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Signal Jamming
Posted by Jim in AZ on July 19, 2021 at 9:35 pmAnyone ever encounter a signal jamming issue? Our crew ran into a location where only GLONASS satellites were visible. They moved to a different location and had all the US sats back. Back to the first location and only GLONASS visible. Crew chief realized that they were close to a golf course and on a whim called them to see if their golf carts had radio communication or used GPS. He was told “No, but no one can get GPS signals on that hole. There is a neighbor who runs a jammer that blocks all the US satellites.”
Did not expect that…
nate-the-surveyor replied 2 years, 8 months ago 16 Members · 25 Replies- 25 Replies
A military exercise few years back messed with us on and off for a week. They were flying F-22s overhead practicing operating in GPS jammed environment. We got to practice ourselves but not by choice.
WillyUh, that’s a federal violation. FCC will drop the hammer if someone would simply file a complaint with some info about where it’s coming from.
Have seen this before. Complaint filed, federal offender smacked down, work resumed.
(ETA: for an idea of how seriously the FCC takes this, you can check out some of the fines on the sidebar on this page.)
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil PostmanDepends. They do routinely schedule and plan jamming and testing events, and post the MOA information as needed.
We had a hell of a fun time doing lidar/OrthoPhoto when no one had bothered to check the FAA FCC and other adjuncts on one operation.
Planes are expensive to fly when you’re not collecting data to charge any clients.
Check out the dates and verify you weren’t in a shadow of predetermined jamming, but also file complaint if you’re sure you weren’t in their expected operations area.
Fun stuff.
looks like they could be in for a slap on the wrist; better be careful.
I hope everyone has a great day; I know I will!Just out of curiosity, a friend is asking how would one jam a satellite signal?
I’ve had loss of GPS signals in an open sky situation near military bases and major electrical grid facilities. But Federal law prohibits the operation, marketing, or sale of any type of jamming equipment that interferes with authorized radio communications, including Global Positioning Systems (GPS). If you have reason to believe that someone is using a jammer you may file a complaint or submit an inquiry through the FCC Consumer Complaint Center by visiting the FCC Consumer Complaint Center at http://www.consumercomplaints.fcc.gov
It’s no joke for them and they *will* follow up with an investigation with authority to arrest. Twice in the last 20 years I’ve been accosted by FCC enforcement in full regalia including body armor and sidearms in my boat’s marina with a goofy looking handheld antenna searching for an illegal 1.5kw marine VHF booster which was stuck in transmit & splattering nearby airport comms. Turned out it was a recently arrived Mexican sport fishing boat who had no idea the rules were different in the US. The other sitch’ was some guy running his ham rig on the marine SSB channels without a license.
It makes sense GPS was jammed but GLONASS came through given GLONASS is a multifrequency system and would require a different more complex jammer to bollix it. GPS jammers are small, available on the black market and can be powered by a car cigarette lighter DC supply and jam GPS signals for miles around their deployment. Witness:
https://www.fcc.gov/general/jammer-enforcement
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong.- -All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong.
@dougie
Jamming is not uncommon in my neck of the woods:
https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2021/Jun/FTBRNC_21-37_GPS_Flight_Advisory.pdf
https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2021/Jun/MARSOC_21-05_GPS_Flight_Advisory.pdf
Worked at a trucking terminal where the drivers were using these. Apparently company policy was fleet tracking that monitored speed etc. and this was their way to avoid being tracked.
Definitely made it hard to use the RTK. Would instantly lose all satellites once one came on site.
Great. Nice to see they are finding ways to circumvent the regulations for safety etc.
I submitted a report to the FCC and received an email thanking me and informing me that they do not investigate individual complaints. Government helps me once again…
@jim-in-az
So do you have to have multiple surveyors file complaints? A company/corporation file a complaint?While jamming is certainly a problem, spoofing is arguably worse. In the first case, no data is logged, in the latter bad data could be.
If the person operating a jammer is known and if your ability to perform surveys is impacted incurring costs, you could sue.
I’m hoping that means they need 2 or 3 people to complain and not that they blow off all complaints from individuals.
@richard-imrie you wipe out ability to track on ground, not actually jamming at the satellite level. They are very weak signals. With my old (two generations back) receivers my then satellite phone could not be turned on within 300 feet of a receiver or I lost lock (they both operate in the L band). Maybe better RF rejection these days, but it is pretty easy to prevent tracking of a weak signal.
@jitterboogie and if I had to guess (since I have a CDL and drove for a few years), they don’t speak English as their first language, sorry but some of the immigrants cheat, that is the way it worked in the old country.
- Posted by: @geeoddmike
While spoofing is worse because you may not know about it right away, it takes sophisticated equipment, whereas jamming can be done very simply as shown by the device illustrated below in this thread.
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