Technology

Do $30 GPS Jammers Pose Threat to National Security?

When you read the letters “GPS,” chances are you think of that little device in your car, whose computerized female voice helps you get from point A to point B.

Do $30 GPS Jammers Pose Threat to National Security?

But if our GPS systems go down today, absolute chaos would ensue, according to this fascinating article in the New Scientist. Why? Because GPS technology permeates almost every aspect of our plugged-in lives. Consider what happened in San Diego a few years ago when the GPS signals were disrupted:

In the tower at the airport, air-traffic controllers peered at their monitors only to find that their system for tracking incoming planes was malfunctioning. At the Naval Medical Center, emergency pagers used for summoning doctors stopped working. Chaos threatened in the busy harbour, too, after the traffic-management system used for guiding boats failed. On the streets, people reaching for their cellphones found they had no signal and bank customers trying to withdraw cash from local ATMs were refused. Problems persisted for another 2 hours.

Or what happened at Newark’s International Liberty Airport last year when GPS signals were jammed-up:

Airport controllers had installed a new GPS-based landing system, so that aircraft could approach in bad visibility. But it was shutting itself down once or twice a day. It took several months to find the culprit.

The culprit was a “GPS jammer,” a small plastic device which can be bought for as little as $30 online. This device can knock out GPS signals from miles away. As it turns out, a trucker on the New Jersey turnpike had installed a GPS jammer in his car to avoid paying a GPS-operated toll. He drove past the Newark airport twice a day, causing the havoc described above.

Do $30 GPS Jammers Pose Threat to National Security?

These devices, above, are illegal in the United States, the UK, and elsewhere, and for good reason: such a small device, it can cause such a large amount of damage. The main reason for this is that GPS signals are incredibly weak:

“The problem is that the GPS signal is very weak. It’s like a car headlight 20,000 kilometres away,” says consultant David Last, former president of the UK’s Royal Institute of Navigation. You can’t boost the signal any further because of the limited power supply on a satellite.

Last has first-hand experience of how easy it is to block a GPS signal, and the effects it can have on modern technology. In 2010, he conducted an experiment in the North Sea, aboard the THV Galatea, a 500-tonne ship.

Do $30 GPS Jammers Pose Threat to National Security?

The Galatea is the pride of its fleet, with all the latest navigation equipment. Last wanted to find out how it would cope without GPS. So he used a simple jamming device that overwhelmed the GPS signal by broadcasting noise on the same frequency as the satellites.

Beyond being a nuisance, GPS jammers pose a serious national security threat. After all, car thieves and criminals have already used jammers to evade the law. And from the examples above, we know that GPS jammers can interfere disastrously with air-traffic control, hospital emergencies, and our major methods of communication. With that in mind, it’s frightening to imagine a terrorist getting his hands on one of these.

Watch a GPS jammer at work below. You’ll see that the once the jammer is plugged in, the six satellite fixes on the screen go dead.

While we all rely on technology, this story reminds us how vulnerable we are when technology fails. Let’s hope that some innovative engineer will create a device sometime soon that will jam-up the jammers.

Comments (142)

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  • Carl McPherson
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:46pm

    Rights of Man: Dont’ worry about the military weapons. The GPS jammer is only a small distance around it.. 10-15 feet, etc. If a bomb is coming at it.. 10-15 feet blowing up instead of 1 foot is still good enough.

    Report Post » Carl McPherson  
  • Carl McPherson
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:44pm

    It‘s being called a national security threat because they’ve started putting gps devices on peoples cars without warrants, etc now. Sorry, people protect their constitutional rights by getting one of these devices and the government throws a tantrum and tries to claim national security. They‘re just upset that spying on their citizens isn’t so easy.

    Report Post » Carl McPherson  
    • BetterDays
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:20pm

      The smart patriot has one (or two) on hand already and won’t use it until the time it becomes a matter of life and liberty, much as any other unknown defensive material(s) a patriot may own.

