Where am I?
by Late Nite LeRoy
May 19, 2000
Where Am I? Hikers and boaters ask that question frequently.
One answer to that has been the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system. But anyone who has used the consumer version learns quickly that it is highly inaccurate. You will see discrepancies up to 3000 feet horizontally and 4500 feet vertically.
The reason for this is to prevent any enemy with a cruise missile from sending one down your chimney like America did in the Gulf war.
I remember sitting on a boat in Marina Del Rey harbor near Los Angeles joking with the skipper by saying we must be at high tide because my GPS unit said we were at a 225 foot altitude. But that has now changed as of May 2nd this year.
In Clintonesque fashion, perhaps aiming for sportsman support, and throwing national security to the wind, he used another executive order to tell the military to unscramble the GPS signal. My little Magellan hand held unit is now giving me repeatable accuracy within 40 feet in all axis.
This is scary. All right, it's great for boaters to keep from hitting the shoreline in the fog, but with China still saber-rattling to Taiwan, flight 800 info still under wraps and who knows what evil is hiding out there that even we conspiracy theorists don't know about, I'm not sleeping any better. You can learn more about how GPS works at http://www.igeb.gov/ and http://www.gpsworld.com/resources/glossary.htm
LateNiteLeroy Webmaster at http://www.commutefaster.com E-mail directly to leroy@commutefaster.com
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