GPS - OFF TOPIC - Just amazes me ...
Captive soldiers lacked critical GPS radios
The Army last week acknowledged that the three U.S. soldiers captured by the Yugoslav army were not outfitted with a specially designed radio that could have provided their rescuers with accurate information on their location.
fcw.com
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Reminded me of this, though ...
GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM) & AUGUST 22, 1999 PROBLEM
At a few seconds after midnight, Universal Time, on August 22, 1999, the GPS week counter will roll over from 1023 to zero. Although perhaps a little less momentous than the so-called Y2K problem, it has the potential to cause difficulties for some GPS users. In this month's column, we'll examine this event, why it will occur, and the anticipated consequences ...
gpsworld.com
On 22 August 1999, unless repaired, many GPS receivers will claim that it is 6 January 1980, 23 August will become 7 January, and so on. Accuracy of navigation may also be severely affected.
Although it appears that GPS broadcasts do contain sufficient data to ensure that navigation need not be affected by rollover in 1999, it is not proven that the firmware in all receivers will handle the rollovers in stride. Some manufacturers have already solved the problem, but some have not ...
Without a GPS Simulator, there is no way for users to test a GPS receiver for this problem. Users are encouraged to contact their receiver manufacturer to determine if their receiver will be affected, in particular if a failure of navigation could put lives or property at risk."
btinternet.com
An affected unit will become totally lost on 22 August, 1999. It will not "see" the location of GPS satellites correctly, because it will look for them where they were supposed to be on 6 January, 1980, instead of 22 August, 1999.
afn.org
Cheryl
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