Rohde & Schwarz Participated in Major GPS Jamming Crackdown
Rohde &
Schwarz (R&S) recently played a major role in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) crackdown on
truckers using illegal Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Jammers. On March 5, 2014, Rohde & Schwarz set up an instrumented
van on a major highway connected to the Portland, Oregon, airport and determined that "about every third or fourth
truck was radiating at or near the GPS L1 [frequency of 1575.42 MHz].*" A report titled, "Strategies
for Limiting Civil Interference Effects Inspired by Field Observations," by consultant Logan Scott, President,
LS Consulting, included the R&S measurements in a detailed presentation on the issue of illegal GPS jamming and
the hazards such activity causes. He cites other examples of illegal GPS signal jammers as well. In one case near
the Newark, NJ, airport, a construction worker was caught and fined $32,000 for using a GPS jammer in order to prevent
his company from being able to track his whereabouts. Chinese manufacturer C.T.S. Technology Company, Ltd., is being
hit by the FCC** with a record $34.9 million fine for selling the jamming devices, some of which output as much as
100 watts at the GPS frequencies If you happen to have purchased on of those products from C.T.S., don't be surprised
if a G-Man shows up at your doorstep sometime soon, because part of the FCC's action in addition to the fine is requiring
the company to divulge all of its customers.
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