Upcoming GPS disruptions in the SW, for Cali folks...

[stumpy]

Greetings all,
For those of you in the SW, and particularly California coastal voyagers, be prepared for buggers in your "magic navigation box."  Was just notified about this, might effect our tanker ops in the region (wildfires).  They mention issues down to 50' AGL but I'm assuming surface marine users will experience similar potential difficulties.  Time to dust off our sextants :-)
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GPS Interference NOTAM For Southwest

A NOTAM is warning operators of ?all aircraft relying on GPS? of widespread GPS outages starting Tuesday throughout the Southwest and especially southern California. Although the FAA doesn?t go into detail, it seems the military is testing something that can disrupt GPS over a huge area, centered on China Lake, California, home of the Navy?s China Lake Naval Weapons Center. On Tuesday, June 7, the FAA is warning that GPS signals down to 50 feet AGL could be ?unreliable or unavailable? between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time over a radius of 253 nautical miles, which includes the L.A. Basin, Bay area and Las Vegas. There will be further outages of similar potential duration June 9, 21,23, 28 and 30. The circles expand with altitude and at 40,000 feet the interference will affect a circular area of the Southwest 950 nautical miles across, reaching central Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico.

The tests will potentially knock out all GPS-reliant services including WAAS, GBAS and, notably, ADS-B. The FAA also doesn?t want a lot of radio chatter about the outages and is urging pilots to report them if they need help from ATC. Operators of Embraer Phenom 300 business jets are being urged to avoid the area entirely. ?Due to GPS Interference impacts potentially affecting Embraer 300 aircraft flight stability controls, FAA recommends EMB Phenom pilots avoid the?testing area and closely monitor flight control systems?,? the NOTAM reads.

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The actual NOTAM includes a map depicting the anticipated affected area. Impacts could be right down to the surface, meaning that GPS users on the ground might experience difficulties, even at long distances from the test site.

Released
4 Jun, 2016
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
FLIGHT ADVISORY
GPS Interference Testing
CHLK GPS 16-08
07-30 June, 2016
China Lake, California
GPS testing is scheduled as follows and may result in unreliable or unavailable GPS signal.
A. Location: Centered at 360822N1173846W or the BTY VOR 214 degree radial at 059 NM.
B. Dates and times:
7 JUN 16 1630Z ? 2230Z
9 JUN 16 1630Z ? 2230Z
21 JUN 16 1630Z ? 2230Z
23 JUN 16 1630Z ? 2230Z
28 JUN 16 1630Z ? 2230Z
30 JUN 16 1630Z ? 2230Z
C. Duration: Each event may last the entire requested period.
D. NOTAM INFO: NAV (CHLK GPS 16-08) GPS (INCLUDING WAAS, GBAS, AND ADS-B) MAY NOT BE AVBL WI A 476NM RADIUS CENTERED AT 360822N1173846W (BTY 214059) FL400-UNL DECREASING IN AREA WITH A DECREASE IN ALT DEFINED AS:
432NM RADIUS AT FL250
375NM RADIUS AT 10000FT
340NM RADIUS AT 4000FT AGL
253NM RADIUS AT 50FT AGL
THIS NOTAM APPLIES TO ALL AIRCRAFT RELYING ON GPS. ADDITIONALLY, DUE TO GPS INTERFERENCE IMPACTS POTENTIALLY AFFECTING EMBRAER PHENOM 300 AIRCRAFT FLIGHT STABILITY CONTROLS, FAA RECOMMENDS EMB PHENOM PILOTS AVOID THE ABOVE TESTING AREA AND CLOSELY MONITOR FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEMS DUE TO POTENTIAL LOSS OF GPS SIGNAL.
Affected Centers:
E. Pilots are encouraged to report anomalies only when ATC assistance is required.
Released
4 Jun, 2016
The time periods discussed in this advisory may be reduced or cancelled with little or no notice. Pilots are advised to check NOTAMs frequently for possible changes prior to operations in the area. NOTAMs will be published at least 24 hours in advance of any GPS tests.

CHLK 16-08 GPS Interference Testing

[CapnK]

Thanks for the heads up on this. As reliant as we have become on GPS, even knowing this could happen (would happen?), it is still a bit - well, spooky. :)

[Tim]

Clearly a plot to disrupt voting today ;D Not a good day to be on LA freeways ;)

[Owly055]

It was inevitable............and foolish, that Loran C was shut down.   GPS is wonderful, but it amounts to putting all your eggs in one basket.   The reality is that nothing that depends on electronic transmissions can be relied upon.   The so called "cold war" is over, but GPS like Loran is a system designed for the military, and the ability to "take down" the system is an important strategic capability.   In the event of military hostilities that have the potential to effect the continental US & Hawaii, we can expect GPS to be taken down to "confuse" the enemy and give them one less tool to use against us.   The US navy is training it's nav officers to use celestial navigaton again....... something that had been dropped from the training.   Imagine navigating the Torres Strait at night using your chart plotter and suddenly having your navigation go down! 

The online book I recently recommended:   12,000 miles in a Shetland foureen by Nick Grainger    Describes a situation after being disabled in a storm in the Pacific Islands where the author lost even his sextant and compass, but had a navigation book, and used star observations directly without any tools to locate a specific island in a vast ocean.  We would all do well to learn at least rudimentary celestial navigation and develop a good dead reckoning ability.  Resorting to the most ancient of methods of navigation as Mr Grainger did is probably beyond most of us.... or at least beyond the amount of study we are willing to put into it.