      Report Post »  
  • Rightsofman
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:41pm

    This is very scary since the whole military and National Defence System is based on GPS targeting and coordination. We could be back to WWII type weapons systems.

    Report Post »  
    • Rightsofman
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:54pm

      Just read post that these things have a very short range (18-36ft) not so worried now but what about a month from now when they’re upgraded to 100 mi.? Also no highway runs within 100ft. of the control tower at Nwk Airport so how come… well maybe the driver made deliveries TO the airport twice /day.

      Report Post »  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:12pm

      The military use multiple methods of tracking and navigation. GPS is just one tool in their arsenal they don’t rely on it. The quartermasters on military ships still manually plot courses on charts and take sunshots with a sextant. They still use radar as well as manual lookouts.

      Civilians rely on gps the military doesn’t.

      Report Post »  
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:25pm

      ROGUE; correct as usual. Succinct as usual.

      Report Post »  
  • Maji
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:41pm

    If this was true (even a little) these things would be flowing over from the southern border!
    Do you think this would be overlooked the Islamic crazies??

    Report Post »  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:37pm

    There is no national security threat. It’s idiotic for airports to be relying on gps anyway. You can flip off the transponder and a plane dissapears. Use fricken radar.

    There is no good reason that most things that contain gps transmitters should have them. Can something good sometimes result from a gps enabled device? Sure, but there are exponentially more sketchy and shady uses for that information.

    Report Post »  
  • Carl McPherson
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:35pm

    Nice.. several of these on ebay for around $30… hmm… time to redo the March Budget.

    Report Post » Carl McPherson  
  • tarpon
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:32pm

    In this case, the power is all with the GPS jammers …

    Like with presidents, as long as everybody plays by the rules no one gets hurt. But now we learn all it takes is one with no character to jam up the works and destroy your fun.

    No character, it’s really bad.

    Report Post »  
  • Carl McPherson
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:29pm

    I immediately wanted one. Then saw it was illegal to own one. Of course it’s illegal, why would someone have the ability to not be tracked by the Obama Nazi forces?
    I’ve got enough check marks next to my name on the “people to watch and pick up for indefinite detention” to add this to the list. :)
    I read the constitution, I own several guns, I’ve been to a tea party rally, I pray to God, I homeschool our daughter, I attend church regularly, I am a Christian, in the past I have had a political bumper-sticker, I have had military training, I write a political blog.. oh yeah.. I’ll be one of the first people that vanish.

    Report Post » Carl McPherson  
    • Oldphoto678
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:40pm

      One can only hope that you do.

       
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:17pm

      Hang in there man; you’re not alone.

      Report Post »  
    • GOTT-EM-MAUSER
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 8:17pm

      No Carl, you are not alone at all. More folks than you can imagine are in the very same boat. BUT more every day are deciding NOT to settle for being the First to “Disappear”. Instead they have resolved to be the FIRST to begin shooting NAZIs.

      Report Post »  
  • Just A Patriot
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:27pm

    GPS is but another necessary evil… As with ANY radio or telemetry device, they can be easily disabled and cause Mayhem…

    Report Post » Just A Patriot  
  • upsetagainin2010
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:27pm

    Now this IS confusing.

    Report Post »  
  • Progressive-ANTIdote
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:27pm

    It begs the question… have our lives REALLY gotten that much better in the recent 20 years because of technology??? really?

    I mean maybe we are just saying it’s all that much better because we like the status quo. Maybe going back to a more non-digital life wouldn’t be all that bad. We just can’t imagine it anymore than we could imagine where we are NOW… back in 1980. I personally think I spend more time now wishing I didn’t have to deal with computers, even while all the while — COMPUTERS are what I know and how I feed my family.

