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air travel with GPS unit (Read 1007 times)

    I feel kinda silly for asking this but, I'm leaving for England on Thursday and had a question regarding flying on a plane with a GPS (I have a 305). Has anyone run into any problems from airport security when carrying your GPS in your carryon? What about checked in baggage?
      I've never had a problem with a GPS in my carry on baggage. It probably gets lost amongst the pile of other electronics that I carry on every flight though and just looks like a slightly larger mobile phone to the bloke sat infront of the scanner, if they are even paying attention at the time.


      My dogs are fast, not me

        I've never had a problem carrying mine through in my carryon or in my checked baggage. I normally have so much stuff in my bag, it probably gets lost in the clutter.

        Robin


        Imminent Catastrophe

          GPS should not be a problem, if you're next to a window you may even be able to track your progress inflight (most airlines allow you to use it inflight, but not during takeoff/landing). Remember the UK has very strict restrictions on liquids and gels in carryon luggage, basically you will have to check them.

          "Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

           "To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

          "The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

           

          √ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015

          Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016

          Western States 100 June 2016


          Along for the Ride

            GPS should not be a problem, if you're next to a window you may even be able to track your progress inflight (most airlines allow you to use it inflight, but not during takeoff/landing). Remember the UK has very strict restrictions on liquids and gels in carryon luggage, basically you will have to check them.
            As far as I know, anything that sends/receives signals is not allowed inflight?

            Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

            Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

             

            Trent


            Good Bad & The Monkey

              As far as I know, anything that sends/receives signals is not allowed inflight?
              Help me understand this, because I have the same understanding. If the satellites are transmitting the signals to the universe, regardless of whether anything is out there to pick them up, what does it matter if you have a receiver on a plane? So long as the receiver does not transmit anything?
                Help me understand this, because I have the same understanding. If the satellites are transmitting the signals to the universe, regardless of whether anything is out there to pick them up, what does it matter if you have a receiver on a plane? So long as the receiver does not transmit anything?
                It's my belief that a lot of this is based on rule simplification so that the flight attendants don't have to be gadget know-it-alls. Trent is right - the signals hit the plane whether someone has a receiver turned on or not. On my flight to India last year, on each of the four legs there and back a flight attendant told me to turn off my wireless mouse on my laptop. Never mind the fact that the range is about 3 feet. I made them try to explain it each time, but they repeated their mantras like robots and then I would put the mouse away.

                When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

                  It's my belief that a lot of this is based on rule simplification so that the flight attendants don't have to be gadget know-it-alls. Trent is right - the signals hit the plane whether someone has a receiver turned on or not. On my flight to India last year, on each of the four legs there and back a flight attendant told me to turn off my wireless mouse on my laptop. Never mind the fact that the range is about 3 feet. I made them try to explain it each time, but they repeated their mantras like robots and then I would put the mouse away.
                  Exactly. Turn off your wireless mouse but don't worry about that 802.11g radio in your laptop that's probably always on. They specifically publish the "list of approved electronic devices" so that they don't need to know what transmits and what doesn't. If it's not on the list, you can't use it. But then the Garmin is just a watch so put it on your wrist and nobody will ask you any questions.

                  Runners run


                  Imminent Catastrophe

                    As far as I know, anything that sends/receives signals is not allowed inflight?
                    Generally, receivers (like GPS) are allowed inflight, although many flight attendants might not know that, and the rules might vary by airline. Receivers like radios and TVs do, however, have IF oscillators which can leak electromagnetic signals. That's one reason they are not allowed during takeoff and landing. That, and the fact that the airlines don't want passengers distracted by a TV or iPod during critical phases of flight.
                    It's my belief that a lot of this is based on rule simplification so that the flight attendants don't have to be gadget know-it-alls. Trent is right - the signals hit the plane whether someone has a receiver turned on or not. On my flight to India last year, on each of the four legs there and back a flight attendant told me to turn off my wireless mouse on my laptop. Never mind the fact that the range is about 3 feet. I made them try to explain it each time, but they repeated their mantras like robots and then I would put the mouse away.
                    That's the bottom line. The effect of EMI is not really known and it would be nearly impossible to test each and every device for safety, so the airlines err on the side of caution. I wouldn't have it any other way. BTW your wireless mouse might have an operational range of 3 ft, but it is still transmitting and could interfere with navigational equipment. Airborne receivers are very sensitive and receive signals from hundreds (or with GPS, thousands) of miles away. Your bluetooth transmitter is only a few meters away.
                    Exactly. Turn off your wireless mouse but don't worry about that 802.11g radio in your laptop that's probably always on.
                    Yeah, we had some bozo running a wireless server on a flight last week. Please, people, use a little common sense. BTW the ban on cellphones is an FCC limitation, since a cellphone at altitude can hit hundreds of cell towers, and the systems were not designed for that, it might overload the network. So it's mainly to protect the cell networks, although it still might interfere with navigational equipment.

