this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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(page 2) 43 comments
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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

What if we built a system of beacon transmitters that sent out pulses and then used recievers that would compare arrival times of those pulses to make a measurement, thus establishing positional location?

We could call it the Long Range something or other. I’m open to suggestions. Need a catchy name!

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 month ago (2 children)

GPS depends on a friendly spectrum. I suspect the FCC is preparing for a war where GPS will be jammed, faked, or destroyed.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Too often, the vertical location (Z-axis) information that 911 call centers receive is not easily usable

So...use the barometer in tandem with GPS? This is shit I can easily track from my personal Homassistant server.

Also, you know how to make GPS more reliable, secure, and redundant? You launch more GPS satellites.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Also, you know how to make GPS more reliable, secure, and redundant? You launch more GPS satellites.

But where will we find room for more Starlink satellites if we do that? Elon said he needs another contract, and when the boss says jump...!

/s

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Wonder if they want to track all phones with a different system.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Lmao what a fucking dipshit

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sounds like this guy couldn't find his own ass with two hands, a compass and a GPS receiver.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

He sounds like the type of person who would drive into a lake if the GPS told him to

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In walks GLONASS I presume

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Every GPS-capable device made in the last decade utilizes GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.

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[–] [email protected] 135 points 1 month ago (2 children)

We're too dependent on a technology that we spent tens of billions of dollars researching and perfecting over decades of research!

Possibly the dumbest statement I've heard this week.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Nah the idea is sound. As someone else said, GPS is incredibly fragile. Also very terrestrial...it doesn't work once you leave the atmosphere.

This will probably be another SpaceX grift, but there are alternative technologies that are more resilient to attack. From military/defense perspective (the original reason for GPS), that's pretty important.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (3 children)

GPS is incredibly fragile.

No, not really. The GPS signal isn't designed to penetrate concrete, no. But that doesn't make it fragile.

Also very terrestrial…it doesn’t work once you leave the atmosphere.

Considering it was never meant to...that's really not that goddamn weird. It's a global positioning satellite system. So clearly for it to work you have to be on the fuckin' globe...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Global Positioning System, I sleep
Universal Positioning System, real shit

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Having functional GPS in a tunnel would be very nice...as someone who drives through Boston and fucking hates tunnels.

But that's not what I meant by fragile. I meant it can be disrupted/jammed fairly trivially.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It's not as dumb as you make it out. The issue isn't that GPS is really, really good at what it does; it's that it's also incredibly vulnerable to disruption and spoofing. And due to the particulars of how GPS works, we can't entirely fix that. We can do some things to ameliorate it, but a lot of those aren't suitable for smaller things that use GPS today.

The other thing is that GPS largely replaced a tremendous number of other navigation aides and techniques, including other radio-navigation systems like LORAN-C.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Google and Apple and others already do that ad hoc, using signal strength from Bluetooth and WiFi beacons. Can contribute to that by just setting up a wireless access point or several near where you want more signal. Doesn't even need to be Internet-connected.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 month ago (2 children)

In comes starlink to the rescue. But in typical Musk fashion it won't doesn't do what's advertised and cost a shit ton more

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Remember that time he claimed Teslas windows were shatterproof and indestructable. Then he throws a baseball and the window instantly shatters?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Was a ball bearing. Same guy threw a baseball a couple years ago and it didn't break.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And was the second time that window had the ball bearing thrown at it. They'd tested it backstage but didn't replace that window for the on stage demo, so it was already weakened.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah I'm gunna be frank on this one... it's GOOD that it broke. If you're in a car fire (which these seem to do often), you want to be able to break out a fucking window to get out.

Any civilian that wants a window that strong is too stupid to properly risk evaluate the features of a car.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It's literally him convincing someone to sell their house that they own outright to rent from him because it's somehow much better (for him of course). It's so fucking stupid.

[–] [email protected] 204 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Lemme guess, Starlink will magically be suggested.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 1 month ago

Yeah. It's grift. They want a privatized solution.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 month ago

Pretty much every GPS-capable device made in the last decade uses all systems available: GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), and Galileo (EU).

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago

For those who are unfamiliar with it:

GLONASS (ГЛОНАСС, IPA: [ɡɫɐˈnas]; Russian: Глобальная навигационная спутниковая система, romanized: Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, lit. 'Global Navigation Satellite System') is a Russian satellite navigation system operating as part of a radionavigation-satellite service.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Time to bust out the compass.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I live in an area with a lot of iron. I cannot trust a compass to always point north. Generally I've had no problems in the woods: follow the trails that are on the maps, or at least stay close enough that you can always find them again and you are fine. (until of course you are not)

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Triangulation could be more efficient than GPS, in terms of energy use and such

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Phones already do that with cell towers. It's called A-GPS (augmented GPS). Cell towers, wifi, and even bluetooth, are used in addition to GPS/GLONASS/Galileo signals.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

GPS literally triangulates your position using 3 satellites. It's how it works.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

No, you need 4 minimum.

Two satellites intersection places you on a circle. (all points possible)

Three satellites intersection places you on two possible points.

The last satellite give you the exact location.

However, the 4th can be omitted if one of the 2 points is not in a sane location. (eg well below the crust). And it's trilateration not triangulation.

The reality is that your phone/device will use like a dozen satellites.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Uhhh nope, that's incorrect.

The way triangulation works is by essentially measuring distance.

So 1 satellite distance puts you anywhere in a radius (circle) of that satellite.

2 Satellites puts you at 1 of 2 locations where those radiuses intersect.

3 satellites gives you a single location.

That's why it's called triangulation. Tri = 3

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (12 children)

Oh boy, where do I even start? This comment is wrong in multiple ways. Let's break it down:

  1. "The way triangulation works is by essentially measuring distance."

    • Nope. This describes trilateration, not triangulation.
    • Triangulation uses angles, while trilateration uses distances. GPS works via trilateration.
  2. "1 satellite distance puts you anywhere in a radius (circle) of that satellite."

    • Kind of, but missing a crucial detail:
      • A single satellite defines a sphere around itself (not just a circle—you exist in 3D space).
  3. "2 Satellites puts you at 1 of 2 locations where those radiuses intersect."

    • Wrong. Two satellite distance spheres intersect to form a circle, not just two points.
  4. "3 satellites gives you a single location."

    • Mostly right, but incomplete.
    • In theory, three satellites narrow it down to two possible points, but one is often out in space or somewhere unrealistic, so it can often be ruled out.
    • However, because your device lacks an atomic clock, it typically requires four satellites to synchronize time properly.
  5. "That's why it's called triangulation. Tri = 3"

    • Nope. GPS does NOT use triangulation.
    • The "tri" in triangulation comes from angles, not the number of satellites. GPS uses trilateration, which is based on measuring distances, not angles.

Final Verdict

This comment is a trainwreck of incorrect terms and flawed explanations. If they meant "trilateration," at least part of it would make sense, but calling it "triangulation" completely ruins their credibility.

So, in short? No, their comment is very incorrect. 🚨

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

They should use that in GPS! /s

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

Triangulation of GPS signals is what allows the System to determine your Position Global(ly)

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Triangulation of what, exactly? GPS already triangulates your position based on what it receives from multiple satellites, yeah?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Cell towers, in an urban area you're typically within range of a couple.

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