This week, I'm pleased to present to you an essay written by Gavin Schrock, a licensed land surveyor (Washington), technology writer and administrator of the Washington State Reference Network (WSRN), which operates 103 GNSS reference stations that comprise the statewide RTK Network.More>>

At the end of every year, I title this column Directions, in which I discuss significant developments, trends, technologies, companies, and so on, in the GNSS industry. This year, two entities have captured my attention and have the potential to significantly transform the GNSS industry: the...More>>

LightSquared’s been in the news quite a bit since my last Survey Scene newsletter a month ago, but very little of it has actual consequence. A lot of the “news” is just noise. LightSquared pumped up its propaganda campaign nationwide to try to build a consensus in their favor and put pressure...More>>

Like a bad week on the stock exchange, LightSquared hit speed bump after speed bump this week. After Monday when the company boldly claimed there would "be a resolution within a month" to the GPS interference problem, the FCC spanked them Tuesday by ordering more testing. The rest of the week...More>>

The FCC's public comment period regarding the LightSquared/GPS interference issue has ended and the reply comment period is over as well. To date, more than 3,300 comments were entered that the FCC must sift through and arrive at some sort of conclusion. Following are my last comments filed with...More>>

You may not have noticed it, but last Friday we experienced the first serious geomagnetic storm in this solar cycle (Solar Cycle 24), which began in 2009. Not all types of solar activity (sun spots, solar flares, solar burst, and solar radiation) affect GPS receiver operations. Geomagnetic storms...More>>

Okay, folks, this is where the rubber meets the road. The FCC LightSquared public comment period ends this Saturday. If you use GPS, it would be very wise to submit your comments today. Don't expect the FCC to make a rational decision. LightSquared has an amazing amount of political influence, and...More>>

You’ve got to put some in yourself, to get some out. Don't expect the FCC to make a rational decision in the Lightsquared versus GPS case. As clear as the conclusions may seem to an engineering mind examining the Technical Working Group’s report on the subject, the Federal Communications...More>>

At stake is the high-precision GPS industry as we know it. If LightSquared's current proposal is approved by the FCC, it will render tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands of GPS receivers obsolete starting as early as next year. The FCC is accepting public comments until July 30 and...More>>

Originally, the LightSquared/GPS Technical Working Group’s (TWG) report was due to the FCC on June 15. LightSquared requested from the FCC, and received, a two-week extension to submit their report. Three days later, LightSquared announced they found a solution to the GPS interference problem....More>>