GPS Jamming for $50 324
Anonymous writes "One of the newest hacker tools out there is a homemade GPS jammer. According to this article in Computerworld, such jammers can be built with $50 worth of electrical parts. Phrack has published a how-to aimed at inexpensive GPS-based navigation and "hidden tracking devices.""
how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:5, Insightful)
What if they were legal? You could bring one to the movie theater, whee! Would you be happy? Perhaps, but only until you'd discover that someone thinks talking on the street is impolite. Or notice that a customer of your favorite bar doesn't like them.
If jammers were used commonly, the only place you'd be able to make calls without the fear of jamming would be from within your own home. Which kinda defeats their whole purpose, doesn't it?
Jammers are evil. Period.
Not to mention what I think of limiting the options of polite moviegoers just to deter impolite people. It is analogous to what the RIAA is doing to honest customers in order to fight piracy, and no one here seems to agree with that. Hypocrites...
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also don't like it for theaters, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
However - wouldn't it be nice to be able to have a jammer built into your car to jam people within a few hundred feet of you? Then the person traveling exactly the same speed as the person in the lane next to them might notice what was going on when the talking came to an end.
Jamming people in cars around you seems like a good idea to me (though it probably presents an extra distraction to make them even more dangerous for a few seconds...).
Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... (Score:2)
Jamming is BAD, period. You don't want people to yak while they drive? Do what I do - lobby for laws banning the practice.
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2, Insightful)
First of all, he said he had it on vibrate
Secondly, who says he couldn't walk out of the theatre when he felt it vibrating to converse?
Finally, What if a doctor who worked the emergency room wanted to go see a movie, he should have a phone, pager, or something cuz what if there's a major accident downtown and they suddenly need every doctor to come in? What if it was you on the operation table without a doctor because he didn't take his phone to the movies?
However, yes, rude people who have a cell phone for status purposes only and leave the ringer on in a theater, meeting, classroom, library etc and/or proceed to converse on the phone in an otherwise quiet place should be shot, and twice at that for certainty.
paging fun (Score:2)
ah the joys of rural life
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2)
Why is a doctor more important than a sysadmin?
What if I don't do my job and my coworkers' children starve to death after our company goes out of business? Are these deaths less important than the ones the doctor maybe could have prevented?
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:3, Interesting)
Particularly in the US, it seems phones are a major problem in cinemas, whereas, believe it or not US slashdotters, they are only a minor problem in some other places.
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:3, Interesting)
Rather than disabling them by jamming, it would mandate that the phone must only use vibrate or "flashing" signalling methods until it's removed from the range of the transmitter.
Thoughts?
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2, Interesting)
As phones get more and more "programmable", phone viruses, trojans and the like are going to become more common. How long before Norton release Anti-Virus Mobile Edition?
Goblin
Outlaw audible tones (Score:2)
But I think your idea is good, let all theaters have a device that allows phones to inform their users that an incoming call exists, but doesn't let them answer until they move outside.
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2, Funny)
sure, and then when... (Score:2)
Look, I *hate* it when cell phones go off in theatres, just as much, actually probably more, as anyone. But that's the same problem as people talking in theatres, some assholes are just plain rude.
The way to handle it is not to block the use of technology, just deal with the offenders appropriately. In a theatre, you stand up and say, "hey asshole, turn that damn thing off", and you will be rewarded by the other patrons with a round of applause. Yes, I do this, other people do this, and yes, it works. It's just the same as when someone is talking to another person in the theatre and bothering everyone. They're simply rude people, the technology is not to blame.
Carrying around a cell jammer is just as arrogant and self-centered as the assholes who talk on cells in theatres.
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:3, Interesting)
You need a license to transmit most forms of radio signal, and you need a license to receive others. Most people don't have a license to transmit GPS frequencies, nor to receive [interpret, not just absorb] speed-radar frequencies.
With mobile phones, I believe that your license to transmit depends on you using a class of transmitter which has been tested and approved by radio licensing. A nokia phone will have passed such approvals; your phone jammer will not. (on the grounds that it causes interference to other devices, which consumer products should not do under EMI legislation)
The jammer here claims it needs to be quite close to the receiver to work well, with a good line-of sight. Well assuming you know enough about the GPS aerial's location that you can jam it effectively, would it not be more useful to pad the aerial with lead, or even to unplug it?