                    "Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

                     "To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

                    "The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

                     

                    √ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015

                    Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016

                    Western States 100 June 2016


                    Along for the Ride

                      Thanks Perfesser, your explanation makes sense. It's similar in hospitals, where ALL cellphones had to be off for years. Now the rules crumble and it seems to be the case that cellphones do not interfere with monitoring equipment. * feels the urge to track Thursday's upcoming flight with the GPS inflight * Wink

                      Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

                      Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

                       

                        How do you thinnk the pilot knows where he is when flying over the atlantic? He has a GPS in the cockpit with him, although he will have other ways of figuring out where he is as well. I have had mine on during several flights before and none of the planes have fallen out of the sky as yet. Mobile phones will not cause the plane to drop from the sky either as there is probably at least one phone left turned on on every single flight that you take, if there was an issue with it effecting systems in the cockpit then there would be a lot more planes getting lost every day. The not having laptops or mp3 players on during take off and landings though is more to do with reducing the number of items that are free to fly about the cabin if it gets bumpy, and that you are then able to pay attention to any emergency announcements that may be given out. Edit: It seems that they have stopped providing it for the moment, but Lufthansa had wifi broadband available on their transatlantic routes for a while but are now waiting to sort out the ISP deal by the looks of it. clicky


                        Imminent Catastrophe

                          How do you thinnk the pilot knows where he is when flying over the atlantic? He has a GPS in the cockpit with him, although he will have other ways of figuring out where he is as well. I have had mine on during several flights before and none of the planes have fallen out of the sky as yet. Mobile phones will not cause the plane to drop from the sky either as there is probably at least one phone left turned on on every single flight that you take, if there was an issue with it effecting systems in the cockpit then there would be a lot more planes getting lost every day. The not having laptops or mp3 players on during take off and landings though is more to do with reducing the number of items that are free to fly about the cabin if it gets bumpy, and that you are then able to pay attention to any emergency announcements that may be given out. Edit: It seems that they have stopped providing it for the moment, but Lufthansa had wifi broadband available on their transatlantic routes for a while but are now waiting to sort out the ISP deal by the looks of it. clicky
                          The GPS is not in his pocket, it's designed into the aircraft's navigational system. Handheld GPS doesn't work in the cockpit of modern airliners because there are conductive heating elements embedded into the windshield that block the signals, and that's not the case in the cabin. Items like satellite TV and wi-fi that are being added to the aircraft are specifically engineered into the aircraft systems and must undergo testing to verify safety. As far as cellphones and other devices are concerned, see my above post.

                          "Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

                           "To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

                          "The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

                           

                          √ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015

                          Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016

                          Western States 100 June 2016

                            Items like satellite TV and wi-fi that are being added to the aircraft are specifically engineered into the aircraft systems and must undergo testing to verify safety.
                            The testing is to verify that the connection remains stable throughout the flight as your are in a very fast moving object where the systems would normally be being used whilst stationary on the ground for the satellite TV and ISP connections. As for the wifi within the aircraft that has already been fully "tested" to prove that there is no problem with it being used on a plane just by the fact that no planes have fallen out of the sky due to people already using their laptops on-baord and mostly not being aware that their wifi connections are still active. The flight crew wouldn't have a clue as to how to check for that either, although spotting someone using a mouse without any cables attached is simpler to spot. The creation of pico-cells onboard for mobile GSM usage would be to do with them also needing to block out the ground based signals as the same time as well though due to mobile usage causing problems for those networks on the ground rather than the plane as you said. The extra revenue stream for the airline would be a benifit as well of course. Wink I would file the alleged effects of these various wireless technologies on aircraft under the same category as the current regulations about not taking any water on board, just there to scare us a bit and to make it look as if they are doing "something" to save us from whatever it is we are supposed to be scared of this week.


                            Imminent Catastrophe

                              The testing is to verify that the connection remains stable throughout the flight as your are in a very fast moving object where the systems would normally be being used whilst stationary on the ground for the satellite TV and ISP connections.
                              Incorrect. The manufacturers of these systems must perform thorough evaluation on test aircraft before the systems are certificated for commercial use. Boeing and Airbus (as well as the FAA and other regulatory authorities) will not allow the installation of systems without rigorous testing for safety reasons. Performance testing comes later. BTW I'm a 777 pilot.

                              "Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

                               "To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

                              "The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

                               

                              √ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015

                              Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016

                              Western States 100 June 2016

                                I don't doubt for a second that all sorts of additional testing is done on the aircraft systems themselves or anything that might get installed in one. What they don't do though is test my mp3 player, laptop, wireless mouse or any other consumer grade portable electronic items to see if they will play nicely with any aircraft systems and none of them have been shown as being responsible for causing any disruption to planes systems despite this lack of testing before you buy them in the high street.
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