Everyone has gps on their phones, cars, I have 2 on my boats.

[the watcher]

I think some of us should have them on ankle monitors. I love them fishing and it helps save gas and in planning. My understanding is that satellites send signals to the receiver that computes and displays the location, and it works. How do the satellites know where they're at? I assume they receive a position signal from a fixed point on the earth but really don't know. I hope they're not asking Joe Biden for input. Maybe they use stars for input, I had a telescope that did that, and it was pretty accurate.

 

[fncceo]

How do the satellites know where they're at?

They pull over and ask at a gas station.

 

[frigidweirdo]

I think some of us should have them on ankle monitors. I love them fishing and it helps save gas and in planning. My understanding is that satellites send signals to the receiver that computes and displays the location, and it works. How do the satellites know where they're at? I assume they receive a position signal from a fixed point on the earth but really don't know. I hope they're not asking Joe Biden for input. Maybe they use stars for input, I had a telescope that did that, and it was pretty accurate.

Remember when everyone had to have a proper GPS machine in their cars. Now they're pointless as the phones do it.

GPS satellites tell us where we are, but what tells them where they are?

Global Positioning System (GPS) devices have permeated society to the point where millions of us rely on them daily for directions, locations and traffic avoidance (if only they could tell me where I left my car keys). GPS satellites send signals to a receiver in your handheld or car-based GPS…

newatlas.com

"GPS satellites tell us where we are, but what tells them where they are?"

"A collection of remote quasars, whose positions in the sky are known precisely, forms a map of celestial landmarks that helps to orient the Earth. "

Seems the satellites look at quasars, because they're far away and "don't move" relatively speaking in the sky. So the satellites know where they are.

 

[justoffal]

Remember when everyone had to have a proper GPS machine in their cars. Now they're pointless as the phones do it.

GPS satellites tell us where we are, but what tells them where they are?

Global Positioning System (GPS) devices have permeated society to the point where millions of us rely on them daily for directions, locations and traffic avoidance (if only they could tell me where I left my car keys). GPS satellites send signals to a receiver in your handheld or car-based GPS…

newatlas.com

"GPS satellites tell us where we are, but what tells them where they are?"

"A collection of remote quasars, whose positions in the sky are known precisely, forms a map of celestial landmarks that helps to orient the Earth. "

Seems the satellites look at quasars, because they're far away and "don't move" relatively speaking in the sky. So the satellites know where they are.

Actually there is still a pretty good argument for a Garmin GPS unit that specializes in travel and location. My cell phone map stops working if I lose cell signal. The Garmin unit never loses signal.

 

[toobfreak]

Everyone has gps on their phones, cars, I have 2 on my boats.​

Kinda hard to avoid considering that the entire cellular technology is based on the timing signals between multiple transceivers in order to establish a contiguous communication network, so, positioning is everything.

 

[Maxdeath]

I think some of us should have them on ankle monitors. I love them fishing and it helps save gas and in planning. My understanding is that satellites send signals to the receiver that computes and displays the location, and it works. How do the satellites know where they're at? I assume they receive a position signal from a fixed point on the earth but really don't know. I hope they're not asking Joe Biden for input. Maybe they use stars for input, I had a telescope that did that, and it was pretty accurate.

Your gps uses a thing called trilateration. It uses the signal from three or four satellites to determine your position on the earth. The satellites send out a signal which tells the gps (essentially just a listening device) where that satellite is and when the signal was sent. It then uses that information to determine where you are by how long the signal took to reach it from each satellite.
Each satellite has an atomic clock so the time is extremely accurate. The time is also adjusted for distance from the earth. Each satellite was placed into a very specific orbit.
Think of it this way. Someone tells you that you are so close to New York, so close to Denver, so close to New Orleans. Using a map you could probably come close to exactly where you were.

 

[pknopp]

Actually there is still a pretty good argument for a Garmin GPS unit that specializes in travel and location. My cell phone map stops working if I lose cell signal. The Garmin unit never loses signal.

WAZ has offline maps.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Actually there is still a pretty good argument for a Garmin GPS unit that specializes in travel and location. My cell phone map stops working if I lose cell signal. The Garmin unit never loses signal.

Sure, and that's for people who are super adventurous. Though perhaps they'd also have a phone that's connected to the GPS too.

 

[justoffal]

Sure, and that's for people who are super adventurous. Though perhaps they'd also have a phone that's connected to the GPS too.

I once looked at a position in Massachusetts that was in a mountainous region in the West end of the state with very poor access roads and constant cell phone interruptions. My one concern whenever commuting to a job is safety of the journey. Loss of cell phone signal along any part of the root is unacceptable because you can be damn sure that's exactly where your car is going to choose to break down.

So I looked into sat phones and even they come in tiers of quality as far as connectivity is concerned. The one phone service that guarantees 100% connection all the time anywhere on the planet was about $400 a month. That came with about 15 minutes of talk time before the charges kicked in per minute.

 

[the watcher]

Like everything else technology has us dependent on things like cell service and gps. I can't imagine what would happen if either were suddenly not available. I guess we could survive but it would be ugly, and only the overseers would have access to those and the hidey holes they have stocked.

 

[fncceo]

This works for me … and it never runs out of battery power

 

[frigidweirdo]

I once looked at a position in Massachusetts that was in a mountainous region in the West end of the state with very poor access roads and constant cell phone interruptions. My one concern whenever commuting to a job is safety of the journey. Loss of cell phone signal along any part of the root is unacceptable because you can be damn sure that's exactly where your car is going to choose to break down.

So I looked into sat phones and even they come in tiers of quality as far as connectivity is concerned. The one phone service that guarantees 100% connection all the time anywhere on the planet was about $400 a month. That came with about 15 minutes of talk time before the charges kicked in per minute.

Expensive because you're using satellite rather than just normal network

 

[braalian]

I once looked at a position in Massachusetts that was in a mountainous region in the West end of the state with very poor access roads and constant cell phone interruptions. My one concern whenever commuting to a job is safety of the journey. Loss of cell phone signal along any part of the root is unacceptable because you can be damn sure that's exactly where your car is going to choose to break down.

So I looked into sat phones and even they come in tiers of quality as far as connectivity is concerned. The one phone service that guarantees 100% connection all the time anywhere on the planet was about $400 a month. That came with about 15 minutes of talk time before the charges kicked in per minute.

I think you’re exaggerating the danger of driving in areas not covered by cell phone service.