Skip to content

Comment on GPS signals are surprisingly easy to disruptparent

Comments

There are different grades of GPS receivers, all licensed differently. Consumer-grade receivers have a maximum accuracy of something like 3 meters and a slow response time. There are also aviation grade and military grade receivers, which cost more (build & calibration) but also require a special license.

I interned at Trimble in the radio group. Industrial GPS receivers could be purchased by more / less anyone, however they were built and priced for heavy-duty industrial consumption (mines, farms, ships, aircraft, etc.). The unassisted accuracy without kinematic corrections was around +- 1 m horizonal and ~10 m vertical, constantly changing as the constellation moves. This would be for a top-of-the-line 24 channel parallel receiver. WITH kinematic GPS, +- 10 mm (not a typo) horizonal and ~3 m vertical. It was so good that receivers could be installed on the left and right sides of a grader's blade that the angle and position could be known with great accuracy and precision. Kinematic means a nearby stationary reference ground base station sending updates over radio frequencies to another GPS receiver that could be in motion. This was also used to subtract SA pre-Clinton because the injected error would be the same in nearby locations.

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.