is now in use. The 21st Century soldier concept utilizes this system so that every single ground pounder can be located as to his position, direction, speed, ect can be displayed in the Tactical Operations Center. Every aircraft, every ship, and even conex containers can be tracked via GPS. Cruise missiles, guided bombs, even artillery shells now all use GPS to find their targets. If anyone for a minute thinks the US Government is going to let this system fall apart, well....let's just say they've lost touch with reality. Virtually every known military force, including our enemies use GPS to conduct operations. I'll bet Osama has one in his back pocket too. As long as WAAS is enabled, even the cheapest of units can get you to within just feet of where you want to go. Companies, like Garmin, Magellan, Tom Tom and such may not want to spend the money to update programming to reflect changes in road ways and such because it is costly. But I'd say they're doing a pretty darn decent job. The trick is, go to your respective inits website, and update frequently, at least once a month or so....
-
Steamboatphil mentions how the Luftwaffe could find Coventry and other targets even in the dark and cloud. Until, that is, until R.V. Jones and his team learnt how to bend their navigational radio beams.
Are satellites immune to this kind of hacking?
-
I think in Iraq 11, the sequel they had a Russian bit of kit that was jamming the cruise missiles at one point
Proteus
-
You should have heard mine last night as we came through Stanstead Airport - packed in the suitcase.
Recalculating, recalculating, recalculating, probably had a nervous breakdown over Europe.
Colin