Blog
Home »“International Navigation Gathering Highlights GNSS Advances and Distractions” – Inside GNSS
Peter Gutierrez November 17, 2015 Speakers at the recent International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) conference in Prague threw into stark relief some of the big GNSS programs and even bigger GNSS questions. Read More
“PNTAB and eLoran in the People’s Republic” – GPS World
GPS World Nov 11, 2015 By Don Jewell That is, in the People’s Republic of Boulder, Colorado. To those of us who live in Colorado, Boulder is known by this seemingly timeless but absolutely accurate appellation. This stunningly beautiful city located in the foothills...
Fundamentals of GPS Threats
Spirent has recently published a white paper that our readers might find of interest. It can be downloaded here.
DARPA Mines Nature for GPS Backup
Politico.com by Leigh Munsil 09/18/2015 03:53PM EDT ST. LOUIS - The Defense Advanced Projects Agency, fearing the Pentagon's most important navigation system could be knocked out, has discovered what it believes could be one promising alternative to securely pinpoint...
Jamming in EU a Problem, Getting More Sophisticated, Worse
GNSS jamming is a significant problem in Europe and is getting worse, according to Pieter De-Smet, Policy Officer at the European Commission. In a presentation to the US national PNT Advisory Board meeting in Boulder, Colorado yesterday, De-Smet said that the EU's...
Alternative PNT – An interview with Stanford’s Sherman Lo
"Inside GNSS" Thought Leadership Series September/October 2015 The diversity of APNT solutions is due to many reasons — each user group has systems to meet specific special needs of their mission. SHERMAN LO At one time, GPS was expected to supplant a wide range of...
Devastating Solar Storms – White House Plans
The devastating potential of an extreme solar storm and what the White House is doing about it. By Jason Samenow October 29 at 1:32 PM Washingtopost.com Weather is not limited to the clouds, wind, extremes of heat and cold and precipitation systems that we experience...
Researchers warn computer clocks can be easily scrambled
The below article provides another example of the importance of time and hence the need for multiple, independent, secure and resilient sources. As a side note - one of RNTF's biggest supporters first became interested in us because he was looking for an independent...
US Military Moving Away From GPS – Where does that leave the rest of us?
The US Secretary of Defense has announced he wants to “unplug the military from GPS.” The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) website says that “Military use of GPS has evolved from a strategic advantage… to a vulnerability.” Taking this to heart, the US...
eLoran to Become Commercial? – RIN News
The GLA are investigating the potential transition of UK/European eLoran services to a fully commercial operation. The General Lighthouse Authorities are seeking a viable solution which could provide eLoran as a sustainable and cost-effective backup system for GPS -...
The Army’s Drone Wishlist Includes Jamming Gear and More Weapons
Defenseone.com by Patrick Tucker 13 Oct 2015 Electronic warfare is among several new missions under consideration for UAVs. AUSA 2015 / Army / Drones While Air Force drones have been pounding targets for more than a decade, the Army has used its unmanned aircraft...
US Naval Academy Teaching Celestial Navigation…Again
Seeing stars, again: Naval Academy reinstates celestial navigation By Tim Prudente Capitol Gazette 12 October 2015 The same techniques guided ancient Polynesians in the open Pacific and led Sir Ernest Shackleton to remote Antarctica, then oriented astronauts when the...
ITSF – Time and Frequency for Telecoms – Kicks Off 2 Nov
The annual ITSF Conference is coming up from 2 to 5 November in Edinburgh, UK. This year's program includes numerous discussions of threats, vulnerabilities, and what companies can do about them.
2015 Space Resiliency Summit 8 & 9 Dec – Alexandria, VA
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and other senior leaders will be speaking at the Defense Strategies Institute's Space Resiliency Summit in December. This is advertised as "A senior level educational 'Town Hall' forum for senior leaders within OSD,...
Free Webinar – Approaches for Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) – 15 October
World renown GPS and resiliency expert Logan Scott will be leading a free webinar this week. This event will be of great interest to all RNTF members and others who follow PNT issues. Here's the details and a link to register October 15, 2015 | 1400-1500 EDT...
DARPA and GPS Backup – The “D” Stands for “Defense”
We were very glad to see the announcement this week that DARPA had awarded a contract to Rockwell Collins to develop technologies that could serve as backups for the military's GPS system. Last year DARPA had posted on its site that military use of GPS had "...evolved...
DARPA taps Rockwell Collins for GPS backup technologies
By Richard Tomkins, UPI Sept. 21, 2015 Rockwell Collins has been contracted by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to research and develop technologies for systems that could be used as backups to GPS. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Technologies that...
U.S. ‘Master Clock’ Keepers Test Terrestrial Alternative to GPS
By: Jeremy Hsu IEEE Spectrum 22 September 2015 GPS technology can do much more than guide drivers and smartphone users on unfamiliar streets. The Global Positioning System’s satellites carry expensive atomic clocks that also provide synchronized timekeeping for cell...
NYU – “Potentially Catastrophic Vulnerabilities in GPS” – Live web forum
New York University - International Center for Enterprise Preparedness (InterCEP) When: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 11:00 A.M. (Eastern Time) Join this discussion on The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), with a look at how it works and its many applications....
