GPS - Part IV.

1 - There are apparently three birds in the Northern satellite constellation that are experiencing service outages - the problems are intermittent and while these birds are due for replacement in upcoming months, keeping them running is a hit or miss proposition.

2 - Add to this the CG, NASA, NOAA and Air Force are performing GPS Satellite interference tests all this month and this year in selected areas of the country. In theory, this is supposed to end in the NE part of the country by October 13th.

3 - There is some low level solar flare activity that is causing signal fade and minor corrections in satellite orbits which brings them down temporarily.

4 - The Air Force has been screwing around with some air defense radars along the East Coast that are close in wave length to that used by the GPS constellation although this has been limited if only because of the effect it has on local communications.

5 - Air Force has been testing the intentional error software in the Northern Constellation.

6 - RFI/EMI from appliances that theoretically have FCC approval, but have manufacturing tolerance problems.

So to put paid to all this, it's a combination of technical issues, it is real, but very intermittent and certain receivers are more susceptible to the problem than others - depends on how the software is written, how sensitive the receiver is and receiver antenna location. Also the further North you are, the worse it becomes when it does happen.

Pretty cool huh?

And it only stands to reason that gasoline prices are coming down because people can't drive from their house to the 7/11 without using the GPS in their automobiles. Less use of automobiles, more gasoline resulting in winning the election.

Devious - very devious.

We exchanged the TV antenna with a new, "improved" version that Shakespeare offered as a swap and the problem went away.

Eisboch

Cheney??? We ran his people out of this area well over a hundred years ago. If he comes this way...we'll do it again! His ancestor homestead.. http://www.angelfire.com/nb/deb/cheneyisland.html

There are six orbital planes with four sats each and at 12,000 miles in height, it makes some sense if you lose three in one plane, you can have a problem.