My GPS receiver is no longer working!

I'm kinda pissed. I can't seem to get my hand held GPS Receiver to locate any sattellites anymore. I remember reading about a month ago that Bush was trying to turn off our GPS products. Did he succeed?

Also I write this to do with another thing. A post that was written on here from last summer. It was a list of predictions, the topic i cant remember, It was either a comet or end of the world type thread. But I remember the list was saying that the IIS space station would be evacuated and the russian space station would be experiencing problems... and one specific that GPS would stop working and all these were adding up to something big. If anyone can remember what post that was, I've tried searching, it would be a great help!


Thanks

Originally posted by porschedrifter
I'm kinda pissed. I can't seem to get my hand held GPS Receiver to locate any sattellites anymore. I remember reading about a month ago that Bush was trying to turn off our GPS products. Did he succeed?

Suceed? Bush can turn GPS off at will, he doesn't need to 'succed' or struggle against something to do it. ITs not "our" gps, its the military's, they allow everyone to use it. What you are thinking about is that they wanted to set it up so that it'd be shut down if there was a terror attack in the US, so that it couldn't be used to coordinate the attack or guide enemy munitions.

Originally posted by porschedrifter
I'm kinda pissed. I can't seem to get my hand held GPS Receiver to locate any sattellites anymore. I remember reading about a month ago that Bush was trying to turn off our GPS products. Did he succeed?

No mention of it being off in sci.geo.satellite-nav, so I'd guess not ... I'll check mine in a bit and see if they are ok.

Originally posted by porschedrifter
Also I write this to do with another thing. A post that was written on here from last summer. It was a list of predictions, the topic i cant remember, It was either a comet or end of the world type thread. But I remember the list was saying that the IIS space station would be evacuated and the russian space station would be experiencing problems... and one specific that GPS would stop working and all these were adding up to something big. If anyone can remember what post that was, I've tried searching, it would be a great help!
Thanks

Ok, here goes ... I think you'll be wanting the "Very Scary End Of The World Article" which became known as the 'Aussie Bloke' thread, I recall he mentioned the 'apparent' failure of ISS resulting in an evac, followed by the denial of service of GSPr data, and then a load of other stuff of course.

It starts here, if you really can bear to go through all that again.

Edit: Both of my GPSr are fine (Garmin GPS76 & Map76) , they locked pretty quickly and seemed quite happy (might not tell you anything tho' as I'm in the UK). If your GPS hasn't been run for a little while it might take it longer than normal to acquire a lock as it will need to pull and interpret new ephemeris data ...

... Although now as you mention it, my usual GPSr companion wasn't at all happy at the end of last week, and wouldn't lock at all - I had put that down to the city buildings closing in around me (urgh) tho' ...

[edit on 8-2-2005 by 0951]

Actually, porschedrifter, the GPS system works just fine. It is just that we have activated the built in self destruct chip in your particualr unit.

You know why.

Don't go near that area again!

You have been warned.

Originally posted by porschedrifter
I'm kinda pissed. I can't seem to get my hand held GPS Receiver to locate any sattellites anymore. I remember reading about a month ago that Bush was trying to turn off our GPS products. Did he succeed?

Also I write this to do with another thing. A post that was written on here from last summer. It was a list of predictions, the topic i cant remember, It was either a comet or end of the world type thread. But I remember the list was saying that the IIS space station would be evacuated and the russian space station would be experiencing problems... and one specific that GPS would stop working and all these were adding up to something big. If anyone can remember what post that was, I've tried searching, it would be a great help!


Thanks

My Garmin Street Pilot and hand held Garmin GPS3 is working just fine at 2044 UTC:

www.time.gov.../s/0/java

So you can't blame this one on Bush. Darn, maybe it was "operator trouble."

Originally posted by porschedrifter on 8 Feb. 2005
...A post that was written on here from last summer [2004] It was a list of predictions ... that the IIS space station would be evacuated and the russian space station would be experiencing problems... and one specific that GPS would stop working and all these were adding up to something big. ...

Considering that MIR was brought down in March '01, the summer 2004 prediction that it would be having problems sounds a little postmortem, wouldn't you say?

Um...have you checked to see if your receiver isn't just, er, broken?

i heard that the N.Koreans blew all the satelites to pieces.

I could just be talkin bullpoop though.

me sayin s**t like that could probably start a war

oops

problem: Crappy GPSr
solution: go buy a quality one at walmart (you said something about bush so i assume you live in US)

GPS can no longer be turned off, or made to be wildly innacurate. Planes use them for precision approaches, 10s of thousands of people would be in danger if that were to occur. Sorry, but there is no great conspiracy regarding GPS, and it is here to stay.

My GPS units are working fine - maybe you should buy a new one!

I spent a good part of last year mapping roadways with Trimble's Pathefinder GPS unit and I can tell ya that on two occasions, the GPS coveraged blacked out for more than a minute. Total loss of all coverage. Now, I have certain times of the day when PDOP goes too high for submeter accuracy (or as they have become known, coffee breaks) but this was different. It happens from time to time and is documented (in my .ssf file ) but also other sources.

My advice is to try your receiver again. Make sure your in an open area and give it 5 or 10 minutes to aquire and dl the almanac and ephemeris.

If this doesn't work, your antenna connection might have come loose. You might send it in for repair or if its not very expensive unit, just replace it.

eh well, it was working properly when a few weeks ago... I turned it on all day but it just wouldnt connect to the sattellites. wierd

Well, depending on what kind of weather was around, yes, you might have lost signal. I think it's a problem with your machines, though.

We own a GPS that you hook up to your laptop (I forget which brand) and I own a handheld Magellan Platinum. It's a few years old, but it works... and it's working just now.

Positions change with some satellite drift (and can be up to 30 feet wrong, as all of us GPS owners know.

Next time you think the GPS satellites are wrong, check with us on the geocaching boards:
forums.groundspeak.com...

More about geocaching and other fun things to do with a GPS can be found here:
www.geocaching.com...

Originally posted by porschedrifter But I remember the list was saying that the IIS space station would be evacuated and the russian space station would be experiencing problems... and one specific that GPS would stop working and all these were adding up to something big.

Someone was repeating information from that Zetatalk Lunatic, Nancy Lieder. So far she's been completely wrong about everything, and the all powerful Zetans keep saying "oh, well of course it didn't happen because it was a test to see how you'd react..."

It's part of the Planet X stupidity that Nancy's keeping alive.

Originally posted by porschedrifter
eh well, it was working properly when a few weeks ago... I turned it on all day but it just wouldnt connect to the sattellites. wierd

Sometimes when you turn on a GPS devise it takes a minute to successfully recieve coordinates from the satellites. At least it does with the one in my car.
Perhaps you aren't giving it enough time to come up - are the batteries good?

*Edit for spelling

[edit on 12-2-2005 by intelgurl]

I dont have a GPS but I know folks who do.

Ive read that during the pole shift ALL GPS stuff would go wonky, and I may be mistaken, but ISNT the pole shift going on RIGHT NOW???? Maybe thats your issue?
Hmmm Im going to call my GPS holding frinds and see if all is well with their equipment.