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2)
That's near exactly what I was thinking... that, and of a device that can detect GPS recievers to aid in nulifying one on a rental car. But does a GPS reciever do anything that can be detected? I suppose, in the situation of a rental car, that something is also being transmitted back to the rental agency, so that signal should be detectable & blockable. Has anyone read any reasearch into doing that?
Re:how about a cell phone jammer? (Score:2)
The article in question (Score:5, Informative)
It is right here [phrack-don...t-dmca.org]
Love them phrack DNS'.
They wont care... (Score:2)
(phrack)
Re:They wont care... (Score:5, Informative)
More to the point, the Joint Program Office in charge of the GPS has known about cheap, readily available jammers since at least 1995. There's been an ongoing program since then called NAVWAR [fas.org] (NAVigation WARfare) researching ways to harden military GPS receivers against jamming
Re:They wont care... (Score:3, Informative)
People forget that commercial GPS receivers found on handhelds and automobiles rely on a single antenna, which is relatively easy to "spoof." Military GPS receivers found on JDAM and JSOW precision-guided munition systems use multiple antennas to receive GPS signals, so they are far less suspectible to "spoofing" by jamming devices. Besides, turning on the jammer is going to make it real susceptible being attacked by a HARM missile.
Re:They wont care... (Score:2)
If someone transmits a signal on the same frequency that is an order of magnitude stronger, how can they possibly prevent this from interfering?
Re:They wont care... (Score:2)
Derek
whoa (Score:4, Funny)
Who'da thunk it?
Damn, next thing you'll tell me light can be blocked by opaque objects!
Iraq? (Score:4, Interesting)
In all seriousness, how much you want to bet the military thought about this long ago and has ways around it (different frequencies, etc.)
Re:Iraq? (Score:4, Insightful)
Military ordnance is not intended to WORK - it is intended to make profits for defense industry corporations who bribe Congress and the DOD for contracts...
After all, did we ever NEED 10,000 nuclear weapons? Of course not - we needed the MONEY we spent on them to insure our re-election...
A picture is worth a 1,000 words... (Score:2)
It works. [freespeech.org]
Re:Iraq? (Score:4, Informative)
That's because the guided munitions used in the Gulf War were laser-guided. The beams were weakened or blocked and the ordinance would go off target. Todays JDAMs are guided by GPS, and the military has gotten around the sticky problem of GPS jamming in the last decade. In Afghanistan, the target hit success rate was over 90%. The majority of missed targets were the result of human error by target locators on the ground entering the improper target coordinates.
Military ordnance is not intended to WORK
That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've read in very long time.
Derek
Even if only 20% hit that's better then dumb bombs (Score:4, Informative)
My point -- even if the GAO's conservative estimate of only 20% hitting their target is correct, it is FAR better than the alternative of dumb bombs. So to say they're produced just for industry profits is stupid. At worst, it is your typical manufacturer's propaganda, somewhat like Microsoft saying Windows is secure.
Re:Iraq? (Score:4, Informative)
Also, one can argue that thousands of warheads were necessary. The Russians had many, many warheads, too. Whoever lost superiority would be vulnerable to a first-strike that knocked out all missiles accurate enough to retaliate against armored silos.
Lasers... (Score:2)
What, are they going to do? Run around with mirrors and keychain laser pointers?
You're right. The US Military is scary...in a good way. They adapt to a fluid battlefield fairly quickly. There isn't an Iraqi General in their right mind that thinks they can beat the USA.
what happens when... (Score:2, Insightful)
Radius of usage (Score:2)
Car Rentals (Score:5, Interesting)
I suppose this device would be useful when hiring out from any US Car rental company, I don't know exactly which ones use the tracking though. Let's see how the "speeding" charges will be applied ;-)
Although I wonder how big the unit would have to be to be effective enough.. i.e. if it is as big as those old mobile phones (before the brick sized ones, more like a briefcase) then I doubt the average traveller would be bothered, but I suppose anyone who has come across any GPS tracking fines then they might like this quite a bit.
Just my $0.02
Re:Car Rentals (Score:5, Funny)
If someone jams a New Yorker in Nevada, what are the odds of them finding their way back to NYC without a subway map
Iraq, etc. (Score:4, Informative)
Ahh, here it is, in Newsday from January 11th [newsday.com].
Not to worry. I think Saddam may be recruiting a new posse [craigslist.org] as it is.
