More GNSS Woes

[Lost Soul]

This news article demonstrates once again why we should NOT place total reliance on GNSS and why we need to keep our map and compass skills well honed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26957569

[Locus]

Very interesting, and I'm leaning more towards (without a shred of evidence, of course) this being some kind of unofficiall' show of capability' towards Russia, over well known events in recent weeks. Extending from your initial link, here is another article on the incident which goes further into ramifications of shut down when it comes to other reliant industries like automated farming, mining, etc. One commenter believes that if it had been GPS that was hit, the effects would have been a "catastrophe" (to use his term).

[krenaud]

The sooner the European Gallileo system becomes operational the better. Unfortunately we will be well into the 20:s before terminals supporting the system will be widespread.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(satellite_navigation)

[captain paranoia]

> Unfortunately we will be well into the 20:s before terminals supporting the system will be widespread

Assuming by 'terminals' you mean GNSS receivers, then it may be sooner than you think... Chipsets that are capable of receiving Galileo have been around for some time; ST Microelectronics Teseo 2 can use GPS, Galileo and QZSS.  Their Teseo 3 chipset can also use BDS (aka BeiDou).

http://gpsworld.com/quad-constellation-receiver-gps-glonass-galileo-beidou/

You don't need a complete constellation to be able to use the satellites to generate a composite position fix; the signals from all satellites, whatever system they are part of, can be included in the position solution.  My Tesco Hudl already does that with GPS and GLONASS, as do the later iPhones.  It might also be able to use BDS and Galileo for all I know, even if it doesn't at the moment (may simply need a firmware upgrade).  hmmm... googling 'HUDL GNSS chipset' finds a couple of threads I've started on MNF and UKC...

[Lyle Brotherton]

Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation system suffered another major disruption on Tuesday 15042014, when 8 eight satellites malfunctioned and another satellite going off the air entirely.

Equally important is the ability of GNSS to be disrupted not just by the system operator, but more likely ground sources, as this chart, produced by the South Korean Governments Central Radio Management Office, shows.



Theatres of War, such as in Syria are obvious targets, in addition to areas of political instability, such as Eastern Ukraine, with reports of GNSS disruption from both areas – this involves all systems, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo.

Personally I believe that it is the responsibility of all of u to ensure that we, our families, our friends and all kids at school, are educated in the simple use of a map and compass.

 

[captain paranoia]

That South Korean report shows how much we have come to rely on GNSS for non-position uses, in particular, the time; your GNSS receiver will be the most accurate timepiece you own (unless you have your own atomic clock...).

This timing reference is used by cellular phone, financial trading, internet and other systems of the modern communications world...  It's something that worries me...

Someone waved a 'network processor board' under my nose yesterday, and asked why it had a GPS receiver on it.  It's a network processor, so it uses GPS for its network timing...