Solar storms spell trouble for GPS

The aircraft had a dual King 660 FM system with GPS.
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1986





"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 06:44:32 -0700, Ron Wanttaja
| wrote in
| :
|
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 11:12:07 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:
|
| How was such a clash missed? Because GPS receivers only
became common
| during a period of low solar activity. By 2011 solar
flares will reach
| the peak of their cycle and receivers will likely fail.
|
| The sun is on an 11-year cycle. If 2011 is the date of
the max (and we are
| apparently in the minimum now), the LAST max was about
2000.
|
| Of course, natural phenomena can be somewhat erratic, but
you astute
| analysis seems relatively consistent with International
Space
| Environment Service observations/projections:
| http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/
|
| Unless the author believes that GPS receivers only became
common after
| 2000, the user community has already been through one
solar max period.
|
| Apparently it was Alessandro Cerruti of Cornell University
who raised
| the concern, not the New Scientist author. But, you are
correct about
| having used GPS during the 2000 - 2003 peak period. I
don't recall
| any anomalous GPS behavior back then, but I do recall a
solar storm
| that caused my garage door opener to spontaneously open
and close the
| door repeatedly one day.
|