Re:Iraq, etc. (Score:2, Informative)
this is from the original article:
"The U.S. Department of Defense, which faces the possibility of having its GPS-guided weapons come up against Russian-made GPS jammers in Iraq, has antijamming technology at its disposal."
and your article talks about the use of laser guided bombs and such to get around the jammers.
Re:Iraq, etc. (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.qsl.net/n9zia/wireless/gps_jam-pics.ht
Great, there goes the great Geocaching world (Score:2, Insightful)
Defeating these (Score:5, Interesting)
Jammers can be defeated or made substantially less useful using beamforming. I would be stunned to find out that military users are not doing so.
If a beamforming receiver gets its position and orientation (yaw, pitch, roll), at any point in time, it can steer the sensitivity vectors of its antenna pattern to minimize the effect of jammers from then on. More sophisticated systems will probably also steer nulls right at the jammers.
Even worse, (Score:5, Informative)
This is always a problem with active weapons systems, and active countermeasures... you broadcast your location to anybody who cares to listen. It's just like a HAM Radio foxhunt (that's an event where somebody plants a transmitter somewhere in a city, and a bunch of directional-antenna wielding HAMs try to find it). The military version just has slightly more lethal consequences for the "fox."
Jammers are great, until the high-explosive warheads start homing in on your signal.
Re:Even worse, (Score:2)
Hell you don't need fancy electronic devices to get warheads homing in your city you just have to live in Iraq.
not a problem (Score:2)
Laws of Armed Combat (Score:5, Insightful)
Under the LOAC, those civilian deaths are on the head of the military that planted the devices. The laws of armed combat prohibit the usage of humanitarian/hospital resources for any combat purpose... doing so makes those assets legitimate military targets. For instance, US combat troops are often made to check their rifles when they enter a hospital facility (even if it's a tent in the middle of the desert), to prevent a LOAC violation, and subsequent classification of the hospital/clinic as a military target.
When the israelis were taken to task recently for blowing up some terrorist leader in the west bank (which also killed the civilians he was hiding with), you had a perfect example of this. Those civilian deaths were the responsibility of the TERRORIST, since he chose to hide his legitimate-military-target self amongst innocents... the TERRORIST bears the responsibility for those lost lives. You will note, however, that you didn't hear the mainstream press blaming the palestinians.
If Iraq uses these jammers, there will certainly be civilian deaths. The world press, being totally ignorant of the realities and legalities of combat, will undoubtedly have a fit (in fact, Saddam is probably counting on it).
Of course, you can leave the jammer in place, and let an entire longstick of bombs fall aimlessly all over the city, killing thousands... or you can fire a single missile and take care of the problem. How many people do you think will magically "forget" to plug in their Saddam-issued jammers once this starts to happen?
If this turns your stomach, welcome to the club; I don't like the thought of innocents dying any more than anybody else. Hence, I think it's best to minimize that kind of thing by being as smart about it as possible. War is an ugly business... best to end it quickly.
Re:not a problem (Score:2)
Doing so would be a war crime, NOT bombing the schoolbus, but putting military assets on the schoolbus. The person responsible for those innocent deaths as a matter of international law (and as a matter of fact IMO) is the person who put the jammer there. Our military is unlikely to bomb a schoolbus (if they *know* it's a schoolbus) even under those circumstance where it would be perfectly legal to do so and not doing so puts them & their fellow soldiers at risk. It is a sad commentary on such regimes that our military shows greater concern for the well being of their civilians population than they do. Unfortunatly there are regimes out there that are perfectly capable of such contempt for their own people and those are precisely the regimes we are likely to find ourselves in conflict with.
Re:Even worse, (Score:2)
I don't think car rental companies have access to HARM missiles, nor would they be too keen to fire one at your jammer in a New York shopping centre. But then, I'm not a marketer; what would i know?
Has anyone translated the circuit diagram, or do I need to do that myself?
What about EMP? (Score:2)
Is my idea even possible?
Re:Defeating these (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Defeating these (Score:2)
</obligatory The Big Hit reference>
What's the fuss? (Score:5, Interesting)
I really don't understand what the fuss is all about. The military has surely had this technology for ages, along with every thinkable agency and "enemy". It's just a normal radio frequency jammer, one in the long line of other technical warfare devices, like radio jammers and EMP guns to wipe out magnetical data or stop a car. It doesn't take an electrical engineer to invent one (well, actually, it does :).
