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Consumer grade GPS actually won't work at 30,000+ feet at speeds the plane would be flying. This is to prevent someone from using the GPS system to steer a ball
by Lukeas14 7y ago
Consumer grade GPS actually won't work at 30,000+ feet at speeds the plane would be flying. This is to prevent someone from using the GPS system to steer a ballistic missile.
- MrOwen 7y agoThe gps on my phone begs to differ. You can (sometimes) acquire enough gps locks to get a signal and subsequent gps data like speed, position, etc. Worth a shot trying because there's very few other times where you'd be able to see your gps sensor read 600mph. You're probably right though, it's just that the cutoff speed is higher than whatever a commercial jetliner speed is.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 7y agoThe ITAR/COCOM limits used to be (according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinating_Committee_for_Multilateral_Export_Controls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinating_Committee_for_Mul...) "faster than 1,000 knots (1,900 km/h; 1,200 mph) at an altitude higher than 18,000 m (59,000 ft)". They have been relaxed since then, but all current commercial jetliners would stay comfortably within both limits.
- brokenmachine 7y agoClearly an exception could be made in this case. Systems that are part of a passenger jet could hardly be called consumer grade. Incidentally, my GPS watch (Garmin) was working last time I was on a plane. It was bang on 700kph the whole time IIRC.
- 51Cards 7y agoMy cell phone GPS works at cruise on an airplane. I can't attest to how location accurate it is but the altitude and speed are usually right on with what the infotainment system says.