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How GPS Is Killing Lighthouses

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the like-lightbulbs-killed-candles dept.

sakshale writes "Spiegel Online has an article about the impact of GPS systems on Lighthouses. They claim that the popularity of the satellite-based global positioning system has led to the closure of lighthouses along the German coast." As the article says, "critics question whether the new system is reliable and safe enough to warrant the closure of these historical beacons of safety."

7 of 509 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Old news by forkazoo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Radar is common on big boats, but for small personal boats, it would be quite expensive. GPS, on the other hand, is so cheap that almost everybody can afford it.

  2. Galileo by pjay_dml · · Score: 4, Informative

    ... is what Europe came up with, as an answer to your question.

    http://www.esa.int/export/esaNA/galileo.html
    http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/gal ileo/index_en.htm

    China seems to agree

    ...but the yanks are not happy....

    1. Re:Galileo by kesuki · · Score: 4, Informative

      ahh so europe decide to launch their own gps satelite system, so that ships won't crash into the coast during a war. The US GPS system has a way of distorting data so that only US mil approved GPS devices will work, commercial GPS sytems will simply give innacurate readings, if they work at all. Frankly it makes sense to not want to be crippled in the event of a war, because Uncle sam says to take it backdoor and live ina stonage pre-GPS world because it's a WAR and the enemy could be using commercial GPS hardware. sounds like a hardware hacking project to me ;) hacking a commercial GPS device to work with military 'distorted' signals.. what with the war in iraq, there is at least one part of the world where they've got GPS set to obfuscated mode ;)

      --
      https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
    2. Re:Galileo by AB3A · · Score: 5, Informative

      Selective Availability can be circumvented with a number of interesting technologies. I've heard rumors of the use of two GPS receivers placed a known distance apart being used to cancel out the SA part of GPS.

      There are a number of differential GPS technologies which are in service right now for improving accuracy. There is also WAAS. In theory, the military can turn those off too. But in reality, Differential GPS is distributed such that someone would actually have to go to the differential transmitter site and shut it down. It's not just a matter of flipping a switch.

      What it all comes down to is that you don't have to break the SA crypto. There are other ways of improving the accuracy of your position if you really care about such things.

      Let's not forget the Russian GLONASS system, either.

      But what really killed lighthouses wasn't GPS. It was LORAN. And LORAN has been all over Europe and the Middle East for decades. It is ground based, and we "arrogant cowboys" have very little to do with it.

      I'm afraid that this is yet another case of European leftist propaganda. If it hadn't been for GPS killing off light houses, it would have been something else --and it's easy to blame the US for it. Easy, but wrong.

      --
      Nearly fifty percent of all graduates come from the bottom half of the class!
  3. The prudent mariner by rwebb · · Score: 4, Informative

    The prudent mariner will not rely solely on any single aid to navigation.
    Natianiel Bowditch (as best as I can recall the quote)

    Among many other reasons for retaining fixed aids to navigation, the GPS system uses the WGS-84 datum. Many charts, in particular many harbor charts, still use local datam references.

    Check with the former Commanding Officer and Navigator of the USS LaMoure County for their opinion regarding over-reliance on GPS positions with respect to local chart datums.

    Visual and radar piloting have the benefit of being independent of the local coordinate system. Visual aids to navigation, in particular, may seem to be "obsolete" but they are wonderfully helpful in real world piloting situations.

    Been there, done that, didn't get relieved for cause.

    --
    Trusted by cats.
  4. Re:Lighthouses still have their uses by Jerf · · Score: 4, Informative

    You lose big Karma points for posting a Snopes story as truth.

    Snopes... if it sounds too good or too funny to be true, you should probably check Snopes. Otherwise, those of us who have will mercilessly mock you.

  5. Re:By falling out of the sky! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Surveyors can let a GPS "integrate" and use other techniques that don't work on a moving boat.

    Also in many parts of the world knowing your exact possition to within meters is not as good as it sound because the charts are not so good. For example if the big rock is charted 1/2 mile ast of where it really is. This is common. Radars and lighthouses will still be needed for a long time.

    Every book and navigation class will tell you to NEVER depend on only one source of navigation data. Always use at least two and cross check.

    I typically use simple techniques from the pre-electronic era to comfirm the GPS. I've punch ed in a wrong number on the GPS and would have gone off in a totally wrong direction