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A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

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Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Uh-huh, yet it's somehow not racist, offensive and ignorant to blame all Russians for everything now. Some of you guys have lost all the high moral ground that you once supposedly had. I have a working theory that long years of “oppression” in many Western societies of not being able to criticize any group of certain ethnicity, nationality, culture, or religion resulted in a buildup of sorts, so when it became okay t…

I feel like you've replied to the wrong person maybe?

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#62
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…

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Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#64
post #40

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…

That Lowrance is a monster. Pretty cool though. My first GPS receiver was an old Magellan. I can't recall the model, but mid 90s, very basic features. Eventually after turning it on it would get a fix, and give you coordinates / speed / bearing. No names of towns or anything like that though it did have support for some number of waypoints. I typically used it for multi week hikes through the rockies where I was navi…

    > about once a day I'd turn on the GPS to
    > validate my location.
This point can't be stressed enough, these early GPS models (and even one I owned in the early 2000s) often served a fundamentally different use-case than what people think of as "GPS" today, which has come to mean something with integrated maps and navigation.

The idea with many of these early devices was exactly what you're describing, experienced hikers who'd mainly use a map & compass to navigate might buy these. It was enough to have one GPS for the entire group, and on a typical trip with good visibility and orientation the GPS might never come out of the backpack.

But knowing where you are if you manage to completely lose orientation (e.g. with an onset of fog) is invaluable. The original use case for GPS devices for hikers was that sort of fallback safety.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I didn't say either thing though? I said many of us here in the former Eastern Block oppose Russia - and I personally find being bundled with the Russians offensive, as I am not a Russian. Anything you read into it beyond this point is your own interpretation.

>"I didn't say either thing though?"

It is implied. Don't be a weasel.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#66
post #41
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a look at the https://phyphox.org/ app for lower level access to the sensors on Android and iPhones. There is a GPS section that gives you coordinates but unfortunately doesn’t tell you about each satellite. The precision of other phone sensors seems even more amazing.

You could also try https://github.com/barbeau/gpstest if you are looking for something more GPS focused.

That looks pretty cool. Do you know if there is anything similar for iOS, or do Apple prevent apps from accessing those data?

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#67
post #66
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could also try https://github.com/barbeau/gpstest if you are looking for something more GPS focused.

That looks pretty cool. Do you know if there is anything similar for iOS, or do Apple prevent apps from accessing those data?

There sure was when I still used iOS. But I don't remember the name.

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#69
post #16
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Tell me you're too young to remember the cold war without telling me ;-)

Re: A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993

#70
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No sarcasm. Yes, it looks like an ambulance (seemingly deliberately). The tweet/fart/whatevertheyrecalled just has strange choice of phrasing implying they will follow up on this, then they don't. _Why_ is it an ambulance? Well who cares, I guess - but the author of the poof/squirt/whatevertheyrecalled is the one who draws attention to it in the first place.

It's a several decade old piece of hardware that was likely produced in extremely limited quantity, so finding the answer to that is probably not going to be easy. Presumably it was produced as a promotional item made to promote their GPS receivers for some kind of safety application that the ambulance shape is a reference to, but good luck confirming that in 2023.

Like I said, I don't really care. Those are all reasonable assumptions I guess. Just commenting on the toot author's phrasing.
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