With Verizon et al finally announcing the coming EOL for GPS apps on older smartphones, it seems likely that the bottom will soon fall out of the market with a glut of "throw-away" units pushing prices into the basement and beyond ...
see: https://www.verizonwireless.com/legal/notices/global-positioning-system
For those interested in using smarphones over the mesh for VOIP and streaming video, ths could be a terrific opportunity to get good cheap gear. Forget the "price", what is the monetary value of a good working used [unlocked] smartphone for mesh/emcomm applications?
If you find any soon, please post any good sources/markets as they appear (EvilBay not applicable).
TIA,
- Don - AA7AU
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Inexpensive used smartphones on the horizon?
Sun, 10/20/2019 - 11:30
#1
AA7AU
Inexpensive used smartphones on the horizon?
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https://www.dhs.gov/cisa/gps-week-number-roll-over
"GPS uses a week counter that enables receivers to calculate the appropriate date. That week counter uses 10 bits and needs to be reset every 1,024 weeks—roughly every 20 years. On April 6, 2019 ... the GPS week counter will reset to zero. The good news is that with the modernization of GPS the week number counter will be increased to 13 bits and we will not have another event like this for approximately 157 years."
Simple answers are nice, aren't they?
However, because you wrote that you "don't really understand the linked article's (from VZ) reference to November 3rd" I'll add this for clarification:
Some carriers and GPS mfgrs have been posting notices similar to this: "While April 6, 2019 was the last GPS satellite week number rollover date, certain GPS receivers have an *offset* before the effects of the rollover are realized. Consequently, although the GPS week number did rollover on April 6, 2019, the *effective* rollover date is November 3, 2019."
Personally I turn off the GPS radio in my cellphone to save power and to deny at least some of the privacy-invading tracking. But I'm not in the bell curve, where most use the heck out of GPS for all sorts of eyeball-capturing applications. If what VZ posted earlier is true there just may be a bunch of discarded cellphones in the next few weeks. Of course, VZ is not at all disappointed that those folks will be buying brand-new units to replace the old. Commerce always triumphs!
Just a long rant (Y2K flashback),
- Don - AA7AU