All organizations have this technology, but it's only when it falls in the hand of the "stupid" (uncontrolled/uncontrollable) individual that these organizations start making noise.
Re:What's the fuss? (Score:2)
So... (Score:2, Interesting)
I actually do like the idea of this though, since it's one tool that is available to make it more difficult for one to be monitored. It certainly won't stop them in their tracks, but confusion has its places.
Jamming GPS would not be effective (Score:5, Insightful)
To be effective, GPS jamming would have to have a range of at least 20 miles, which would be a signal that would be quite easy to track down and stop.
Who else uses jamming? The military can use it, but again, its not like jamming is going to do much because missles can be targeted at the jammers.
Hikers could be screwed I suppose, but few hikers rely on GPS for their lives.
GPS Lo-Jacks could be disabled, but activating a GPS jammer would be like turning on a huge beacon pointing straight to the thief anyway.
Street-map GPSs could be disabled, but given their accuracy, most people wouldnt even notice
Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective (Score:3, Insightful)
Hiker1: According to this electronic map, the camp site is about a mile straight ahead.
Hiker2: But there's a cliff 20 feet in front of us.
Hiker1: According to the map, there is no cliff.
Hiker2: Good enough for me, let's go....
You are incorrect... (Score:5, Informative)
GPS is not yet approved as a sole means of IFR navigation. It can, however, be used as a supplemental system for en route navigation and nonprecision approaches.
Yes, FAA does certify GPS navagation systems, but it is ILLEGAL for a PILOT to use GPS as PRIMARY navigation. All the certification means is that it is legal to install the device into the aircraft.
Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective (Score:2)
Get one and drive around the city...how often is the track on the road? Almost never? The maps and the satellites do not gibe because the maps were made with different technology which takes into account geography and altitude.
Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective (Score:2)
Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective (Score:2)
What ever happened to.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What ever happened to.. (Score:2)
It doesn't matter (Score:5, Informative)
From the Phrack text: "This device will have no effect on the precise positioning service (PPS) which is transmitted on the GPS L2 frequency of 1227.6 MHz and little effect on the P-code which is also carried on the L1 frequency. There may be a problem if your particular GPS receiver needs to acquire the P(Y)-code through the C/A-code before proper operation. This device will also not work against the new upcoming GPS L5 frequency of 1176.45 MHz or the Russian GLONASS or European Galileo systems. It can be adapted to jam the new civilian C/A-code signal which is going to also be transmitted on the GPS L2 frequency."
Also, there are other ways to deliver munitions. And there are other ways to jam munitions.
Man Gets 70mpg in Homemade Car-Made from a Mainframe Computer [xnewswire.com]
Re:It will affect military bombs (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.rense.com/general33/ussmart.htm
Yes, JDAM's use GPS. But there are many other types in the inventory. LGB, IR, TV guided, and the old standbys, CCIP (Continuously Computed Impact Point) and CCRP (Continuously Computed Release Point).
Further, the military might even do the jamming itself.
"The military will jam GPS in any future conflict to avoid its hostile use. Several initiatives have been launched by the Dept of Defense (DoD) to allow its forces to use the GPS signal in a jamming environment, including a new code broadcast by more powerful satellites and protected with enhanced cryptography."
http://industry.esa.int/CGForum/get/indust02/21.h
Many companies are working on, or have fielded, anti-jam GPS equipment.
In the possible coming conflict in Iraq, this is not a dealbreaker. Even if ol' Saddam decides to deploy these things en masse.
Danger to Airplanes? (Score:2, Insightful)
Unacompanied baggage comes to mind as being the thing to do unless the dude is a candidate for a Darwin Award [darwinawards.com]...
Re:Danger to Airplanes? (Score:2)
Yet another Slashdot dupe story (Score:2)
We saw this one three weeks ago [slashdot.org].. keep up the good work, editors!
Right Idea, Wrong Blame (Score:2)
WRONG !!!
The fact that the GPS devices are jammable for 50 bucks is what puts them at risk, not the fact that the general public is now aware of it.
OMG WTF LOL (Score:5, Informative)
How big does the device need to be? Not very big. No bigger than a typical GPS receiver. What's FAR more important is the size of your antenna. A nice parabolic dish (say, an old DSS dish) with 24db gain could probably be used to jam a GPS receiver from a mile away while running very low power. A lower gain antenna could be just as effective if the power were higher, though, and would be less directional to boot. They pack 100 watt transmitters into a case the size of a car stereo these days, so the device definately doesn't NEED to be very big.
