[ SECRET POST #3485 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3485 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.



__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06. [repeat]


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.










Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 42 secrets from Secret Submission Post #498.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Question about tracking cell phones

[herpymcderp]

Oh there's still a surprising amount of zero coverage areas depending on which country this is set in. Way more than the companies want to admit, really.

The thing is though, you don't need a cell tower for GPS to work. You need a steady connection of transmission with that satellite. It does work better if you can bounce off a tower, but your average device may be able to pick up a GPS signal even out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Usually the range of coverage for satellites is on the order of thousands of miles.

Re: Question about tracking cell phones

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, good to know.

Re: Question about tracking cell phones

[(Anonymous)]

GPS doesn't work that way. "Bouncing" a GPS signal off a tower would defeat the entire purpose of the system since the calculations depend on "straight" line of transmission from satellite to receiver, knowing exactly where the satellite was at the time of transmission, and calculation of differences between time code due to the speed of light.

And yes, you can pick up GPS in the middle of nowhere (including antarctica), because that's what it was designed to do.

Re: Question about tracking cell phones

[herpymcderp]

These days cellular towers have inbuilt satellite uplinks for exactly the purpose I was describing, friendo.

Granted, it's not quite correct to call it bouncing a signal because there's no relay happening so much as there is triangulation happening.

You can triangulate using ground networks just the same as you can triangulate using an orbital network, and there is often communication between the two! Surprise! Cellular service these days is more complex than having an untethered GPS unit like you would find in the 00's.

Re: Question about tracking cell phones

[(Anonymous)]

These days cellular towers have inbuilt satellite uplinks for exactly the purpose I was describing, friendo.

Which have nothing to do with GPS. Again, GPS requires 1. accurate data about the satellite's position, 2. straight-line transmission from satellite to receiver, and 3. measurement of minute timestamp differences due to the speed of light. All of which are incompatible with the use of a satellite relay. (There are ground-based GPS transmitters for millimeter-precision measurement, but consumer products can't use them.)

You can triangulate using ground networks just the same as you can triangulate using an orbital network, and there is often communication between the two! Surprise! Cellular service these days is more complex than having an untethered GPS unit like you would find in the 00's.

Ground networks have nothing to do with GPS. Except for control signals, (which you wouldn't have access to because GPS is still a military technology and they don't like it when you set their property spinning for the lols) GPS is a one-way transmission from satellite to receiver. It doesn't require a transmitter, and it works on devices that don't have an active data connection. Standalone GPS systems are still produced and used because they're reliable, don't add data charges, and can be used for nautical and aviation applications where you need specialized maps and displays.

Now if a device is communicating GPS data, (latitude, longitude, and altitude rather than street address) it's doing so via other network protocols. It's not using GPS to do so. The statement, "If you regularly leave your GPS on, it will be continually transmitting to whichever satellite network it is hooked up to." That's about like saying that if you use the FM receiver on your phone it will be continually transmitting to Bob and Tom.