galileo
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I think the Russians have a system too. The US system is primarily for Military use. The civilian service is downgraded to be less accurate than the mulitary one. It's also possible that the civilian service could be suspended at any time the US deems appropriate. The European system will not have these restrictions because it will primarily be a civilian system Paresh Solanki Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday.
Paresh Solanki wrote: The US system is primarily for Military use. The civilian service is downgraded to be less accurate than the mulitary one. The US system is NOT primarily for military use. There are plenty of GPS receivers available on the consumer market. Originally, the US intentionally put slight errors in the information (so that other militaries couldn't use it for their military operations), but someone figured out how to take the bad information out of the signal. Last I heard, the US eliminated the errors because it was pointless once someone could remove them anyway. I think the US system is accurate to within 1 or 3 meters (I don't quite remember).
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yesterday was officaly started european project galileo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1893000/1893022.stm - rival to us global positioning system system - 1 meter precision - more than 400 milion users expected - 100 000 new jobs planned (i always wonder reading something like this) - primary civil usage till now it sounds me nice but - it will cost 1.1 billion euro (knowing state planning it must be very optimistic) - project will be 'sponsored' by eu 'till will start be profitable' (not in link but in yesterdays bbc radio news) - it will be payed service (they speak gps is free), how someone will force users to pay for it? (new windows vs linux?) is here someone who knows compare features? t!
When I look at this european system I can't help thinking that the only reason the Europeans are building it is to massage their collective pride. Why are they spending billions of dollars on a redundant system? Here's an interesting quote: "It will allow the European Union to liberate itself from dependence on the American GPS system," the French transport minister, Jean-Claude Gayssot, said. President, Jacques Chirac of France insisted last year that the EU could not accept "serfdom" in space by relying on GPS. "Liberate" and "Serfdom"? Give me a break. Next, I'll be expecting him to use the phrase, "Tyranny of the US GPS system". The benefits of the european system? · Galileo will cover extreme latitudes that GPS misses ( Oh, that justifies the price tag. It's important for it to work in the arctic circle, because there's a huge untapped market of users - oh, wait. ) · Galileo will pinpoint the position of any object to within a metre. It will make it possible to study from space tectonic movements in earthquake zones or analyse the level of rivers and lakes ( Actually, the US GPS system is very accurate - if your system isn't accurate, it's because you have an old receiver. Originally, the US intentionally put errors in the system to prevent other militaries from using the system, but GPS makers found ways to take out the errors. Last I heard, the US was going to remove the errors in the signal because they could be overcome anyway. ) · GPS was designed mainly for the armed forces, which has meant civilian users being given downgraded information ( See above. ) · Neither system guarantees signal cover and both reserve the right to cut off private users should extra capacity be needed or national security be invoked ( Oh, so they're the same in this respect. ) · Galileo promises a more reliable and accurate service unaffected by military needs, and uninterrupted access for paying customers ( Except in the case listed above? ) Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4382492,00.html One good thing I can think of for the European system: If anyone starts destroying the US GPS system ( which would affect US military bombing accuracy ), then the US could switch to the European system. Thanks Europe! Overall, it sounds like a huge waste of money - unless you count "pride" in the equation.
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Kevin Glover wrote: However, we recently bought a little device which can increase the accuracy to about 2 metres. I think it works by obtaining a more accurate position of where the GPS satellites are. So, basically, it's an antenna, right? Tomasz Sowinski -- http://www.shooltz.com
- It's for protection
- Protection from what? Zee Germans?Tomasz Sowinski wrote: So, basically, it's an antenna, right? There is a system called DGPS -> Differential Global Positioning System, and yes, you use an extra antenna :-) Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin Testing Current Sig <:jig:>
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Paul Wolfensberger wrote: GPS was designed for the US and allies for military purposes. This is obvious. I was asking about 'Selective Availability' feature and other - are there any - means of 'downgrading civilian information'. Tomasz Sowinski -- http://www.shooltz.com
- It's for protection
- Protection from what? Zee Germans?Yes....as I said, the 'civialian' service was degraded during the Gulf War....