Columns and Editorials

It’s Spring, and EGNOS Is in the Air

Europe has been talking up its European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS, for short) — and why shouldn’t it? Talking about Galileo doesn’t get satellites off the ground. EGNOS, on the other hand, is up and running, and has been since 2009. If the object is to build confidence in European savoir faire, why not talk about a real success like EGNOS?

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By Peter Gutierrez

DoD Condenses Acquisition Strategy to Speed M-Code Units

A shift in the Air Force’s acquisition plan should shave a year off the time needed to finish development of new M-code–equipped receivers and potentially inspire more commercially flavored innovation — and perhaps even the entry of new vendors.

The new approach enables the Pentagon to fulfill a congressional mandate to buy only M-code receivers after fiscal year 2017 and could help convince the user community, jaded by previous delays, to speed adoption of the more resilient devices.

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By Dee Ann Divis
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GNSS Hotspots | March 2014

One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST

1. WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? 
Detroit, Michigan USA 

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By Inside GNSS

GPS Modernization Stalls

With the optimism of college-bound seniors touring the Ivy League, GPS managers have been weighing options to dramatically change the GPS constellation. Now, after studying the costs, considering the benefits, and assessing the funding climate, officials have made the starkly fiscal decision to stick close to home and take a few extra years to finish. 

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By Dee Ann Divis
January 22, 2014

GNSS Hotspots | January 2014

One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST

1. E-CROWDSHIPPING
Palo Alto, California USA

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By Inside GNSS
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Won’t Get Fooled Again

How many times, as some once-promising politician stumbles up against his pull date, have we heard that irreverent anthem of The Who invoked?

Thousands? Millions?

Yes, back in the wreckage of the second George Bush’s second term, Barack Obama looked pretty good by comparison. Even then, though, raising the banner of “Hope” before the eyes of a desperate nation was a risky thing to do.

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By Inside GNSS
January 19, 2014

Ionospheric Scintillation

Ionospheric scintillations are rapid temporal fluctuations in both amplitude and phase of trans-ionospheric GNSS signals caused by the scattering of irregularities in the distribution of electrons encountered along the radio propagation path. The occurrence of scintillation has large day-to-day variability. The most severe scintillations are observed near the poles (at auroral latitudes) and near the equator (within ± 20 degrees of geomagnetic equator).

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By Inside GNSS

Proposal for U.S. eLoran Service Gains Ground

Trying to revive a years-dead federal program is usually the kind of hopeless task that even Sisyphus wouldn’t touch.

But determined supporters of eLoran are gaining ground in their effort to resurrect the cancelled radio-navigation network and, propelled by new worries over GPS jamming, they appear poised push the issue through.

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By Dee Ann Divis

Marc Weiss

Weiss at the helm during sailboat outing to San Juan Islands (top), Marc Weiss and wife, Pam (bottom)

SIDEBAR: Marc Weiss’ Compass Points

In a career spanning nearly the entire history of GNSS-enhanced metrology, Marc Weiss has been a key participant in projects that laid the foundation for accurate synchronization of atomic clocks around the world.

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By Inside GNSS
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