Of course that's assuming you want to block from a good distance, if you are within about 10 feet of the GPS receiver, you can probably jam it with a few miliwatts of power and a wet piece of string for an antenna. You could make a GPS jamming PC card, or SD card even. Oh wait SD is a stupid closed standard. But a low power unit could be easily be made small enough to, say, jam up your ass.
This isn't new, or revolutionary, or even news worthy. Electronic warfare has been around as long as electronics and the bad guys are always trying to jam the good guys comms and vice versa. Ever since that bozo went on the news and talked about this everyone's had their panties in a bunch. Iraq could probably shit out a couple of ghetto GPS jammers but I doubt if they have the resources to produce the 10,000 units they'd need to really make a measureable difference in the outcome of the war. Oh and by the way we can play the same game by using directional antennas on our receivers to reject jamming signals.
And one final note, anything that emits an RF signal is easily locateable. See radio direction finding, ham radio fox hunts, etc. Shit, our forces could just home in on the jamming signal
Hacker tools? (Score:4, Funny)
Okay then. What are some of the 'other' newest hacker 'tools' out there?
What's the justification for this device? (Score:2)
You can justify a blue box because it lets you talk to people you otherwise couldn't without increasing the fixed cost to the phone company. Same for Kazaa and music you wouldn't otherwise buy, warez/abandonware sites and so on. But a GPS jammer used in US would disturb mostly non-evil people without any intelectual benefit to the user.
How is this a hacker tool?
Steve Wozniak: Jammer (Score:5, Funny)
From http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/TheCompMusRep/TCMR- V17.html#Woz [ed-thelen.org]
This wasn't a problem for me until last week... (Score:4, Funny)
- grunby
The really nasty use for these devices (Score:2, Funny)
Me, I can see really malicious individuals burying them around the target of a geocaching contest [bbc.co.uk] and leaving a lot of very confused competitors.
More information (Score:2, Informative)
http://gbppr.dyndns.org/PROJ/mil/gps/index
He has also cell phone radio jammers etc.
I think his site is very useful. (I actually found it not because of his jamming plans, because of his simple FM tx plans. And they have a use besides pirate radio transmitters!
(I am actually a ham radio activist, so don't put me into the terrorist corner
Well that is no big miracle (Score:3, Informative)
Now, GPS doesn't use AM or FM modulation to transmit the signal from satellites. That would be very easy to jam. Instead GSP uses a method called Direct Sequency Spread Spectrum (DSSS) modulation. Meaning that they have the famous GPS code mixed with the binary intelligence signal. This code signal, known as chirping signal spreads the whole signal over some frequency scale. This makes it actually appear as noise, but when you have the correct code you can (kind of) amplify it. The more chirpy the code signal, the more the system is resistant to jamming.
We could actually calculate the jamming margin and determine how powerful jamming signal should be used in order to jam the GPS system.
I didn't read the phrack article and the other article doesn't give much info, but if you know the GPS code, as you would know the public system, you can use that to jam the system. To harm the military system, you should know that code and I don't think it's that easy. And they could also change the code or the carrier frequency thus making it even harder to jam it. And without the code, you would need thousands of times stronger signals to jam it. But if a missile is heading your way, you might just want to spare that much energy..
For someone wanting to jam GSMs. GSM uses another kind of security method, frequency hopping spread spectrum modulation. So it just basically jumps around the frequency plane all the time but the signal doesn't appear as noise, but peaks at different frequencies. Hence the rattling sound in your stereo.
Re:Well that is no big miracle (Score:2)
A real jamer would need to generate a signal with the correct chirping code and then transmit a signal that is clean enough that it fits in with the rest of recived sats. Thats going to be real hard with a good 12 channel reciver but might be easy with some of the old single channel ones. The last GPS simulator I saw had a list price of about $20,000 so they might be a tricky thing to build correctly.
do not rely on GPS (Score:2, Insightful)
GPS. Have we come so far that society would
collapse if GPS went away? Pizza deliveries
going wild, convicts walking away, airplanes
lost, outdoor enthusiasts missing....
do not rely on GPS. use it as a handy tool,
but have a backup option. such as a map.
of course, war is a different story, in war
you have to rely on whatever is at hand. but
in war you _expect_ your opponent to do anything
he can to disrupt your devices. this is what
war is about. But the last time I checked, GPS
was a military technology open for civilian
use during peacetime. When you buy the receivers
you do not pay for the service to keep the
sattelites going. So if your car rental company
goes down if GPS fails, you have no one to blame. I repeat. Use GPS for efficiency -
but do not critically rely on it
Your government won't be happy (Score:2)
It takes a hacker ... (Score:2, Funny)
(What a straight-line.)
