News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on FAA to lift mobile shut-down rule. Parent comment

Re:FAA to lift mobile shut-down rule by jrockway on Tuesday September 24, 2013 @03:15AM (#6436492)
Remember that a radio is useless if you can't tune it to a certain channel. If the avionics can tune to various navigation channels, then they can probably reject noise from shitty electronics.

I wonder how much power it takes to desense a GPS receiver, however.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:FAA to lift mobile shut-down rule by CamperBob2 on Tuesday September 24, 2013 @08:45AM (#6437508)
I wonder how much power it takes to desense a GPS receiver, however.

Terrifyingly little, it turns out. Signals from the GPS constellation are about as 'bright' as a light bulb several thousand miles away, and the modulation format usable by civilian receivers is not exactly jam-resistant.

Thankfully there's no reason for a GPS antenna on an aircraft to look anywhere but straight up. It can be well-shielded against interference from within the cabin. Still, GPS interference is a real, reproducible and documented issue, unlike the cargo-cult science being discussed here.

[ Parent | on HN ]