    Makes you think. and wonder…

    Report Post » Progressive-ANTIdote  
  • orkydorky
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:24pm

    I look at this and others stories in the media as smoke screens thrown up to keep people from looking at the real issues at hand, getting cuts to the budget, a limit on spending, and the removal or reversal of the health care con. The real issue at hand is to eliminate the appropriations that were hidden in the health care bill. To assume that the legislators didn’t know about this when they voted for the bill calls for a gullibility of epic proportions. I sincerely hope that Sean, Glenn, and Rush, (our only real voices in the media), don’t fall for the lefts attempted sidetracking of these vital issues. Let’s face facts, the American people were duped out of their children’s money by the socialist politicians and Obama by trickery included in the bill. Our three spokesmen need to be shouting from the roof tops how the Obama administration has snookered our citizens. Don’t address any of the smoke screen issues and pay attention to the slight of hand going on!

    Report Post » orkydorky  
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:10pm

      Yor are correct. “Watch the other hand”.

      Report Post »  
  • donottreadonme
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:22pm

    Used to be, that one could tell where they were, by looking at land features and staying aware of what they were going. But since the government got involved with it, they screwed that up too.

    Report Post »  
  • sWampy
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:21pm

    I could see these causing all kinds of havoc, I’d much rather see people with cell phone jammers in movie theaters than these things messing up air traffic controllers/oil tankers.

    Report Post »  
  • Y.b-M.I
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:20pm

    Comming from an electronics technician mind set; you can’t “ban” anything.What? Are you going to have people regester to buy active electronic components; so they can’t build their own? And maybe the Marine communications guys got it right back in the 80′s “we shoulden’t become too dependent on GPS” By the way; if you have “on star” you might consider getting rid of that GM.

    Report Post »  
    • Salamander
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:42pm

      On*Star isn’t GPS (or, at least it didn’t used to be), but an alert system using the cellular network to communicate status and audio in a two-way link. The cellular link could identify proximity, but not without a special request to the carrier. Now, cell phones have a GPS tracker function (good way to keep track of the kids, or to provide a security audit trail for yourself). Not long ago, the FBI was able to correlate several cell phones to a number of bank robberies (they were the only ones present at all three robberies), thus facilitating the identification of the culprits. In my opinion, this is not an invasion of privacy as it wasn’t used to track people, but to identify suspects through a process of elimination. Too bad their technique was published, which renders it ineffective to the astute. The AM radio jamming analogy given above is an interesting point. One could, conveivable, wreak havoc in a civil action by taking over or jamming the radio waves. Internet spoofs and blogs and such are a more recent technology, but the exposure and effects are the same.

      Report Post »  
  • silentwatcher
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:18pm

    Well, if the bad guys didn’t know this before,,,,they do now.

    Report Post »  
  • kingssman
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:17pm

    Things used to be able to navigate without a GPS just fine. Planes used alternative GPS navigation that they should be employing.

    The reliance on GPS these days has become so much that we forgot how to live without it. How could we drive to our mother’s house without a GPS anymore? well, gee Ever heard of A MAP!!! or DRIVING DIRECTIONS?!

    Well besides, the military GPS has 2 signals, the civilian one, and an encrypted different one on a different frequency.

    I’m just more concerned about the trucker trying to avoid paying a toll by jamming the tracking system.

    Now imagine a jamming signal that blocks AM radio,, that will be the major threat to national security and the constitution that would get people to riot over.

    Report Post » kingssman  
    • Salamander
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:16pm

      If the turnpike authority took a picture every time its GPS toll collection systems got jammed, it shouldn’t take too long to figure out who is attempting theft of services! So many of our systems are cooperative-I use GPS many times every day to deliver containerized household goods, on time, to addresses I never knew before. The mapping/routing systems are often a bit faulty, and many of the addresses are in new developments, so the system isn’t perfect. We get printed maps with each job, again with errors or glaring omissions–but driving by an area with ‘no streets’ on a map, but with a brand new road and lots of construction equipment is a dead-giveaway–and the names are often related to the development! Yeah, technology–keeps the costs down–but requires our cooperation to enable the service. Malicious jamming or spoofing ought to be a crime, ranked misdemeanor through felony and punishable accordingly!