GPS and RFID Jamming (Score:2, Interesting)
Maybe a GPS/RFID jammer combo for those of us that rent cars and shop at the GAP on a regular basis.
Who BENEFITS from this device? (Score:2)
I've got a cel phone. Whoever wants to know where I am can just call me, give me a destination and ask for an ETA. At worst if I'm busy and didn't want to be interrupted so I turned the phone off, they can leave a message.
We may need these in Oregon ... (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.odot.state.or.us/ruftf/
we've been jammed (Score:2)
Great. *sigh* (Score:2)
I'm glad this device with such obvious legitimate value is going to become easily available to the eager consumer market.
*sigh*
Re:Problems for the military... (Score:3, Informative)
"The U.S. Department of Defense, which faces the possibility of having its GPS-guided weapons come up against Russian-made GPS jammers in Iraq, has antijamming technology at its disposal."
doubt it's a problem (Score:3, Interesting)
Land-Nav is still taught in the military, mostly because of the ubiquitous nature of Murphy's law (my GPS is broken! I'm lost!). Maps also don't get dead batteries... many older soldiers are purists, and like to rely on what works... sort of a "ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.
This shouldn't be a problem for GPS-guided bombs either. Somehow, I suspect we anticipated this problem...
Older soldier aren't soldiering... (Score:2)
Even before GPS, US units would get lost regularly on exercises in Germany due to poor map reading skills.
Re:Older soldier aren't soldiering... (Score:2, Funny)
Rather fewer landmarks in Iraq than Germany too.
some are still soldiering (Score:2, Interesting)
The smaller units, particularly these days, are often teams of special operators. They try to minimize extraneous radio communications and instead rely on what they are carrying, particularly if doing recon. These guys are also head-and-shoulders above the average soldier in ALL their skills, including Land-Nav.
Most recon-marines, SEALs, and other SF types I've met pride themselves on these skills... I'm not worried about their Land-Nav ability (one marine recon guy I knew simply refused to use his GPS unit for Land Nav, relying instead on his pace-count and compass skills. After comparing his abilities to the GPS a few times, he came to the conclusion that the GPS was no improvment, and thereafter stopped using it. I think he only kept it in his pack because they made him).
Whims of the many outweigh the needs of the few? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Problems for the military... (Score:4, Interesting)
Devices like this are sure to be major headaches for the GPS dependent US Military in the future...I wonder how they would get around them?
Based on what I've heard, the military has ways of getting around that problem. I don't think it's a major threat to their ability to operate. What it does do is make it difficult for rental car companies to keep track of where you are and how fast you've gone. I will also block most commercial use of GPS technology for invasive purposes.
To address your suggestion of banning jamming technology, it would be much more effective to ban the abuse of GPS information on the part of those who wish to violate our privacy. Then people would feel no need to build devices that could throw airplanes off course.
Re:Problems for the military... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:finally... (Score:2)
But how can they tell... (Score:2)
Re:This is a solution to the WRONG problem ! (Score:2)
Apart from the learning experience of working with Microwave RF devices, the biggest use for this would be in a rental car.
Just make one of these devices, and the next time you're on a business trip, and rent a car, throw this in the backseat, powered on.
Aside from that, you are correct in the limited application for using one of these devices.
Re:This is a solution to the WRONG problem ! (Score:2)
Re:I agree with this (Score:2)
Re:I agree with this (Score:2)
GPS has quite a bit in the way of privacy implications coming down the pike. Hopefully, this will give them pause.
Re:TRACKING and RECOVERY (Score:2)
Some use ARPS, some use cellular (GSM/GPRS). With services like OnStar (for instance) there is a monthly fee to pay for the cellular service & the services provided by the company. They need the location of the vehicle to supply some of the services and that is what they use it for. By all reports they do not track vehicles indescriminatly.
If your that paranoid don't buy a cellular phone, they can be tracked and do have unique identifiers.