Washington D.C. - For years, the US Government has purposely
skewed Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data in order to throw
off "enemy" users. What that means is that to the common
user in the United States, though the GPS is very accurate, the
Government can send false data, resulting in errors as much a
football field or more. We've found this to be absolutely true
in our own tests.
The
Government also has the ability to make the data more accurate
in specific parts of the world whenever it chooses to. uses for
this would be in an enemy strike situation. The GPS data could
be made more accurate for targeting or tracking situations.
As
of midnight, May 2, 2000, this will all change. The U.S. Government
has decided that it will no longer skew the data. So the next
time you turn on your GPS, you will gain up to ten times more
accuracy than before May 2nd. You should now enjoy accuracy within,
say, a tennis court.
Obviously,
for those of us on the trails, this means better waypoint accuracy.
It will also help in search and rescue situations and in-car navigation
systems.