GPS jamming

Out of sight


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Readers' comments




Try to jam this...

51º32'15"N 0º5'7"W

Or this: 37º47'47"S 144º58'22"E.

You can't.

Advantages of belonging to the old school...

D. Sherman

Two more thoughts:

First, all radio jammers are trivial to build. All that's needed is a means to transmit some overpowering signal on a band that overlaps the frequency of the receiver. If one is willing to violate the law, anyone with any technical competence can make a device that will broadcast noise in the 1.5 GHz band.

Second, there is a plausible method for using a much more sophisticated local transmitter to spoof the GPS satellite signal so that nearby GPS receivers think they're at a location where they're not. It's too much to describe here, but the theory is described in many places on the Internet. There's no proof that it's ever been used for malicious purposes, but it has been suggested as a means by which Iran might have tricked a US drone into landing on its territory.

This is why self-driving cars will take longer to implement. (And I want it, because of the fucking idiots that text while driving and endanger me!)

The battle of technology is just as prevalent as the daily battle in the arms race going on in our bodies and the medical community as well, against viral infections (mutations).

There always competition, everywhere; it's part of life, and those of us that forget that we are part of life, just hairless mammals with big brains on this tiny rock floating in space, loose.

Canadian Engineer 1917

How consequential for Europe to want its own network of GPS satellites (like Russia and China), rather than relying on its “ally” the United States.

Accrux in reply to Accrux

To 'Kevin Nixon',

1)Whatever floats your boat, but the fact that you don't understand something does not mean that it does not make sense. Id did long before the GPS was invented and still does.

2)Alas, I don't have the time to explain it to you in detail right now or in the next days, you might read something if you like:


By the way, I am a traditionalist and I prefer to use the sexagesimal system, you may use the other one if you prefer.

3)If you reply to this, I will not be able to respond, among other reasons because considering your latest comments it could take you from three weeks to seven months to reply... if you reply at all, and in the last weeks I have wasted too much time responding to people I should have ignored from the very beginning.

Hawaii Londoner

Keep that printed AA / Michelin / AAA map in the car as navigation wars are just beginning... As the article points out, it's cheap and easy to disrupt these signals whether legal (UK) or illegal (most other nations.)

SatNav systems are useful but cannot, in their present incarnations, be solely depended on as mission-critical assets. Imagine if GPS was the primary landing system for a major airport and was disabled. As Asiana Airlines tragically proved at San Francisco, the ability to land manually using standard visual flight rules (VFR) and other "old fashioned" navigation aids remains critical.

The meta-lesson is these are navigation AIDS, not outsourcing navigation from physical cues.

Alex Tunbridge Wells

Good article - it ought to mention Road User Charging. At present, there is limited incentive to jam the GPS signal. Some countries are however considering Road User Charging for private vehicles (as opposed to commercial lorries) based on GPS technology.

Once this starts, a significant minority of drivers will be tempted to buy micro-jammers, which could mess up the system for neighbouring drivers. The On-Board-Unit which is measuring the distance driven will need to deal with this threat, or the system could fail.

Connect The Dots

A GPS Blocker is a radio transmitter that can be tracked by simply following the signal.
IT is similar to Lo-Jack tracking.
A smart programmer may make a simple downloadable app for mobiles.
Heavy fines for threatening public commerce, navigation, and threatening lives should be implemented.
No different than destroying stop signs, traffic signals, road signs, beacons, buoys or lighthouses.


It was very foolish for the USG to turn off its Loran system due solely for financial reasons. Indeed, one can imagine an essentially jam resistant digital terrestrial system using existing transmitters sending out digital signals rather than analogue signals and synchronized by atomic clocks.



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