I enjoy listening to a weekly real audio program online called "y2k report" with Gordon McDonald. http://www.audiocentral.com/y2k/y2kreport/default.html

The 4/29/1999 show mentioned that the speaker had read an article indicating that there was a planned testing of the Global Positioning Satellite system in the next several weeks. (He did not cite the source.) Apparently, they plan to take one satellite off-line to run through the testing.

This news was treated with interest, as it was always presumed that the GPS system had no y2k problems, other than in ground receivers. (The satellites operate off their special clock that operates on weeks and will have its own peculiar roll-over on this separate issue later this summer.)

Has anyone else heard anything about this? Banking, transportation, telecommunications, agriculture and environmental/resource management functions rely on GPS. Bummer if they had a chip problem.

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), May 04, 1999

Answers

marsh,

Here's a CNN article about it:

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9904/26/gps.y2k.idg/

"U.S. tests GPS satellites for Y2K compliance"

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), May 04, 1999.

Thanks Kevin. I do recall reading that before, now, but it didn't register before that they were testing for y2k in the satellite itself. Would be interesting to know the results, but I suppose we never will. Hell of an embedded chip problem to fix, though.

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), May 04, 1999.

Some more links

GPS

+GPS Week Rollover

SCADA, A Brief Overview

< /a>

GPS WEEK 1024 ROLLOVER

The NIS has compiled a list of GPS receiver manufacturers

GPS Year 2000 and EOW Rollover manufacturers

What's to be done with GPS? - GCN April 14, 1997

GPS Manufacturers

AGU: Geomagnetic Storms Can Threaten Electric Power Grid

Year 2000 / GPS Week Rollover Advisory

-- Brian (imager@ampsc.com), May 04, 1999.