      Report Post »  
    • Politicus
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 7:28pm

      You know very little about radio.

      Report Post » Politicus  
  • rmblount
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:17pm

    When cilivilian GPS units first came out, they where limited in accuracy for fear of being used for some guidance of bombs, missiles, whatever. Now they are worried about them being able to be jammed. Wait for the EMP discussion to follow. You think losing your GPS will be bad, try losing every circuit board operated device.

    Report Post »  
  • Untameable-kate
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:14pm

    Disturbing to think how much we depend on something so fallible.

    Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • tower7femacamp
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:08pm

      Disturbing to think we are under constant Surveillance
      and even more Disturbing are the Morons that think this is a good thing…

      Report Post » tower7femacamp  
    • JollyTrooper
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 5:01pm

      I tend to think more like a Luddite each day. Until the lights go out, and they probably will eventually, I’ll take a jammer.

      Report Post » JollyTrooper  
  • thorkyl
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:12pm

    makes me want one even more now…

    Report Post » thorkyl  
  • Independent American
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:12pm

    Our increased reliance on electronic technology is a vulnerability until it is built with internal protections, counter measures, and alternatives in the event of interruption.

    Report Post » Independent American  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:28pm

      I think if technology ever crashes we will loose half of the population of this country within four months. People won’t know how to feed themselves or even how to make a fire or defend themselves.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:56pm

      @Untameable-kate
      Most of them will be in the cities, where they think food comes from grocery stores. I‘m not sure people still know how to read a map and it’s hard to find a pay-phone nowadays. People won’t know what to do without TV and the internet. Kids, these days, have to share each thought they have by text or twitter.

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:59pm

      You may be right Kate. But it would be the 50% we could afford to lose.

      Report Post »  
    • vennoye
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:02pm

      @Untameable-kate
      I’m afraid you are right……..and the hardest hit will be to the younger generations. When you think about the Van Jones video in the other post, if their technology makes them “gods” what are they going to be (and become) without it.

      Report Post » vennoye  
    • Hisemiester
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:56pm

      To Kate,
      I think if technology ever crashes we will loose half of the population of this country within four months. People won’t know how to feed themselves or even how to make a fire or defend themselves.
      I said that many times over the years as gps and cell phone/computer technology has gained in strength over the last few years. My question is and has been is. What will all the people who depend wholly on these techs do when they are no long available? It is coming and in the near future.

      Report Post »  
    • GOTT-EM-MAUSER
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 8:21pm

      @KATE,

      I would disagree only on one minor point. It won’t take 4 months, 3 or 4 weeks MAX.

      Report Post »  
  • JEDI_GADSDEN
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:11pm

    Is this a defense against Google!!?? I WANT ONE!!

    Report Post » JEDI_GADSDEN  
  • MOVETERAN
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:10pm

    Hmmmmm, not sure if this is good or bad yet. There are so many good and bad uses for gps.

    Report Post » MOVETERAN  
    • J.C. McGlynn
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:16pm

      Same with the new laser pointers. Use them in a classroom, they are useful. Flash them at a pilot flying a plane, possibly cause a crash.

      Report Post » J.C. McGlynn  
    • cessna152
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:39pm

      J.C. McGlynn

      That is almost impossible! MSM bs report….

      Report Post » cessna152  
    • Robert-CA
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:56pm

      Well I’m still old fashion , no GPS for me , what’s wrong with MapQuest ?

      Report Post » Robert-CA  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:06pm

      @J.C.

      What would likely happen if one of these jammer systems were used in conjunction with one or more sets of the green lasers being zapped at an airplane? Aside from the sheer chaos erupting…

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • MOVETERAN
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 7:13pm

      Everything these days is a double edged sword. All the things that benefit us can be used against us also.

