A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993 • Hacker News Board

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#11

Post by baybal2 » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:07 PM UTC

kebman wrote: post #7

It's a bit on the side, but I remember my father telling me that the PCB's he sold to the Eastern Bloc were often adorned with microscopic greetings in Cyrillic, though the Russian spelling was often pretty bad. Just like now, the Soviet Union was under heavy sanctions, and they weren't allowed to receive the latest computer tech. The various companies had ways around this, though, and the saying was that they'd purp…

Betrayers of The Free World reap the benefits of living in The Free World the most, and advance ahead on the social ladder towards decision making positions, perpetuating these bad decisions.

And people who did the right decision, have to pay twice. One is the opportunity price, and another is the externality price.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#12

Post by ShamelessC » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:10 PM UTC

> Why is it shaped like an ambulance? Good question.

Was hoping there was an actual answer for that question. Or am I missing something? Otherwise reads like "good question, who fucking knows!? certainly not me the person making the assertion!"

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#13

Post by networkchad » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:22 PM UTC

kebman wrote: post #7

It's a bit on the side, but I remember my father telling me that the PCB's he sold to the Eastern Bloc were often adorned with microscopic greetings in Cyrillic, though the Russian spelling was often pretty bad. Just like now, the Soviet Union was under heavy sanctions, and they weren't allowed to receive the latest computer tech. The various companies had ways around this, though, and the saying was that they'd purp…

[dead]

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#14

Post by gambiting » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:40 PM UTC

secondcoming wrote: post #8

kebman wrote: post #7

It's a bit on the side, but I remember my father telling me that the PCB's he sold to the Eastern Bloc were often adorned with microscopic greetings in Cyrillic, though the Russian spelling was often pretty bad. Just like now, the Soviet Union was under heavy sanctions, and they weren't allowed to receive the latest computer tech. The various companies had ways around this, though, and the saying was that they'd purp…

[flagged]

It's incredibly racist, offensive and ignorant to assume that "Eastern Block" means just Russia. Many former "eastern block" countries nowadays are firmly with the west and oppose Russia and their stupid invasion with all their might. Being bundled together with the Russians is the most personally offensive thing I've ever read on HN.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#15

Post by bee_rider » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:43 PM UTC

secondcoming wrote: post #8

kebman wrote: post #7

It's a bit on the side, but I remember my father telling me that the PCB's he sold to the Eastern Bloc were often adorned with microscopic greetings in Cyrillic, though the Russian spelling was often pretty bad. Just like now, the Soviet Union was under heavy sanctions, and they weren't allowed to receive the latest computer tech. The various companies had ways around this, though, and the saying was that they'd purp…

[flagged]

I wonder if it was the pre-90’s black/grey market, or the intervening decades of open trade.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#16

Post by GuB-42 » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:44 PM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #11

kebman wrote: post #7

It's a bit on the side, but I remember my father telling me that the PCB's he sold to the Eastern Bloc were often adorned with microscopic greetings in Cyrillic, though the Russian spelling was often pretty bad. Just like now, the Soviet Union was under heavy sanctions, and they weren't allowed to receive the latest computer tech. The various companies had ways around this, though, and the saying was that they'd purp…

Betrayers of The Free World reap the benefits of living in The Free World the most, and advance ahead on the social ladder towards decision making positions, perpetuating these bad decisions. And people who did the right decision, have to pay twice. One is the opportunity price, and another is the externality price.

If sharing useful tech is betrayal, I wish there would be more traitors. On both sides.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#17

Post by skhr0680 » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:45 PM UTC

ShamelessC wrote: post #12

> Why is it shaped like an ambulance? Good question. Was hoping there was an actual answer for that question. Or am I missing something? Otherwise reads like "good question, who fucking knows!? certainly not me the person making the assertion!"

Am I missing some sarcasm, or do you honestly think that the board in question doesn't look like an ambulance?

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#18

Post by TedDoesntTalk » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:56 PM UTC

The original GPS receivers in the late 80s and early 90s did not have maps. And they used LCD screens. The one I owned by Lowrance required 6 AA batteries. Not AAA. Not rechargeable. Optional power through a cigarette-auto cable, but that's not helpful when on foot. It burned through batteries like crazy.

I owned this one: https://web.archive.org/web/20231104153749/http://retro-gps.... (Lowrance GlobalNav Sport) 160 x 160 pixel display. It weighed 2 pounds with batteries.

It provided latitude, longitude, and heading.

Thought I would use it hiking but it was just too big to be anything but a toy. You inserted a cartridge, specific to your geographic area, if you wanted it to display names of towns/cities (data on the cartridges):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314936082464

It did have "waypoints" (lat/long bookmarks, essentially) that allowed you to plot a line as you traveled. It could tell you how far you were to different waypoints you'd previously entered. IIRC, it had a serial connection for waypoint download to a PC. People tried sharing waypoint series -- "routes" -- but it just never really had much success as I recall. It was just too cumbersome.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#19

Post by assusdan » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:59 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #14

secondcoming wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

It's incredibly racist, offensive and ignorant to assume that "Eastern Block" means just Russia. Many former "eastern block" countries nowadays are firmly with the west and oppose Russia and their stupid invasion with all their might. Being bundled together with the Russians is the most personally offensive thing I've ever read on HN.

Could you please also stop bundling all russians together? Not all of us oppose "the west" and support our stupid invasion.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#20

Post by InCityDreams » Sat, Nov 04, 2023, 2:59 PM UTC

skhr0680 wrote: post #17

ShamelessC wrote: post #12

> Why is it shaped like an ambulance? Good question. Was hoping there was an actual answer for that question. Or am I missing something? Otherwise reads like "good question, who fucking knows!? certainly not me the person making the assertion!"

Am I missing some sarcasm, or do you honestly think that the board in question doesn't look like an ambulance?

But why is it shaoed so?