Ice Road Trucks - WHY NO GPS??????

[hammersley]

OK - if there was ever a place where making sure you HAD A ROUTE LOCKED in for you to follow - This seems like an A List sort of place - How Come they don't use it???????

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I believe they make the 'road' based on thickness, so you would have to plot a course via coordinates... long/difficult process, and it would change every season and possibly DURRING a season. Also, resolution on GPS receivers isn't that great unless it's some mega high dollar deal.

 

[Cummins Pilot]

2nd Forrest's comment



I thought that show was interesting but after watching I realized its way over dramatized. The ONLY thing they are doing different from where I live is driving across a frozen lake. The company I work for will land a DC-6 on a frozen lake! Around 45 tons when landing @ 135mph (somewhere around that speed). It gets -30, -40, & -50f in Fairbnks (just moved from there). Truckers running the haul road to the north slope see those temps all the time.



Nothing special to me but all the warm people will think its cool.

 

[Bandit1]

whens the new season start? anyone heard

 

[tgordon]

All they would have to do adopt technology from Agriculture to put in the road, travel it once while recording and you are done, the problem is paying for the accuracy of GPS signal. I am supprised they don't use them for tracking the drivers so when a storm comes in they can find everybody and that can not cost to much since a lot of companies are doing that to keep track of their drivers.



Troy

 

[MLee]

You can go to History.com and read all you want to. Programs on Sundays 1000 E 900 C

no new info on the next programs.

As stated The roads are as direct as possable depending on ice thickness, as far as a GPS A laptop would record the trip the first time and remember it if you saved it, I guess so would others but not familure with them. You can E-mail them and ask questions but don't expect a quick return on the answer.

I did ask the question on the GPS, will advise if and when I get a answer.

Marv.

 

[JOdell]

I would guess that they do use GPS. They just don't broadcast it on the TV show. (less drama if they know where everyone is) Every now and then they show a map and tell you where the truck drivers are. How would they know that if the didn't have GPS? The original ICE ROAD TRUCKERS is on Sunday at 9:00 PM Eastern. That is the one that Denisen did back in the day. -Jason

 

[hammersley]

I never did see a GPS POD

on any of the trucks... ... but it would take a lot of the drama out wouldn't it... ..... and just like the Alaskan Crab Fishing - they want controversy... .

 

[klenger]

... the problem is paying for the accuracy of GPS signal...

Troy

I'm not sure where this statement is coming from. A $100 hand held GPS is accurate to within about 30 feet, usually even better. There is no service fee associated with GPS.

 

[bmoeller]

There is no service fee associated with GPS.

That is the case with the WAAS signal that most use, the most accurate ones do have a service fee.

Even though the truck its self may not have a visible receiver, there still could be one on-board. Could even be using a cell phone to locate them. Most have GPS tracking on them. Now, whether that works up there, I don't know. Would be surprised if it did.

 

[The patriot]

I'm not sure where this statement is coming from. A $100 hand held GPS is accurate to within about 30 feet, usually even better. There is no service fee associated with GPS.

What Ken said. Mine aint nothing special and if I zoom it in to 50 feet, I can see my course from when I was on the other side of the road... . about 15 feet away.

They say now (well they did it a few years ago)that the military "opened up" full capabilities, it's accurate to within about 3 feet.

I know my Magellan is pretty dam good for a relatively cheap hand held unit.

 

[CNeubauer]

GPS guidance systems used in agriculture using WAAS signals are usually accurate to less than a foot and the subscription based systems are accurate to less than an inch so that's not a problem. We use an Ouback GPS guidance system on our sprayer and it's more accurate than the person using it most of the time.

 

[Alan Reagan]

I believe for them to do it would require that they have a Marine GPS or a GPS that allows off road route development.



Since the roads are Ice Roads and not "real" roads/highways, then you would have to have a GPS that develops the route in areas with no roads or markers. In other words, it has to have an offroad feature utilizing waypoints set by the operator. Some don't. So if the track is moved to thicker ice, the GPS would still vector the shortest distance (straight line) to the next waypoint which might not be the best navigation solution in this situation. From watching the show, it looks like the routes have subtle changes almost daily.