      Report Post » MOVETERAN  
  • randy
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:08pm

    How bout we get rid of all the GPS tracking devices in cellphones and Automobiles and maybe people will not need to buy a Jammer. I would personally like one of these.

    Report Post » randy  
    • randy
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:16pm

      Very many of them being sold on EBAY

      Report Post » randy  
    • Maji
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:22pm

      I’m kinda like you “Randy” I don’t particularly like the idea of others interducing themselves into my enviroment without asking!! Let them pull their devices or let me stop them! Eavesdropping on people used to be a “bad thing”!

      Report Post »  
    • stifroc
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:31pm

      GPS Jammers that you buy for $30 do NOT have a range of several miles like the article says. The typical GPS Jammer has an effective range of 18-36 feet. They are not on Ebay… just looked.

      Report Post » stifroc  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:35pm

      Rental cars now have GPS so they can tell how fast and where you drove.

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • randy
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:44pm

      The Jammers they show in the photo on this page are being sold on EBAY for $28.00 Free Shipping.

      Report Post » randy  
    • Telcoman
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:50pm

      We need the GPS on the cell phones for 911 reasons. If you have an emergency and dial 911, without the gps they would have no way of knowing where you are if you are in a situation that you cannot tell them. We started that back in early 2000′s as part of a FCC ruling. Sorry.

      Report Post » Telcoman  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:04pm

      Good idea on turning off the GPS within the cell phonex and such. Is it possible to automatically disable such by the owner of the cell or satellite phone system?

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • restorehope
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:29pm

      Big brother would never allow that to happen. Gathering info on people is on the rise, not decline.

      Report Post »  
    • tower7femacamp
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:06pm

      me too every car made after 1999 has GPS built in for the govt to track us all

      Report Post » tower7femacamp  
  • Mike Westfall No Hiding
    Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:06pm

    They are only a national security threat because the NSA can no longer flip the switch to disable all the technology we depend on when the government moves to take control. Your car, cell phone and other appliances have them. Im pretty sure there is a signal to be received to disable such things. A jammer could prevent that.

    Mike Westfall No Hiding  
    • pscully17
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:26pm

      Id Like one of these to jam my newly — (stealthily installed without consent) of the SMART METER by my power company. It transmits wireleslly to central Maine Power headquaters. Id Like to Block that!!!

      Report Post »  
    • Sinista MACE
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:32pm

      It also prevents the Alphabet Boys from tracking you with gps trackers hidden in your oil pan or other obscure places on your vehicle.

      Report Post » V-MAN MACE  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:33pm

      I want a cellphone jammer so I can peacefully watch a movie without someone texting or talking on a cell phone, or those people who think they need to talk extra loud when they are on a cell phone. Also, those rude people who go through a store check-out or restaurant drive through on a cell phone all the way.

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • stifroc
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:46pm

      Cell phone jammers are nice.

      Report Post » stifroc  
    • Gold Coin & Economic News
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 2:50pm

      Oh, I can see good and bad uses for this. Good, as Anonymous said, to keep anyone from calling when trying to watch a movie, but bad if the wrong people get a hold of them. A few terrorists could wreak havoc at airports with these puppies.

      Report Post » Gold Coin & Economic News  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:01pm

      I can see right off one means how it could be used for a threat; imagine if all of a sudden a plane or set of planes dependant upon the GPS signals for landing purposes had the signals degraded or lost due to one or more of these devices being used in the luggage or such – not likely, yet probable to consider.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Brad Wesselmann
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:14pm

      I don’t rely on GPS, I have a compass on me at all times and know how to navigate by maps…prepare, prepare, prepare.

      Report Post » Brad Wesselmann  
    • 912er
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:27pm

      Can we get a “Governmental Purchasing & Spending” jammer?

      Report Post » 912er  
    • CatB
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:39pm

      @Brad ..

