At 19:39 3/22/2000, BRENT CHRISTENSEN wrote: >(I won't go into the specifics of this random deviation, but suffice it to >say that it is a matter of national security...) :-) (I.e. we didn't want other people using our GPS system to fly cruise missiles down our throats, inconveniencing passers-by and destroying helpless Vanagons...)
Or at least it was, until Russia fielded its own GPS-equivalent -- you can now buy ($$$) receivers that will work with both systems. And of course our own Coast Guard, hoping to do away with the labor- and plant-intensive LORAN-C system, has installed differential transmitters in many coastal locations so that a properly equipped GPS can correct for "Selective Availability." Even so, the system has more jitter in it than LORAN-C, which means the speed readouts are pretty flaky at low speeds. I've watched my brother-in-law's pilot-type unit on our boat going about four knots, and the speed was anywhere from half a knot to ten, according to the GPS. The absolute accuracy of GPS is better than LORAN, but the repeatability is not as good. david
David Beierl - Providence, RI http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/ '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage" '85 GL "Poor Relation" |
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