Can You Hear Me Now? New Spectrum Users Should Respect Long-Time Residents
Your doctor probably won’t be able to hear your heartbeat if there is a heavy metal band playing in the next office. That’s the problem with transmitting on frequencies near GPS. All GPS and GNSS signals are so very, very faint, and receivers have to be so very, very...
Congress Presses GPS Backup Ahead of Today’s “PNT ExCom” Meeting
Earlier this week five members of Congress wrote to the deputy secretaries of the US departments of Transportation and Defense urging them to “…immediately address the issue of GPS vulnerability by establishing a national backup capability coordinated by a single...
156 YEARS AGO, A GEOMAGNETIC MEGA-STORM
Reprinted from SpaceWeather.com 2 Sep 2015 156 YEARS AGO, A GEOMAGNETIC MEGA-STORM: On Sept. 2nd, a billion-ton coronal mass ejection (CME) slammed into Earth's magnetic field. Campers in the Rocky Mountains woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that the glow...
Finding Jammers – Signal Sentry 1000
This is the second in a series of posts that summarize interviews with important PNT users. Today’s is from a conversation with Mr. Joe Rolli of Harris, Inc. on the capabilities of one of their latest products, Signal Sentry 1000. [Editor’s Note: This interview was...
Russia Boasts Jamming to “Make Aircraft Carriers Useless” at Show This Week
This week “Space Daily” re-posted an item from the Russian news outlet “Sputnik.” The article claims that the nation’s long standing expertise in electronic warfare has culminated in the ability to neutralize aircraft carriers, and that this will be demonstrated at...
Time and Money – Precise Time in Financial Systems
This is the first in a series of posts that summarize interviews with important consumers and providers of PNT services. Today’s is from a conversation with Mr. Andrew Bach, VP, and Chief Architect at Juniper Networks, a company that provides network systems and...
FCC Fines Smart City $750,000 for Jamming Mobile Hotspots
By Ellen Muraskin The FCC has established, again, that nobody can make you overpay for their Wi-Fi when you’ve brought your own. In a decision that should please cellular providers and their mobile hotspot customers, the Commission slapped Smart City Holdings with a...
US to Shutdown Most of DGPS
The US Coast Guard recently published its intent to close 62 of 84 Differential GPS sites, most of them in non-coastal areas. The use of DGPS has long been on the decline, as has the availability of receivers that are able to take advantage of the service. Users have,...
GPS, Telecom Industry Groups Support eLoran System for US
94% of responses to the US Department of Transportation “Request for Comment” on its eLoran proposal were in favor of establishing the system as a complement and backup for GPS. Notably the GPS Innovation Alliance, an industry group, was in favor of establishing the...
Cheap GPS Spoofer Changes Everything – For the Worse
If your GPS receiver is being jammed, there’s a pretty good chance you are going to know that you don’t have a signal you can trust. If it is being spoofed… not so much. Sure, if the spoofer is unsophisticated enough to make your receiver believe it’s in China and you...
Chinese Invent Bargain Basement GPS Spoofer
Hacking a Phone's GPS May Have Just Got Easier Forbes Tech 7 Aug 2015 Parmy Olsen One of the drawbacks of our increasingly connected world is the proliferation of new wireless connections to hack. More worrying is when hackers finding cheaper and more accessible ways...
Locata to Serve as Core Technology for NASA’s UAS Research
By Inside Unmanned Systems Locata Positioning recently announced that NASA plans to install LocataNet at its Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The network will serve as the core positioning technology for safety-critical unmanned aerial system research....
Pensacola Native Joins Army Senior Executive Ranks
By Pensacola News Journal On June 16, Kevin M. Coggins, a Pensacola native and a U.S. Army civilian in the Army Acquisition Corps, was appointed Senior Executive Service (SES) as program manager for Direct Reporting Program Manager Positioning, Navigation and Timing...
Key Lawmakers Move to Make DoD Responsible for eLoran, GPS Backup
By Dee Ann Divis A quintet of well-placed lawmakers, tired of federal dawdling, are prepared to make the Pentagon responsible for building and maintaining eLoran as a backup system for GPS. The move could come by the end of the year, possibly through language attached...
Air Traffic Control News – New Life for GPS Backup
By Robert Poole As the prospect of taking the Air Traffic Organization out of FAA and reconstituting it as a self-supporting air navigation service provider (ANSP) draws closer, many supporters and opponents are making stronger statements about their positions—while a...
Are YOU Prepared for a Solar Storm? World Will Get 12 hours Warning if the Sun Erupts
By Richard Gray The British government has released its Space Weather Preparedness Strategy warning of a major solar storm that could trigger power cuts and travel disruption. GPS systems could be down for up to 3 days, resulting in widespread chaos. The report urges...
“You Have Put This Nation At Risk!”
Saying that there will be a major GPS outage some day and that America “absolutely has to have a backup system,” Congressman John Garamendi (D, CA) joined several other members of Congress at a hearing yesterday chastising the administration for its lack of movement...
