processor frequency may mess up your GPS navigation system
Apr 25, 2007 gps navigation, misc news
According to a study at Swedish Defence Research Agency a modern day computer can interfere with your GPS reception and cause it to behave awkwardly or not work at all.
Using a computer in a car, plane, boat, or anywhere a GPS system is used, can mean that the sat-nav device starts working incorrectly. Many modern processors with high clock frequencies – such as those from Intel with frequencies of 1.7GHz, 2.992GHz and 3.2GHz – have been highlighted as possible sources of interference.
Good news is you have no reason to use a sat nav device next to your desktop computer, and most laptops stay under 2GHz anyways. If you still experience problems just try to increase the distance between two devices. Or just have some aluminum foil ready.
Our source goes as far as saying that on one flight all GPS equipment failed to function after a passenger used their cell phone mid-air. We would love to hear from our readers who use their cell phone next to their sat nav systems. Or it could be your wife talking on the phone and you driving. Who cares as long as there’s a call and the GPS is on. Did you ever experience an interference? No need to register to leave a comment.
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April 25th, 2007 at 7:26 am
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April 26th, 2007 at 8:29 am
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April 26th, 2007 at 9:10 am
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April 26th, 2007 at 10:47 am
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April 26th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
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April 26th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Although I wasn’t conciously looking for interference and may have missed it, I have used my cell phone while my wife was driving with her Garmin GPS car navigation system and didn’t notice any aberrant behavior.
April 27th, 2007 at 4:51 am
Yes, my Motorola Razr cellphone completely shuts down my Earthmate USB GPS unit.
Interestingly, contrary to the article, the ONLY time I use my GPS is when it’s connected to my laptop via the USB port. The laptop’s 1.8 GHz processor causes no problems. I use the Delorme maps and Earthmate GPS package with my laptop when I travel by car.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:27 am
The GPS uses 1.2 and 1.575 GHz signals. I wonder if it wasn’t the CPU clock speed, since it probably isn’t very efficient at radiating given the size of the die, but a bus to the memory that was doing the interference. Having a cell phone knock out your GPS unit usually means the front-end of the unit is too broadband (aka not selective enough) and being overloaded from the cell phone.
April 28th, 2007 at 4:55 am
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April 28th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
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May 21st, 2007 at 7:24 am
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May 27th, 2007 at 5:28 am
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April 15th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I read your blog for quite a long time and should tell you that your articles always prove to be of a high value and quality for readers.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
So can the pc you use to update your Sat Nav Device Burn the memory?
November 4th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
I used to run my GPS out of the USB port on my iPhone charger (DC port in car) and one day my GPS totally went on the fritz. Would not even look for satellites. Garmin sent me a new chipset via zipfile which I loaded and all seemed fine, except the compass is frequently off and has to be recallibrated frequently. Today, while geocaching, I noticed that it was consistently 20-25 feet off the mark when I made a find. I am afraid I will have to get a new one, or is there a way to recondition it?