Al Klein wrote:
The only thing the GPS-based system does is give you an exact location
- it doesn't notify anyone of anything.

"EPIRB - Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons, or EPIRBs,
are used when a ship is in distress, to emit a radio signal
marking the ship's location."

If radio had not existed, the next passing ship would have
rescued any survivors.

The way it usually was in the centuries before radio (just ask the
crew of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha) was that when the ship sank the
people on her died. (The Atocha's crew were all hardened sailors, yet
only 3 crew members - out of 265 people aboard - clung to the wreckage
long enough to be rescued.)

Yes, that's what I said. Passing ships rescue survivors.
--
73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

On Fri, 14 Jul 2006 14:15:26 GMT, Cecil Moore
wrote:

Al Klein wrote:
The only thing the GPS-based system does is give you an exact location
- it doesn't notify anyone of anything.

"EPIRB - Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons, or EPIRBs,
are used when a ship is in distress, to emit a radio signal
marking the ship's location."

GPS systems are receivers. Transmitters that use GPS-derived data
aren't GPS-based systems, they're transmitter-based systems. No
transmitter, no notification. No GPS, notification is a little less
accurate, that's all.

If radio had not existed, the next passing ship would have
rescued any survivors.

The way it usually was in the centuries before radio (just ask the
crew of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha) was that when the ship sank the
people on her died. (The Atocha's crew were all hardened sailors, yet
only 3 crew members - out of 265 people aboard - clung to the wreckage
long enough to be rescued.)

Yes, that's what I said. Passing ships rescue survivors.

Or, in this case, ships that were part of the same flotilla (they
didn't have to have any luck in being in the area) only managed to
rescue about 1% of the survivors. If they had waited for "passing
ships", their grandchildren would have been too old for rescue. Most
shipwreck survivors who are rescued aren't rescued by ships that just
happen to be passing, they're rescued by ships that knew about the
wreck and responded. (Before radio, most shipwreck survivors weren't
rescued.)

Al Klein wrote:
Transmitters that use GPS-derived data aren't GPS-based systems, ...

Huh???? Can you prove that assertion? :-)

Most
shipwreck survivors who are rescued aren't rescued by ships that just
happen to be passing, they're rescued by ships that knew about the
wreck and responded. (Before radio, most shipwreck survivors weren't
rescued.)

All that is true. If one was away from the shipping lanes,
one was SOL or USCWAP. However, if one was in the shipping
lanes with a flare, one at least had a chance of being
rescued. According to my nephew, one of our ancestors was
rescued in such a manner. Presumably, if that had not
happened, neither he nor I would exist.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

On Fri, 14 Jul 2006 20:38:39 GMT, Cecil Moore
wrote:

Al Klein wrote:
Transmitters that use GPS-derived data aren't GPS-based systems, ...

Huh???? Can you prove that assertion? :-)

The notification systems are radio-based. Notification isn't made by
GPS. We had radio-based notification systems long before we had the
GPS.

If one was away from the shipping lanes,
one was SOL or USCWAP. However, if one was in the shipping
lanes with a flare, one at least had a chance of being
rescued.

Once flares had been invented. We've been sailing the seas for at
least 4,000 years, over 3,500 of them without radios, flares or other
means of communications to ships or land installations we couldn't
already see.

Al Klein wrote:
Cecil Moore wrote:

Al Klein wrote:
Transmitters that use GPS-derived data aren't GPS-based systems, ...

Huh???? Can you prove that assertion? :-)

The notification systems are radio-based.

Your assertion that transmitting GPS coordinates is not
a GPS-based system is obviously ridiculous and hopefully
just a bad joke. Better luck next time.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 01:58:48 GMT, Cecil Moore
wrote:

Your assertion that transmitting GPS coordinates is not
a GPS-based system is obviously ridiculous and hopefully
just a bad joke. Better luck next time.

No GPS, the notification still occurs. No radio, the notice doesn't
occur. What was the notification based on, again?

Al Klein wrote:
Cecil Moore wrote:
Your assertion that transmitting GPS coordinates is not
a GPS-based system is obviously ridiculous and hopefully
just a bad joke. Better luck next time.

No GPS, the notification still occurs. No radio, the notice doesn't
occur. What was the notification based on, again?

Any notification that reports GPS coordinates is GPS-based,
by definition. When you add GPS capability to a radio
transmitter, it doesn't cease to be radio-based but it also
becomes GPS-based. It's not an either/or mutual exclusive
situation. Just as one can have a vehicle that is both
white and a Chevrolet, one can have an emergency system
that is both GPS-based and radio-based.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp