Solar storms spell trouble for GPS

Larry Dighera writes:

The current GPS network is controlled by the U.S. military, and
civilian capabilities are deliberately degraded out of security concerns.

This deliberate degradation (Selective Availability, or SA) was
eliminated years ago.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Matt Barrow writes:

Interference that would cause a deterioration in the GPS system would
do...what?, to the LORAN and NDB's?

Much less than it does to satellites, although nothing using RF energy
is immune.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Guess we'll have to fly at night.
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because we fly, we envy no one.



Larry Dighera wrote:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/chan...e-for-gps.html
Solar storms spell trouble for GPS

SOLAR flares can drown out GPS signals with potentially serious
consequences for airlines, emergency services, and anyone relying on
satellite navigation.

It turns out these bursts of charged particles, which produce auroras
and geomagnetic storms, also generate radio waves in the 1.2 and
1.6-gigahertz bands used by GPS.

How was such a clash missed? Because GPS receivers only became common
during a period of low solar activity. By 2011 solar flares will reach
the peak of their cycle and receivers will likely fail. Or so
Alessandro Cerruti of Cornell University, New York, told a meeting of
the Institute of Navigation in Fort Worth, Texas, last week. The only
solution would be to redesign GPS receivers or satellites, which may
not be practical, says Cerruti.

From issue 2572 of New Scientist magazine, 07 October 2006, page 27

An early version if the slaved compass, just like nearly all
cabin class and all G1000 systems use.



"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 06:17:38 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
| wrote in
| :
|
|
| BFD, All those radios are called Aids to navigation for
a
| reason, they are conveniences.
|
| Were you aware of the design flaw in GPS as implemented?
I just
| thought it might be a good idea to provide the information
to those
| weren't.
|
| Of course, this issue makes no mention of solar mass
ejections, that
| can potentially knock out any satellite.
|
| It appears that we are (finally?) seeing some
technological innovation
| tickling down to the GA fleet, but I'm becoming uneasy
with the
| apparent lack of robustness engineered in these early
systems.
|
|
| CAL found Paris with just a compass and a chart.
|
| Yes. It was an Earth Inductor Compass*. I've never seen
one of those
| in any aircraft in which I've flown, let alone piloted.
|
|
| * http://oldbeacon.com/beacon/earth_inductor_compass.htm

The Earth is rotating and orbiting within a strong magnetic
field of the Sun, [not to mention the whole Universe].

The magnetic pole is not located on the axis and as a result
the variation wanders. It appears that the Earth's magnetic
field is electromagnetic and AC.

The Earth doesn't physically flip over, the phase angle
flips.



"Ross Richardson" wrote in message
...
| Larry Dighera wrote:
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 06:17:38 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
| wrote in
| :
|
|
| BFD, All those radios are called Aids to navigation for
a
| reason, they are conveniences.
|
|
| Were you aware of the design flaw in GPS as implemented?
I just
| thought it might be a good idea to provide the
information to those
| weren't.
|
| Of course, this issue makes no mention of solar mass
ejections, that
| can potentially knock out any satellite.
|
| It appears that we are (finally?) seeing some
technological innovation
| tickling down to the GA fleet, but I'm becoming uneasy
with the
| apparent lack of robustness engineered in these early
systems.
|
|
| CAL found Paris with just a compass and a chart.
|
| Yes. It was an Earth Inductor Compass*. I've never
seen one of those
| in any aircraft in which I've flown, let alone piloted.
|
|
| * http://oldbeacon.com/beacon/earth_inductor_compass.htm
|
|
| Did anybody see NOVA on PBS last night. The earth is
overdue for a pole
| reversal. According to the program, we are already seeing
issues towards
| that. Interesting program.
|
| --
|
| Regards, Ross
| C-172F 180HP
| KSWI

The aircraft had a dual King 660 FM system with GPS.
STRONG Dick Rutan - Voyager Flight Fun Facts Voyager's
flight was the first-ever, non-stop, unrefueled flight
around the world. It took place between December 14 and
December 23, 1986. ...
www.dickrutan.com/page2.html - 5k - Cached - Similar
pages