      I have both .. and can do both ..even from the air … my dad was a private pilot and I “worked” as navigator on trips.

      Report Post »  
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 3:53pm

      Sorry Mr., I helped with the “Smart Grid” technology. It wasn’t supposed to be used to control you. It was supposed to lower your costs; so your’ standard of living would go up. The way around this is to store what you need for use durring the times somebody else deems your use “unnecessary”.If the “authorities” start saying that storing water, food, power is illegal or immoral; we are on the road to socialist facism and the way back from that is really dark.

      Report Post »  
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:00pm

      Also, a guy would not want to put a RFAmp on the back end of one of these little jammers. It could be a real problem.

      Report Post »  
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:03pm

      Funny; my cell provider can triangulate my location between any three towers without GPS.

      Report Post »  
    • TRVTH
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:04pm

      And then your cell phone, etc won’t work, with your jammer on, how does that help you?

      Report Post » TRVTH  
    • Y.b-M.I
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:06pm

      Is there any plafce to get a good; but low priced sextant and other classical nav. gear? I see rebanding on the horizon for the GPS/Navistar system.

      Report Post »  
    • Captain Crunch
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:22pm

      Spark transmitter (illegal for a good reason)

       
    • marine249
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:37pm

      try a MAP

      Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:40pm

      How did criminals evade peace officers by using GPS jammers? Do GPS jammers make you invisible, or cause paper maps to stop functioning?

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • home_of_the_brave
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 4:41pm

      Great, why don’t we just give terrorist the website where they can buy these things for $30. I would like to know, however, how they found out it was a single trucker driving on the NJ turnpike. I am sure he didn’t turn himself in. And what is the distance in which these little plug-in’s work?

      Report Post »  
    • Bill in Texas
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 5:03pm

      Oh my gosh what did we ever do without GPS’s? Ever heard of a map and compass? Or maybe a sexton, to navigate by the stars? Our pilots will survive but I’m not sure about our kids. I can just see a bunch of tech savy people being lost without their GPS’s. lol

      Report Post »  
    • Uriel
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 5:20pm

      Sinista has it right. Except he forgot to mention your local P.D., … oh, … and that warrants are … how do you say? …. optional.

      Report Post »  
    • oldoldtimer
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 7:23pm

      I am sure confident none of our enemies know about this. I wonder how many terrorist are looking to build jammers so they can wreck havoc on us. Imagine a thousand of them nation wide in every major city all on a timer to turn them on from the atomic clock signal. Imagine the havoc and mayhem.

      Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 8:38pm

      Personally, I don’t care about the jammers. The only threat is to government gathering of information and garnering control where it has no business doing so.

      Arguments by the government that it is ‘losing’ control only serves to demonstrate how irresponsible government has been in making national security tied to commercially available devices and implementing them into that infrastructure. How stupid do you have to be?

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • westy98530
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 9:17pm

      Is this community really that stupid when it comes to GPS? People thinking of it as a tool for government control? Calling it a necessary evil? Since this is a technology that a) I’ve used extensively as a pilot, and b) I’ve studied the signal in detail and developed systems for as an engineering student, I think I’m fairly qualified to clear some of this up. First up, GPS itself is a RECEIVE ONLY technology. The satellites send out signals, and your device receives them. Period. There is no two-way service, and therefore NO WAY for anybody to track you based solely on the GPS signal. All GPS trackers use some other technology to rebroadcast the signal that the GPS antenna receives. If your device doesn’t do this, NOBODY IS TRACKING YOU! As for it being a necessary evil, why is it evil? It provides a highly accurate global navigation service that can simply be tapped into for free. As for pilots being able to get by just fine without it, that’s actually not true. ATC procedures have evolved significantly since the advent of GPS, and we’ve derived tremendous benefits from that. (Faster, more direct routing, much more flexible approach types, etc). I hate to break it to you all, but aviation has been dependent on external transmitters for navigation since before WWII. It is in fact impossible to navigate an aircraft in instrument conditions without the benefit of some kind of external transmitter (ground based, or satellite based). The technology has simply progressed and gotten more and more accurate over time. GPS is simply the next phase of this evolution, and the older technologies are indeed being phased out.

