GPS community threatened...save our GPS

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2011/110714call_to_action_help_save_gps.html

Call to action: Help save GPS
Pilots urged to comment on LightSquared proposal

By AOPA ePublishing staff
GPS has revolutionized how pilots navigate, improving situational awareness and bringing instrument approaches to general aviation airports that had none before. The receivers are commonplace in GA aircraft now, either mounted in the panel, integrated in multifunction displays, or carried on board as a handheld.
But LightSquared’s proposed broadband communications network could threaten all of that because it uses signals in the spectrum next to GPS that are more powerful. That’s why AOPA and the Coalition to Save our GPS are calling on pilots to share their concerns about the proposal’s interference with GPS directly with the Federal Communications Commission. Comments should be submitted by July 31.

 

Not likely to happen if it'll affect GPS. Commercial and military aircraft rely on GPS too much.

 

Light Squared is working to resolve this issue with GPS manufacturers by only using the lowest 10% of the spectrum it has rights to. This will eliminate 99% of the interference to GPS devices. It has also offered to work with GPS manufacturers to eliminate the last 1% of interference.

It should be noted that a significant portion of the interference that GPS devices are experiencing is because they were designed with improper shielding.

I love the GPS devices that I use every day, but we should really try to get this issue resolved as Light Squared is trying to offer wholesale broadband service that will directly compete with the overpriced, slow, low bandwidth wireless carriers that we all hate dealing with now.

 

My internet service I use on the road is an old 3G Verizon modem that plugs into my laptop's USB port. I think it's plenty fast enough, and I haven't even upgraded to the new 4G yet.

 

GPS navigation is about to be used almost exclusively by major airlines, which will save much time and fuel, and they will ensure it's integrity is maintained...They aren't going to put $100,000 into each aircraft to not have it work properly...