1986





"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 06:44:32 -0700, Ron Wanttaja
| wrote in
| :
|
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 11:12:07 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:
|
| How was such a clash missed? Because GPS receivers only
became common
| during a period of low solar activity. By 2011 solar
flares will reach
| the peak of their cycle and receivers will likely fail.
|
| The sun is on an 11-year cycle. If 2011 is the date of
the max (and we are
| apparently in the minimum now), the LAST max was about
2000.
|
| Of course, natural phenomena can be somewhat erratic, but
you astute
| analysis seems relatively consistent with International
Space
| Environment Service observations/projections:
| http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/
|
| Unless the author believes that GPS receivers only became
common after
| 2000, the user community has already been through one
solar max period.
|
| Apparently it was Alessandro Cerruti of Cornell University
who raised
| the concern, not the New Scientist author. But, you are
correct about
| having used GPS during the 2000 - 2003 peak period. I
don't recall
| any anomalous GPS behavior back then, but I do recall a
solar storm
| that caused my garage door opener to spontaneously open
and close the
| door repeatedly one day.
|

Jim Macklin wrote:
The Earth is rotating and orbiting within a strong magnetic
field of the Sun, [not to mention the whole Universe].

The magnetic pole is not located on the axis and as a result
the variation wanders. It appears that the Earth's magnetic
field is electromagnetic and AC.

The Earth doesn't physically flip over, the phase angle
flips.



"Ross Richardson" wrote in message
...
| Larry Dighera wrote:
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 06:17:38 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
| wrote in
| :
|
|
| BFD, All those radios are called Aids to navigation for
a
| reason, they are conveniences.
|
|
| Were you aware of the design flaw in GPS as implemented?
I just
| thought it might be a good idea to provide the
information to those
| weren't.
|
| Of course, this issue makes no mention of solar mass
ejections, that
| can potentially knock out any satellite.
|
| It appears that we are (finally?) seeing some
technological innovation
| tickling down to the GA fleet, but I'm becoming uneasy
with the
| apparent lack of robustness engineered in these early
systems.
|
|
| CAL found Paris with just a compass and a chart.
|
| Yes. It was an Earth Inductor Compass*. I've never
seen one of those
| in any aircraft in which I've flown, let alone piloted.
|
|
| * http://oldbeacon.com/beacon/earth_inductor_compass.htm
|
|
| Did anybody see NOVA on PBS last night. The earth is
overdue for a pole
| reversal. According to the program, we are already seeing
issues towards
| that. Interesting program.
|
| --
|
| Regards, Ross
| C-172F 180HP
| KSWI


What this program stated and I had read it elsewhere, is the magnetic
core within the earth had flipped every 200K to 700K years. Geologist
know how to figure this out from core samples. They said the last one
was over 700K years ago. The north magnetic pole (as we know it) flips
to the south pole.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

Then we need to resurrect the Tate Compass Company, who installed the
magnets in their compasses backwards so that North was South, East was West.

This started the old saying, "He who has a Tate's is lost".

Jim


What this program stated and I had read it elsewhere, is the magnetic core
within the earth had flipped every 200K to 700K years. Geologist know how
to figure this out from core samples. They said the last one was over 700K
years ago. The north magnetic pole (as we know it) flips to the south
pole.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
.. .
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 06:17:38 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
| wrote in
| :
|
|
| BFD, All those radios are called Aids to navigation for
a
| reason, they are conveniences.
|
| Were you aware of the design flaw in GPS as implemented?
I just
| thought it might be a good idea to provide the information
to those
| weren't.
|
| Of course, this issue makes no mention of solar mass
ejections, that
| can potentially knock out any satellite.
|
| It appears that we are (finally?) seeing some
technological innovation
| tickling down to the GA fleet, but I'm becoming uneasy
with the
| apparent lack of robustness engineered in these early
systems.
|
|
| CAL found Paris with just a compass and a chart.
|
| Yes. It was an Earth Inductor Compass*. I've never seen
one of those
| in any aircraft in which I've flown, let alone piloted.
|
|
| * http://oldbeacon.com/beacon/earth_inductor_compass.htm

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:38:27 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
wrote in
:

An early version if the slaved compass, just like nearly all
cabin class and all G1000 systems use.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a slaved compass require
electrical power to operate? "Slim's" Earth Inductor Compass didn't
require any power except that generated by the coil rotating in the
Earth's magnetic field. So if I'm correct, those pilots flying behind
a dead glass-cockpit would only have a whiskey compass to navigate
with.

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:46:39 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
wrote in
:

The aircraft had a dual King 660 FM system with GPS.
STRONG Dick Rutan - Voyager Flight Fun Facts Voyager's
flight was the first-ever, non-stop, unrefueled flight
around the world. It took place between December 14 and
December 23, 1986. ...
www.dickrutan.com/page2.html - 5k - Cached - Similar
pages

1986

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how that relates to anything I wrote in
the article to which you are following up.