Threat to our GPS

[LGMOUTH]

 I got an email yesterday from Boat US about a threat to our GPS. I guess I didnt hear about this last year. Did anyone else hear about this? Looks like it is going in the right direction but still needs to be addressed. Please take the time to post your comments on the FCC site.

Here is the email

Last summer boaters sent a clear message to the Federal Communications Commission – "Don't Mess with GPS!" As you may remember, a private company, LightSquared, received preliminary FCC approval to offer a new cellular broadband service. Tests showed this service could significantly interfere with GPS signals.
 



Thanks to over 18,000 boaters who submitted comments, along with many other GPS users, the FCC required additional testing in the fall. (Thank you all for your help!) Last week, these tests revealed that the LightSquared's network would interfere with GPS and that there are no practical fixes. As a result, the FCC has proposed to withdraw LightSquared's approval.(http://www.gps.gov/news/2012/02/lightsquared/)



The FCC has a new comment period (open to March 1) asking for the public's opinion. Even if you wrote last summer, please take a few minutes now and write the FCC asking them to protect the GPS signal by saying "No" to LightSquared's current proposal. Given this company's tenacity over the last year, we want to make sure that boaters' needs are remembered as the FCC makes their final decision.



Important points to make:
•How do you use GPS in your life – on the water, on land, or in the air?

•What would happen to your business/personal life if GPS became unavailable or unreliable?

•Wireless broadband service is important, but it should not come at the expense of GPS.

•All the studies show that LightSquared's proposed network would cause interference and that there are no remedies.

•Tell FCC that you rely on them to protect the integrity of the GPS signal and that you support their recommendation to stop LightSquared's current proposal

You can submit comments directly to the FCC through their online comment form. (We regret we can't streamline this process for you, but it is important enough we're still asking for your help.) Here's how:

1.Click on this link for the FCC's Electronic Comments Filing System (ECFS):                                 http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/hotdocket/list
2.Select "Proceeding Number 11-109."  It should be near the top of the list.
3.In the designated boxes, enter your name and mailing address.
4.In the box that says "Type in or paste your brief comments," do so.  Click "Continue".
5.A review page will load listing all of the information entered.  If correct, click "Confirm."
6.If you have any trouble, you may contact the FCC ECFS Helpdesk at 202-418-0193 or email at ecfshelp@fcc.gov

Thank you for taking action to protect the integrity of the GPS system.

[Waterfoul]

I did know about this last year and submitted comments then.  But that was thru work as I am a representitive of Boat US.  I will make new comments today though.

We should all be very concerned about this... Like all of you, I'd hate to hit the Muskegon Pier in the fog because my GPS wasn't giving me accurate information.

[bsimpson]

Thanks for the head up Don.  Just submitted my comments to the FCC.

Bill

[motocross269]

I have to somewhat question  how much of a threat this really is.....
Being retired Military I would say good accurate GPS and the ability to find your spot on the ground and the position of targets has been the main driver behind technology over the last Decade or so..GPS technology has saved countless lives in with the ability to bring in Medevac and support in a timely fashion...If you have ever tried to fix your position from maps in the Desert, Jungle or mountainous terrain you can understand...

Just my opinion but I don't see DOD allowing anything to be deployed that may be a threat to that technology...

[thedude]

on top of what Motocross said -
think of all newer cars with built in nav systems that car companies have spent billions in R&D on... they have a big lobby in congress as well.  Top that with the number of GPS enabled iphones and portable gps nav devices you're talking about an insanely huge chunk of the market that would be threatened.

[Waterfoul]

I was told yesterday by the president of Boat US (Margaret Podlich) that the FCC is about this --> <-- close to telling them NO, you may not set up a signal that disrupts GPS signals based in great part on the data and concernes raised by Boat US and it's members.  This was a key part of her speach to the West Marine Store Managers at the semi-annual meeting we are having out here in California this week.  She also urged all of us to encourage our customers to continue hitting up the FCC link to voice our opposition.   So you can see that your comments and concernes ARE helping put a stop to this proposal.  

If you have not gone to the link and put in your comments, now would be a great time as the 1st is the last day to do so.

Mike

[fiker]

Done.  Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

[djkimmel]

Having just literally come out of the jungle today, I was thinking all week that if one of my guides became incapacitated, the odds were I would never find my way back out of the thousands of channels to find the rest of the crew. We made so many twists and turns down channels that looked alike, I had no idea where we were.

But I had my handheld GPS and I had a VHF radio in the boat so at least if one of the other boats came within a few miles, I might  be able to radio my coordinates and have them figure out where we were.

The guides here are amazing at finding their way around. They've created their own names for many places just so they would all know what places they were talking about when reporting where they would be.

GPS and satellite phones are about the only thing going in the Amazon, especially if you don't know the hundreds of named places the local Brazilians know! We ran a maze one day, making the 2nd longest run of the week - maybe 20 minutes straight. And then we ran a zillion other channels, twists and turns throughout the day. Sometimes, there'd be 4 or 5 channels to choose from. Not too many long straight channels here! When the guide said it was time to go in for the night, we prepared for at least a half hour run to get back even though the big boat - the Amazon Otter - also moves each day.

Our guide cracked up when he ran through one flooded tree line and there was the Otter only about 3 - 400 yards away! We had no idea and would have probably run miles in the wrong direction we were so turned around. No idea we had looped back a little at all. Just way too many twists and turns. Us Americano's need the technology, and we need it to work accurately! In the jungle, a few yards could mean a lot of wasted time running down the wrong channels! You can't just cut across to the next one just anywhere! You might have to run a 100 feet or a couple miles to get back into the right channel.

GPS accuracy is pretty important to safety and getting help in an emergency, let alone finding the exact right spot you caught the big ones at before. Glad some of you took the time to voice your opinion. I had no Internet until tonight when we arrived at the hotel in Manaus Brazil so I missed a 2nd chance to voice my opinion. Never assume someone else will take up your slack. If everyone does a little, so much more can be accomplished more easily.

[bigjc]

I have to somewhat question  how much of a threat this really is.....
Being retired Military I would say good accurate GPS and the ability to find your spot on the ground and the position of targets has been the main driver behind technology over the last Decade or so..GPS technology has saved countless lives in with the ability to bring in Medevac and support in a timely fashion...If you have ever tried to fix your position from maps in the Desert, Jungle or mountainous terrain you can understand...

Just my opinion but I don't see DOD allowing anything to be deployed that may be a threat to that technology...

My thoughts exactly, you beat me to it.  The DOD wouldn't even entertain the thought of something that would jeapardize GPS accuracy.