      Report Post »  
    • GPS-Tech
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 10:06pm

      GPS signals are very very weak. They will not penetrate through metal roofed garages/car ports, multi story parking garages, under passes or even large trees. GPS was designed for the military for navigation. Carriers and AC 130s dont usually have anything above them to block the line of sight signal. Tracking devices use gps receivers to determine their location but a cellular modem to relay the information to a central server. The server uses an I P assigned to the unit to determine the vehicles identity and the correct customer account to send the information to. The basic tracking devices will usually show not only a vehicles location but speed and heading, if the vehicles engine is running and time spent idling. More advanced units read the vehicles onboard computer diagnostics and will show when a vehicle accelerates rapidly or does a hard brake. Some advanced units have accelerometers in them which measure g forces and bypass the need to read the OBD data. If you are going to defeat a tracking unit then you have to defeat the gps signal. Jamming the cellular signal will only delay when the information is sent in since they have an onboard non volatile memory that stores an event log. Now as far as a device that plugs into a cigarette lighter being powerful enough to jam a satellite signal over a radius of several miles is a giant load. If a trucker had it on his truck it was probably something much larger, custom built and highly amplified similar to an illegal CB radio.

      Report Post » GPS-Tech  
    • shotzie
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 10:22pm

      someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but i thought air traffic controllers used radar and not gps, that upgrading to gps was part of the new overhaul that is in place. so how can gps jammers affect air traffic control?

      Report Post » shotzie  
    • TERMLIMITSNOW
      Posted on March 8, 2011 at 10:37pm

      @GPS TECH, thanks for the info, good info.

      Report Post » TERMLIMITSNOW  
    • grumpyt
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:30am

      Do we sound like “conspiracy” theory wonks or what?

      But REALLY, an EMP is what we should be worrying about. I read the book Glenn talked about called “One Second After” and it made me realize how little it would take to DESTROY our way of life. You can find a vid on YouTube called “Electronic Armageddon” that explains it all.

      Report Post » grumpyt  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:35am

      A danger to national security? I think not profiling is the danger to national security, because eventually a tyrant will try to track every human being with GPS, and that in itself will be a danger to mankind.

      Report Post »  
    • TerminalLance
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 9:08am

      This was exactly what I thought. With the FBI doing warrantless GPS tracking, there‘s NO REASON we shouldn’t be able to have these. Maybe lower the wattage so it only affects a ten foot range or so, but the only reason these are being made illegal is because it protects your privacy.

      Report Post » TerminalLance  
    • Libertyluvnmomma
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 9:55am

      Thank you for informing our allies and enemies on how easily we can put power into our own hands!
      what a great way to fight a police state. It is practically illegal to smoke outside, in a restaurant or in your own home. it may become difficult to take this tyranny much longer. And i don’t smoke or break laws. But i’m sick of the tyranny.

      Report Post » Libertyluvnmomma  
    • ozz
      Posted on March 9, 2011 at 2:14pm

      Learning how to make your own might not be a bad idea. Just in case. It is not illegal to have the know how and the parts :D

      Report Post » ozz  
    • Kookaburra
      Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:45pm

      That’s it, I’m buying at least 3 !

      Report Post »  
    • Kookaburra
      Posted on March 10, 2011 at 10:49pm

      @ SNOWLEOPARD: For crying out loud, what the hell did we all do landing planes before the GPS was invented–among other things? You people crack me up who defend this techno crap. The day is coming, and very soon, where this is all going to end, and if you survive the next holocaust of end times, you will be living like an ancient times pioneer. Get used to it, and start practicing.

      Report Post »  
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