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Better than GPS

 My idea is similar to that guy who came up with the lamppost GPS
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My idea would use existing radio and tv station antena basis to locate your location. Each radio station sends out a transponder code to where it is at, so why not have a computer program that memorizes where each station is located and measure the distances based on signal strength and on triagnolating the position. I got this idea when i was driving and noticed that radio stations fade out after a while based on distance so why not use that to navigate?
—JoeLounsbury2004, Oct 22 2003

System for non-GPS location http://www.scribd.com/doc/2867600/PDLSIT
PDLS [awilensky, Jun 28 2008]

Article on non-GPS systems http://www.scribd.c...c/2867634/ddflatest
article non-gps [awilensky, Jun 28 2008]

[link]






       Basing it on signal strength would be near useless, as signal strength can be affected by geography, weather and surrounding buildings, among other things. a LORAN -type system would be more effective, using the relative time differences from at least three different stations. AFAIK, there is currently a system in development (911 advanced) that uses this principle with cellphones to tell police exactly where you are when you dial 911. It's not being used yet, but there's a charge on my cellphone bill every month that supposedly is going towards development and implementation costs of the system.
—Freefall, Oct 22 2003
   

       This system that [Freefall] refers to already exists in Europe where in the UK a mobile phone supplier offers a cheap rate for mobile calls made from your home.   

       Essentially mobile phones systems track where individual mobiles are all the time they are turned on. This is generally done by using timing rather than signal strength, for the reasons mentioned above.
—Aristotle, Oct 23 2003
   
      
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