Gps May Be Threatened By Solar Bursts.

[Lighthouse]

Don't anybody doubt that they MUST still always carry paper navigation charts AND plot regular positions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_...fRKAdI71sEjtBAF

[Trim50]

Why not learn to use a sextant while you're at it? It's fun and software is making it easier than ever before.

http://www.tecepe.com.br/nav/

[Spike_dawg]

Celestial navigation is for the people who don't really care to know where they are, when they need to know it. Now with the new software packages it's really easy to be totally lost.

Originally Posted by Lighthouse

Don't anybody doubt that they MUST still always carry paper charts AND plot regular positions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_...fRKAdI71sEjtBAF

Yeh, and the Chinese gave us something else to think about a few weeks ago when they launched a missle and destroyed one of their own satellites. Talk about serious chest thumping...

I know it sounds silly to suggest keeping your celestial navigation skills well honed, but I would rather be silly and use my sextant occasionally when making passages just in case something happens to our GPS satellites.

I've also heard of supposedly massive EMF effect following a severe lightining strike when everything electronic (including calculators and hand-held VHF & GPS units) on board was rendered inoperable. Anyone else heard of similar stories?

[bvimatelot]

Originally Posted by Kuapaa

I've also heard of supposedly massive EMF effect following a severe lightining strike when everything electronic (including calculators and hand-held VHF & GPS units) on board was rendered inoperable. Anyone else heard of similar stories?

Yes, this most assuredly does happen with a lightening strike. I try to put a handheld gps inside the oven which, being an all metal container should work like a Faraday Box.....whether this works or not, I'll be able to let you know after my next strike! Tony

[JeanneP]

We had a direct hit from lightning. The spare hand-held GPS was unaffected by the lightning, though every other electronic device on the boat was toast. It was lying out on the nav table, not protected in any way. Lightning hit the top of the mast, vaporized the wind instruments and VHF antenna.

The most peculiar result. We had a man-overboard pole and light. The light had a gravity switch: upside-down and it was off, throw in the water and the weighted bottom righted it and the strobe light would turn on. When we were checking the boat for damage (blown thru-hulls, etc. - of which there was none, fortunately for a good grounding/bonding system), we opened the lazarette where the light was stowed hanging upside down on a piece of line, and it was flashing, and could not be turned off. I assume that it was because it was quite close to our SSB tuner in that lazarette.