Europe Satellite Agency Seems to Endorse eLoran for Resilience
In a post entitled "Resilient Navigation in Demanding Maritime Environments" dated 23 July 2015, the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency discusses the dangers of depending upon just space signals and the need for resiliency. "But with the increased...
“We’ve got a problem!” – Congressman John Garamendi
Speaking to the DC section of the Institute of Navigation last Wednesday, Congressman John Garamendi (D, CA) voiced his serious concern about the government’s inaction to protect GPS. Pointing out that President Clinton had first sounded the alarm in 1998 about the...
New Initiative: Commercially Owned Low Frequency Wireless Timing & Navigation – based on eLoran
We were surprised and pleased to get an invitation last week that read: "The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) of the UK and Ireland are delighted to invite you to attend the launch of a new commercially owned and operated international low frequency wireless...
Congressional Hearing on Federal Radionavigation Plan – What’s the Issue?
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced this week that it will hold a hearing on the 28th of July at ten o'clock in room 2253 of the Rayburn Building. According to the announcement, it will be "A Hearing on the Federal Radionavigation Plan,...
Arab Institute of Navigation 2016 Conference Announced
The biannual Melaha Conference "GNSS WAY Ahead" is back next year on the beautiful beaches of the Red Sea front. GNSS Way Ahead will offer an ideal opportunity to pursue continuing navigational education, to learn about recent advances, and likely future developments....
Timing is Everything for Securing Wireless Communications
By Steven Chabinsky In Christian Science Monitor "Passcode" If you think that computer intrusions are the main thing we need to worry about when it comes to cybersecurity, think again. There's growing concern about the implications of our increasingly wireless world...
Congressman Speaks On Time at US Naval Observatory, July 22
Local chapters of the Institute of Navigation don’t normally meet at a global center of excellence, nor are they usually addressed by members of Congress. But both of those are happening Thursday, July 22nd. The program for the evening is “Keeping and Sharing Time –...
Thad Allen Discusses eLoran at GEOINT 2015
By GPS World Staff In this exclusive interview, Admiral Thad Allen, former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, discusses PNT alternatives to GPS for navigation, including eLoran and the activation June 19 of a signal on an eLoran tower in preparation for a timing...
U.S. Secretary of Defense Wants to Move Past GPS to MEMS-Based Navigation, PNT Experts Doubtful
By Dee Ann Divis Ashton Carter, the new U.S. Secretary of Defense has been making clear he supports moving past GPS to a disbursed network based on microelectromechanical systems or MEMS for position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information. Carter, who was tapped to...
GPS-Related Provisions in Congress’ Defense (NDAA) Bills
Information from "GPS Bulletin" 1 July 2015, with thanks to editor Chris Mindnich (see www.gps.gov/congress) The following items are included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bills for fiscal year 2016 now under consideration in Congress: National...
Europe Looks at Time & Sync Requirements – DEMETRA Public Abstract
The EU has released this description of their DEMETRA project. It should be of interest to the entire timing and sync community. [big_button...
Europe Looks at Time & Sync Requirements – DEMETRA Workshop 17 July 2015
The European Union is concerned about time and synchronization as a critical component of industry and infrastructure and has been studying the issue for a while. [big_button url="https://rntfnd.org/wp-content/uploads/DEMETRA-Workshop-1-Flyer.pdf"]Read...
Slide Show of Congressman LoBiondo at Wildwood
[slideshow_deploy id='3883']
Congressman LoBiondo “Throws the Switch” on eLoran
You have to get past the weeds in the sun baked parking lot carved out of the beach grass and sea-grape tangle. Then you go around to the back and through a locked door. The air is a bit stale as you enter a dimly lit warehouse room filled with massive, 1950’s era electronic equipment. Along the walls are storage racks stuffed with boxes of spare equipment.
Blog
GNSS Jamming and Spoofing Are a Daily Occurrence – EE|Times
Image: Baltic Jamming on 19 Jan 2024, GPSJam.org What's New: More validation of "the new normal." The article has some interesting quotes from Gustavo Lopez at Septrino. Why It's Important: We hope this helps the idea that we can't over-rely on GNSS the way we have...
“So much jamming… regulators no longer want to know.” – Wired
Image: Norway Telecom Authority What's New: Officials in Norway have accepted that there will be no GPS service in their far north because the Russians are constantly jamming. Why It's Important: This is an indicator of the "new normal" for many parts of the globe....
A New U .S . DoD Arctic Strategy – Resilient PNT – The Missing Ingredient? ION NEWSLETTER
Image: Shutterstock What's New: A "Defense Matters" column in the most recent newsletter from the Institute of Navigation. Why It's Important: PNT underlies every technology and enables many DOD weapons systems, ability to maneuver, etc. Most of DOD's PNT is GPS. As...
Conflict GPS jamming impacting LEO satellites
Image: Prof Todd Humphreys, Univ Texas Radionavigation Lab What's New: A graphic from Prof. Todd Humphreys showing loss of GPS/GNSS signals by satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) because of jamming on the ground. Why It's Important: :Most LEO satellites use location...