I have a GARMIN 478 which can be used either as a marine or highway navigation tool. In the highway mode, waterways are just blue masses. I would have to put this GPS in the Marine Mode to see the details of where I am on the ice road. If I miss a turn or am late in a making a turn, this GPS will continue to try to make me make turns to get back on it's origially calculated route if it is in the Highway mode. In the Marine Mode, it will just show cross track error and try to get me to vector to a calculated route so that my route gets me where I want to go.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I'm not sure where this statement is coming from. A $100 hand held GPS is accurate to within about 30 feet, usually even better. There is no service fee associated with GPS.

30 feet in the wrong direction on one of those frozen lakes, and you're a popcicle!

 

[WDaniels]

Come on guys! Why do you need a GPS when the road only has one beginning and one end. Afraid of not taking that right at Albuquerque and ending up lost? Especially there in the Canadian Arctic where the road is the only thing that is plowed. That is like needing a map. As Cummins Pilot(formerly of Fairbanks but now deserted to Anchor town)will tell you, you find yourself at one end or the other. No guess work.

WD



P. S. Sorry for the sarcasm, I just find it funny that people need maps in places like that and Alaska where there is only one road system.



Tyler,

Am coming down next weekend, are you going to be around? If so send me your number and I'll call when I hit the outskirts of the big city.

WD

 

[Bill Lins]

Are there enough satellites that far north for GPS to work properly?

 

[WDaniels]

Reception is a hit or miss thing. For a good track you need at least 3 satellites. The most I've ever seen here in Fairbanks is 7 satellites at one time. Then that takes about 3 minutes to get.

WD

 

[klenger]

The point of having a GPS in a vehicle is not to keep you on the road, but to let you know where you are along the road. For that purpose, 30 foot accuracy is quite acceptable. In aviation, we use GPS to accurately steer the aircraft because there are no visual lanes to follow. Not so in vehicle navigation. It would be a simple task for a vehicle to map a track where no roads exist and make that track available to anyone who wishes to download it into their GPS. I've done exactly that to map hiking trails in the middle of no-where in the AZ desert.



If anyone cares, the company I work for will (if all goes according to plan) be the first company to certify a fully TSO-C146b/DO-229D compliant WAAS enabled airborne GPS navigation system for precision LPV approaches for civil aviation in the next month. Trust me, there are no fees to be paid to anyone to access WAAS GPS signals. Local differental GPS used for surveying, etc. (which I am not very familiar with) may well be a fee based service, but WAAS is free to any tom, dick, or terrorist that wants to use it.

 

[Cummins Pilot]

WAAS doesn't work up north. Some of those semi tracking systems also don't work up north.



Maps in AK, HA! two directions, north or south. Doesn't seem to hard to find your way on an ice road. If you got guys that can't read a speed limit sign what makes you think they can operate a GPS?



Warren, I'll be heading back to squarebanks with the 175. I'm dropping a hunting buddy off sat or sun 120 miles north of Fort Yukon for a float trip. Be a long day in the plane. I'll be in FAI until labor day.

 

[bmoeller]

We use an Ouback GPS guidance system on our sprayer and it's more accurate than the person using it most of the time.

We use both an older S1 and the newer S2, and have one 360 unit with the sprayer and when pulling a fertilizer buggy. The Greenstar system is more accurate, and faster response.



Something to remember, when they say "satellites", it is usually meaning cell towers or other land based towers, not orbital satellites up in space. The accuracy is only as good as the signal strength, and the # of towers in the equation.



The Outback is the worst for loosing signals, vs the Greenstar. My boss in his infinite wisdom , wouldn't put a foam marker on our current sprayer (even though I asked for one), and it is a PITA in some fields with a LOT of point rows and waterways. #@$%! #@$%! Can't always follow a tire track to come back on the next pass, and sometimes have to get out and count rows.



We even have the planter tractor (Deere 8420) setup with the Greenstar and Autotrac, and I wasn't impressed with it when coming back to spray, after my boss planted it. Still left wide gaps in places, even on flat ground. As long as my boss isn't on his cell phone, he is more accurate than the Autotrac. :-laf Wasn't surprised on side hills, though, since it isn't setup to account for side hill drift of the implement.