I have just had the following announcement through via the UK Ham Radio news network (Of which I'm a reader.) about an incident that is going to affect sat navs in Scotland:
"If you are driving in the very North of Scotland or the Orkneys between 6th and 16th of July, and your GPS system goes dead, it might be jammed, and the jamming is legal. The MOD will be conducting a GPS jamming exercise. The July tests will be for limited periods between 1100 and 1500. The location for the exercise is to sea westwards from 58 degrees 57.4 minutes North and 3 degrees and 13.9 minutes West, which is about 60 nautical miles west of Kirkwall. The MOD conducts occasional tests on military systems that may result in some loss of service to civilian users of the GPS system. This includes such equipment as in-car navigation devices and other networks that rely on GPS signals."
Now it isn't going to affect everybody because of the location involved, and weather conditions could extend the range of the jamming, but companies that rely on tracking devices in their vehicles may be affected.
|
Useful info for those who might be affected.
GPS isn't infallible anyway - it can be affected by weather, terrain, buildings etc. , as well as the ever present possibility that its owners might turn it off at any time if they believe there is a security/terrorist threat.
Nevertheless, reliance on it has grown in all sorts of applications - for example, cellular base stations must have a very accurate clock to work properly - they usually use GPS time via a GPS receiver. If GPS was switched off unexpectedly, there would be a serious problem with cellular traffic, including mobile phone calls, within weeks.
Edited by Manatee on 13/06/2009 at 23:25
|
Jamming trials happen more than we think.
Jamming trials
The Ministry of Defence last year carried out a series of GPS jamming trials to find out how interference could affect military personnel.
In one test it jammed GPS over a 50 square mile area of Cornwall over two days, warning emergency services and coastguards in advance.
In a statement issued at the time, it said: "Although GPS provides highly accurate information, the radio signals from the satellite are extremely weak and are susceptible to both jamming and unintentional radio interference.
"The trials are taking place to better understand these effects on military equipment and therefore will help to protect our forces."
======================
TRIALS INVOLVING THE jamming of global-positioning-system (GPS) satellite-navigation signals in the UK are to be carried out from January to April 1996 by the Defence Research Agency (DRA).
The UK military tests involve a Royal Air Force electronic counter-countermeasures device, designed to ensure that RAF strike aircraft can continue to use GPS despite jamming signals.
If the equipment does not work, says the DRA, the other task is to determine the RAF's alternative navigation mode whenever GPS jamming takes place.
The agency says that its tests will be carried out "in the vicinity of Aberporth [Wales]", and that the interference will be propagated using a beamed antenna to minimise the area of GPS signal disruption. It will take place for only about five days during the four-month period for 2h a day.
============
And this year
Walkers in mid-Wales who normally rely on their electronic gizmos for guidance need to pack a map and compass this autumn.
The Ministry of Defence will be conducting jamming exercises on the Global Positioning System signal in September, which could render GPS receivers useless for a time. The exercise will be run over five days.
Ofcom, which oversees radio communications in Britain, says the MoD has informed it the GPS signals will be jammed for limited periods between 9am and 5pm starting Monday 7 September until Friday 11 September. The affected area is within 5km of the Sennybridge Training Area, on the Mynydd Epynt.
Much of the area, between Llanwrtyd Wells and the Brecon Beacons national park boundary, is given over to an artillery range and military training area, but there are numerous rights of way across the land, including the Epynt Way, a permissive bridleway around the perimeter of the training area.
www.ofcom.org.uk/static/subscribe/gpsjamming.htm
if you want emails when jamming is proposed.
GPS Jamming
The Ministry of Defence conduct occasional tests on military systems which may result in some loss of service to civilian users of the Global Positioning System (GPS) including in-car navigation devices and networks which rely on GPS signals. Ofcom seeks to provide citizens and consumers with information about possible interruptions to these services via these email updates giving advanced notification of these tests. It must be emphasised that this notification process only warns of future jamming excercises that are brought to the notice of Ofcom and may not cover all jamming exercises. It cannot be assumed that any loss of service is due to jamming exercises.
Edited by Pugugly on 14/06/2009 at 01:52
|
Hi Martin.
As you say they are more common than we think,but I don't know why we on the ham radio news network have been given notice about this particular one.
|
but I don't know why we on the ham radio news network have been given notice about this particular one.
Thin news week ?? ;>)
|
"The July tests will be for limited periods between 1100 and 1500. The location for the exercise is to sea westwards from 58 degrees 57.4 minutes North and 3 degrees and 13.9 minutes West, which is about 60 nautical miles west of Kirkwall. "
Might have more to do with preventing the use of GPS to someone else at that time.......
|
Might have more to do with preventing the use of GPS to someone else at that time.......
Hitting your nails well AE! Not normally advertised, must be where it may be noticed by joe public.
Edited by Old Navy on 14/06/2009 at 17:07
|
I remember similar events around 7-8 years ago. It didn't affect the sat nav in my Omega. It is a reminder that people give far too much reliance on sat nav, mobile phones, twitter, Web 2.0, e-books, PDFs, the cloud, internet, emails etc...
If there was a cataclysm and everything powered down, there would be nothing left as it's all 'virtual'. In fact these could even be pulled from under our feet like a rug by the illuminati.
Edited by Hamsafar on 14/06/2009 at 17:30
|
|
|
