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Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

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201–210 of 243 posts

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine the scenario where you end up hiking within earshot and in the same direction as another group.

Tip: Take a small break and within 60 seconds you'll be out of earshot. Also, I realize we're not going to agree on this and that's okay.

The same thing works for terrible drivers on the road, pushy customers at the supermarket, and all kinds of other bothersome interpersonal situations.

They can be optional. Just grant yourself a moment to let them go away.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#202
post #96

I wish there were cheap Bluetooth jammers to prevent speakers from playing when hiking

These takes are unreasonable IMHO. When you pass someone on the trail, even with a BT speaker blasting you hear the music for what.. maybe 15-20 seconds? Is that really ruining your day? Sometimes when I walk or bike with my wife we bring a BT speaker and I can BARELY hear it and I'm walking side-by-side with her getting no more than 15-20 feet away. Let. People. Enjoy. Things. Edit: Moderated some of my language.

Why not use the even smaller speakers that you put in your ears, and then you can hear it. And it's inaudible to every other human.

FWIW, both Spotify (Jam) and Apple Music (SharePlay) have a feature to sync audio playback and give both participants the ability to control the music from their phone. It was probably targeted at CarPlay/shared speaker situations, but it works great for this.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even this highly theoretical harm can be avoided if you jam bluetooth with 50% duty cycle. Like, 2s on then 2s off.

Clearly you don’t have a family member who uses CGM’s. They are extremely sensitive to RF disruptions, and often fail for mind bogglingly dumb reasons. 2s on / 2s off would completely disable all of their functionality until the interference was gone. And possibly much longer - they are finicky.

surely there's a failsafe if they're that sensitive and finicky.

Counting my lucky stars I don't need one, but if I did, I don't think I'd rely on it if it's that incapable of staying up.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#205

This is likely just the start. With growing consumer reliance on GPS, jammer proliferation will mirror what we see in military contexts. Same thing will happen to starlink and jamming in contested zones

You can't jam starlink, at least from what we've seen so far in the war happening in Ukraine.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#206
post #54
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time was, if you didn't understand how to use VORs, you couldn't really fly. We used them as primary en route nav, as well as for approaches, for many decades. As a CFI I think most of the confusion around VORs these days comes down to poor or inadequate training.

That's fair. I replied to someone else with a similar remark, but essentially doing most of my flying in 70s to 90s prop planes, I imagine the tools I'm most used to are just dated. Your point around training is likely very accurate, I had some great teachers but I also had a few instances of being given inaccurate information and having to teach the teacher so to speak.

A lot of those planes still exist and have not gotten panel upgrades, so IMO you still should learn how to navigate purely via only visual references and radio navigation. I believe you are still required to know how to use them to pass your private pilot check ride, too, but I may be wrong.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#207

This really shouldn't be a problem. We were lazy with GPS. Maps, compasses, altimeters, etc all still exist. They might not offer the same precision as GPS, but they can easily fill the gaps. We already have inertia guidance systems for munitions. That's pretty accurate and similar in theory.

We can use candles instead of lightbulbs?

INS systems are expensive accurate ones are export controlled (or were when I used them on subsea surveys!

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#208
post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These takes are unreasonable IMHO. When you pass someone on the trail, even with a BT speaker blasting you hear the music for what.. maybe 15-20 seconds? Is that really ruining your day? Sometimes when I walk or bike with my wife we bring a BT speaker and I can BARELY hear it and I'm walking side-by-side with her getting no more than 15-20 feet away. Let. People. Enjoy. Things. Edit: Moderated some of my language.

> Let. People. Enjoy. Things. Except silence, which is so unnatural that it should be disrupted and criticism of its disruption should be silenced.

Or just sounds of nature. I'm out hiking to enjoy this place and experience. It's like I'm enjoying a meal, and some jackass coming along throwing random seasonings on it - fuck off with it.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#209
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly suspect those would be very illegal and could result in serious side effects, such as for people who use continuous glucose monitors.

Oh wow but a GPS jammer is okay so someone could get lost and possibly killed, or even crash a plane?

I think that quite often it has more to do with making sure the missiles and drones can't easily hit their targets. Not that this is an excuse for jackasses doing it just for shits and giggles. Fuck those people.

Re: Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones

#210
post #117
post #96

I wish there were cheap Bluetooth jammers to prevent speakers from playing when hiking

I strongly suspect those would be very illegal and could result in serious side effects, such as for people who use continuous glucose monitors.

I am a volunteer coach in a rec soccer league for 6th graders. Bluetooth jamming could literally kill one of my diabetic (type 1) players during a game because of this scenario.
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