GPS Signal Interference in US

[sabray]

Form letter. Yes back room deal. College roomie of cabinet position has marital ties. Washington gossip which I try to avoid.

[HappySeagull]

looks like a computer-generated response,to me...based on keywords.
They know that unanswered letters are lost votes.

[senormechanico]

Thanks for your letter.
I am more concerned with re-election from the idiots with their cellphones and game devices than your navigation problem.
Buzz off.

Regards,
The politician

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Thanks for your letter.
I am more concerned with re-election from the idiots with their cellphones and game devices than your navigation problem.
Buzz off.

Regards,
The politician

The reality is that this is going to be a much bigger issue for the idiots with their cell phones than this will ever be for boaters. It would appear that you have to be pretty close to one of their transmitters for them to destroy the GPS signal. Once we're a little ways off shore this should not be a problem. The idiots will really have serious problems. For instance the GPS based cell phone 911 system will fail to operate near these transmitters. This is also a major problem for airplanes flying over these transmitters. The FAA would very much like to do away with the older radio based navigation systems and replace them with GPS based systems, but they won't be able to do this if these transmitters are jamming the GPS signals.

[sabray]

This is about bandwidth and who owns it. That gets way complicated. It is another last frontier and with the money at stake it will be a long drawn out battle. Interesting topic.

[kaimusailing]

"LightSquared is a company that plans to provide a wholesale, nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband network integrated with satellite coverage. The plan is to cover all parts of the U.S. with wireless service, with the intent that even remote rural areas would have 4G services via satellite when its standard terrestrial service would not reach customers.
LightSquared would combine existing mobile satellite communications services with a ground-based wireless communications network that uses the same radio spectrum as the satellites. Last January, the Federal Communications Commission gave LightSquared conditional approval to build out its ground-based wireless network.
The controversy amid the GPS community arose when it became aware that base stations of the LightSquared network would transmit signals in a radio band immediately adjacent to the GPS frequencies. The GPS community is concerned because testing has shown that LightSquared's ground-based transmissions overpower the relatively weak GPS signal from space.
Although LightSquared will operate in its own radio band, that band is so close to the GPS signals that most GPS devices pick up the stronger LightSquared signal and become overloaded or jammed. That would keep farmers, in particular, from using finely tuned Real Time Kinematic systems for precision planting.
The worst-case scenario, the coalition posits, as described in a statement: "LightSquared's plans to build up to 40,000 ground stations transmitting radio signals one billion times more powerful than GPS signals as received on earth could mean 40,000 'dead spots'—each miles in diameter—disrupting the vitally important services GPS provides."
There is also concern that the FCC may approve a technical solution to the problem that requires millions of existing GPS users to upgrade or replace their devices.
This is according to a report from the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing, a U.S. government organization established by presidential directive to advise and coordinate federal departments and agencies on matters concerning the GPS and related systems."
Quoted from a recent press release.

[kaimusailing]

And this from Bloomberg:
LightSquared Asks for More Tests After U.S. Cites GPS Disruption - Bloomberg

[kaimusailing]

From another source:

"The issue is further muddied by the fact that Republicans in Washington D.C. accuse the Obama administration of conspiring with LightSquared to push FCC authorization of the unusual high-powered satellite service. The Washington Post writes:


GOP staffers of the House strategic forces subcommittee accused the White House of trying to influence the testimony of an Air Force general who was speaking about the project's potential to interfere with the Global Positioning System, the satellite network relied on by the military and private industry. The staffers said Gen. William Shelton revealed in an earlier closed meeting that the White House pressured him to include language in his testimony Thursday supporting LightSquared's venture.

Indeed, Barack Obama was an early SkyTerra investor, putting $90,000 USD in the company [source]. While he lost $15,000 USD on that stake, reportedly, he gained a long time financial ally for his campaign and his party's campaigns.

Two days before the waiver for the LTE service was granted, Mr. Falcone and his wife donated the maximum allowed individual donation of $30,400 USD, while LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja also chipped in his $30,400 USD. But those donations were mere token gesture versus a much larger fund-raising event that reportedly drew in millions for the President and fellow democrats.

Obama and D.C. Democrats are accused of taking cash bribes to push through LightSquared's reportedly dangerous service. [Image Source: Politically Incorrect]

An L2 executive next emailed Aneesh Chopra, President Obama’s chief technology advisor (and former LightSquared board member):

Hi Aneesh!
I touched base … Sanjiv Ahuja and he expressed an interest in meeting with you.… He is going to be in DC next week for a fundraising dinner with the President.

The company's lawyer also drove home the message, sending a redundant email to the White House Chief of Staff:

You may recall that you met with Sanjiv Ahuja about a year ago, with Phil Falcone … as Phil & Sanjiv were finalizing their plans for a new wireless broadband network…. Sanjiv will be at a fund-raiser dinner with the President on September 30 and would like to visit with you … and Aneesh Chopra…

Mr. Ahuja admits the emails do "serious doubts about the fairness and integrity of the entire process", but condemned their release, calling for a formal government investigation into the leak."

[goboatingnow]

The irony, that the originators of GNSS and who gave the technology to the world, would find itself unable to use it in their own country, should not be lost on people.

Dave

[Opie91]

This is not going to happen.

The FAA is currently adding WAAS GPS approaches to Airports at a quick pace. Once a GPS approach is published it cost the airport almost nothing to maintain it. On the other hand the current instrument landing system costs each airport/FAA hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly to maintain. They would like nothing better than to do away with these system.

In the end the FAA and military will not allow this to happen.

Lightsquared has not been able to prove that they can operate without interfering with GPS. They keep on insisting that filters for gps units will solve the problem, but have fallen short of proving their claims.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Opie91

In the end the FAA and military will not allow this to happen.

I certainly hope that you are right.

[osirissail]

And now factor in the equation that the Russian system of GPS if fully operational and supposedly the Chinese system will be soon, if not already. Then if Europe does not continue going broke, they will have their own GPS system up. GPS receivers are starting to be built and sold that can access these other nation's systems.

Politics aside, I would agree with Opie91 that there is too much usage of our current GPS system configuration to require it to be radically altered to accommodate LightSquared. But never say never when it comes to governments and politicians and money.

[David M]

Isn't the solution pretty simple? If it does affect GPS at all it has to be shut down. Let LightSquared take that financial risk.

[Opie91]

Lightsquared keeps blaming everyone else for the problems. They blame one thing, its proven wrong and then they move on to another excuse. It has been proven time after time to interfere with nearly every GPS system.

Lightsquared has a contract with Sprint to provide the 4G network for them. It has nearly expired several times, but Sprint keeps extending it. Sooner or later Sprint will get sick of being left at the altar.

[Vamonos]

There was a paper filed yesterday by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to the FCC that states:

..............Based on NTIA's independent evaluation of the testing and analysis performed over the last several months, we conclude that LightSquared's proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and that there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time. Furthermore, while GPS equipment developers may be able to mitigate these issues via new technology in the future, the time and money required for federal, commercial, and private sector users to replace technology in the field and the marketplace, on aircraft, and in integrated national security systems cannot support the scheduled deployment of terrestrial services proposed by LightSquared.................

Here is the full document

Richard