                                                         H.W.

[stumpy]

Been messing with GPS in land/sea/air applications since it's inception.  GLONASS has it's positive aspects as well.  GPS/WAAS is an amazing system...frankly a lot of folks have gone voyaging over the last 20 years who likely wouldn't have without it (and perhaps shouldn't have with it).
That being said I still pull the sextant out at least once a month and work out a couple of positions, just to stay in practice.  I figure if the GPS system craps out or batteries are all dead, oh well....but if the stars go out we've got bigger concerns ;-).
Also have an old portable marine RDF that I keep at the hangar to listen to AM radio on and freak out my gadget-orientated pilot buddies, and it still is a handy backup on the Salish Sea.  Sure, I have a tablet and a couple of GPS units, but to be honest I prefer paper charts and a compass, and my handy binocs with a compass built in for quick triangulation inland or coastal.

Admittedly, the gadgets are slick when flying too, but I'd rather use a whiskey compass and sectional charts (or a doggone AAA roadmap) and steam gauges when flying if the situation allows it...of course it seems more applicable to do so when your aeroplane is 70 years old, ha ha.
Amazing how many of my colleagues, both young and old, cannot seem to function without a glass cockpit.  A lot of them even comment that it is dangerous to fly without a full "gadget complement."  Seems more and more applicable on the water too----"gotta have that radar/gps/chartplotter/sonar or yer  just not safe leaving the slip."....yuck.

Reckon I must be a confirmed minimalist...or self-sufficientist...or whatever ya call it (curmudgeonist???).  Just seems more enjoyable and satisfying to rely on proper seamanship or airmanship without all the external stuff.  I have it, but don't use it regularly, don't need it, and don't want to rely on it...cause for me, it just ain't fun. :-)

[Owly055]

Been messing with GPS in land/sea/air applications since it's inception.  GLONASS has it's positive aspects as well.  GPS/WAAS is an amazing system...frankly a lot of folks have gone voyaging over the last 20 years who likely wouldn't have without it (and perhaps shouldn't have with it).
That being said I still pull the sextant out at least once a month and work out a couple of positions, just to stay in practice.  I figure if the GPS system craps out or batteries are all dead, oh well....but if the stars go out we've got bigger concerns ;-).
Also have an old portable marine RDF that I keep at the hangar to listen to AM radio on and freak out my gadget-orientated pilot buddies, and it still is a handy backup on the Salish Sea.  Sure, I have a tablet and a couple of GPS units, but to be honest I prefer paper charts and a compass, and my handy binocs with a compass built in for quick triangulation inland or coastal.

Admittedly, the gadgets are slick when flying too, but I'd rather use a whiskey compass and sectional charts (or a doggone AAA roadmap) and steam gauges when flying if the situation allows it...of course it seems more applicable to do so when your aeroplane is 70 years old, ha ha.
Amazing how many of my colleagues, both young and old, cannot seem to function without a glass cockpit.  A lot of them even comment that it is dangerous to fly without a full "gadget complement."  Seems more and more applicable on the water too----"gotta have that radar/gps/chartplotter/sonar or yer  just not safe leaving the slip."....yuck.

Reckon I must be a confirmed minimalist...or self-sufficientist...or whatever ya call it (curmudgeonist???).  Just seems more enjoyable and satisfying to rely on proper seamanship or airmanship without all the external stuff.  I have it, but don't use it regularly, don't need it, and don't want to rely on it...cause for me, it just ain't fun. :-)

     I've never flown "left seat" in a plane with a glass cockpit, but had an amazing flight half way across the country in 2011 in a brand new Citation flying right seat.   I flew a couple of landings, and it was like a video game.  Visibility was zero almost to the ground.   I would drop out of the clouds and be wheels down in a matter of a few seconds.   More than a little terrifying, it took absolute faith in the instruments.  The glide slope and localizer made it possible to hit almost on the numbers without being able to see the ground until the last few seconds.  One place we had quite a time reading the signs on the taxiway and locating the FBO.   In Wisconsin and Michigan we were threading our way through embedded thunderstorms, with lightening flashing close enough that I was seriously worried.   Without the glass panel it would have been impossible to set the plane down, and there were no airports VFR within our range.  I couldn't help but think about that dual FADEC system on the two Williams Jet Engines, and wondering how resistant they were to lightening.  That day, most of the area we covered was cloud covered from under 1000 feet to FL36.   We were flying FL45 in bright sunshine, the only company being a single Falcon on a parallel course a few miles away...... ATC made us fly FL 41 until he left us well behind...  Kind of absurd when you both have visual.

    It was an interesting experience, but I prefer flying small planes at low altitude where you can explore and see what there is to see.   The reality is that small planes are not good transportation..........They are a passion, and a sport.   If I really need to get somewhere, I'll take an airliner...... as much as I hate them, or drive.  If it's about the trip rather than the destination...... which for me it usually is, it's a different story.   No sane person sails with a schedule, or flies a small plane on a schedule.  Those folks are what statistics are composed of.

                                                                                              H.W.

[Steve Bean]

For minimalism, check out Alberto Torroba, Argentine dugout canoe navigator who sailed from Panama to Philippines.

[Norman]

GPS test canceled.

The cancellation was announced by the FAA, but all users will benefit.  The Navy tests were for many hours on 5 separate days in June, details not interesting anymore!

Airlines and Aircraft Pilots and Owners Association seem to have done the work to stop it.

I guess that the Google self driving car will not run off the road!

Norman