"Experts" say Looming Threat to GPS?

[UserNameTaken]

Oh, oh. Yeah it didn't take much brains to see that removing all our LORAN, OMNI, and RDF capability in exchange for GPS was going to be a problem eventually. That's why I still have my Bowditch and sextant from my sailing days.

https://www.azfamily.com/2024/12/16/experts-warn-looming-threat-nations-gps/

 

[Cabin Fever]

I have the official highway paper maps from 48 states. The other two states no longer print them.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

You’ll need more than just maps if the GPS system goes down or is hacked.
Our economy would be crippled.

 

[UserNameTaken]

You’ll need more than just maps if the GPS system goes down or is hacked.
Our economy would be crippled.

Yeah, it's not really "us" that needs it. I can still get around without a gps, or (in some cases) a map. But the just in time shippers and aircraft can't. Ships at sea can (and do) still use sextants for back up and practice. But moving tankers around with a 10-50 mile margin of error isn't wise.

And I don't know how the gubbermints gear being hardened helps when the signal is jammed or the satelites are destroyed.

 

[Neb]

...

And I don't know how the gubbermints gear being hardened helps when the signal is jammed or the satelites are destroyed.

inertial guidance is backup

Ben

 

[DrHenley]

My phone uses GPS, GLONASS (Russian), Galileo (European), and Beidou (Chinese) satellites.
If all of those are down, the whole world is FUBAR and I doubt I'll be doing anything to require satellite navigation.

 

[Weedygarden]

You’ll need more than just maps if the GPS system goes down or is hacked.
Our economy would be crippled.

I can see the crippled economy. I keep paper maps for situations just like this. Like many things, we don't know what is coming. There are nice books of maps that are laminated and bound. I haven't seen one in a while, but they were nice. I wonder if truckers carry them as backup?

 

[Mountain trapper]

If it all went down it would be only be temporary until we went back to the old ways of doing things. We've become too dependent on electronic gizmos now days. We functioned just fine before and we will again. It won't make any difference to us if the GPS system went down.

 

[Magus]

You’ll need more than just maps if the GPS system goes down or is hacked.
Our economy would be crippled.

And the military.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I can see the crippled economy. I keep paper maps for situations just like this. Like many things, we don't know what is coming. There are nice books of maps that are laminated and bound. I haven't seen one in a while, but they were nice. I wonder if truckers carry them as backup?

I keep topo maps, Forest Service, state and BLM maps of the areas that are of interest to me.

 

[Haertig]

I have a Rand McNally Road Atlas for the US. And I have these DeLorme Atlases for my state and a few of the states that surround me:

https://randpublishing.com/delorme/

These DeLorme atlases have topo maps of the entire state at 1:160,000 scale (at least for Colorado, that's the scale). That's about "28 minutes". A typical detailed USGS topo map is 7.5 minutes IIRC. The DeLorme scale is fine for navigating for travel, but not detailed enough to fine that spring, by the abandoned cabin, in a canyon, 50 miles from the nearest city. You'd want a 7.5 minute topo map for that. But 7.5 minutes is too detailed for any kind of road travel. Driving in a car, you'd cross the entirety of a 7.5 minute topo map in about 5 minutes or so. A day hike could easily have you needing multiple 7.5 minute topo maps when you are just walking at 3mph.

 

[UserNameTaken]

I did something really stupid about 20 years ago. We were cleaning out my mom's hoard of stuff prior to her moving in with us when she was elderly. She/we had a box of National Geographic world and state maps, and auto club, going back to the 60's that we'd saved growing up - and dummy here threw it out.

We have the Rand McNally road map books, a few auto club and local maps, and several books of state topo maps for several western states we frequent.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

When I’m traveling I use paper maps plus a road atlas plus a CB radio.
Navigation systems are useless because they can not deal with people like me who hate Interstates and use backroads.

 

[Neb]

I did something really stupid about 20 years ago. We were cleaning out my mom's hoard of stuff prior to her moving in with us when she was elderly. She/we had a box of National Geographic world and state maps, and auto club, going back to the 60's that we'd saved growing up - and dummy here threw it out.

We have the Rand McNally road map books, a few auto club and local maps, and several books of state topo maps for several western states we frequent.

If you kept them, this what you would have.

Each of those folders have plastic sheet protectors with the maps.

Each folder is indexed.

Ben

 

[Caribou]

I guess that means that our cars and phones couldn’t spy on us.

 

[UserNameTaken]

If you kept them, this what you would have.

View attachment 170054

Each of those folders have plastic sheet protectors with the maps.

View attachment 170055

Each folder is indexed.

View attachment 170056

View attachment 170057

View attachment 170058

Ben

Thanks Neb - please rub it in and beat me harder.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I have a Rand McNally Road Atlas for the US. And I have these DeLorme Atlases for my state and a few of the states that surround me:

https://randpublishing.com/delorme/

These DeLorme atlases have topo maps of the entire state at 1:160,000 scale (at least for Colorado, that's the scale). That's about "28 minutes". A typical detailed USGS topo map is 7.5 minutes IIRC. The DeLorme scale is fine for navigating for travel, but not detailed enough to fine that spring, by the abandoned cabin, in a canyon, 50 miles from the nearest city. You'd want a 7.5 minute topo map for that. But 7.5 minutes is too detailed for any kind of road travel. Driving in a car, you'd cross the entirety of a 7.5 minute topo map in about 5 minutes or so. A day hike could easily have you needing multiple 7.5 minute topo maps when you are just walking at 3mph.

I have maps of my areas of interest that goes back to the 1850's to 1900. They're great for finding old roads, forgotten mines, logging/mining/rail road camps and old indian villages.

 

[Neb]

Thanks Neb - please rub it in and beat me harder.

Any time!

Hint to others that may find a cache of Natl Geo.

The issues with maps have red letters on the spline.

Ben

 

[Supervisor42]

If it all went down it would be only be temporary until we went back to the old ways of doing things. We've become too dependent on electronic gizmos now days. We functioned just fine before and we will again. It won't make any difference to us if the GPS system went down.

I think they are simply running out of things to make the smartphone junkies panic.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I think they are simply running out of things to make the smartphone junkies panic.

What are all these young punks going to do with their hands when their "smart" phones go down?

 

[bkt]

What are all these young punks going to do with their hands when their "smart" phones go down?

I'm not sure, but I really want to witness it because it would be pretty entertaining!

GPS is also really useful to sync time - losing that would kinda suck in some situations (like JS8 on ham radio). Fortunately, there are ways around GPS being down.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

I wonder if truckers carry them as backup?

Professional truckers use the Rand McNalley Federal Motor Carrier's Atlas. (Even I have one)
But the semi driver ranks these days is filled with amateurs and immigrants.

 

[Haertig]

What are all these young punks going to do with their hands when their "smart" phones go down?

It's amazing to watch them in action. They hold the phone in a two handed aggressive assault grip and their thumbs are flying all over the place typing in a 300 word text message in about 7 seconds.

Then there's me, with my head tilted up to maximum bifocal position, hunting and pecking with one finger and still getting 90% of the letters I'm trying to type wrong.