GPS selective availability turned off

As of Midnight (GMT) May 1, the Department of Defense’s Selective Availability program was discontinued, allowing the general public full access to nearly pinpoint accuracy from standard GPS receivers. Accuracy of GPS units is now estimated to be within 12 meters, 95 percent of the time. With the restrictions lifted, differential GPS (DGPS) is expected to be even more accurate than before. For more on this, see this issue’s Marine Technology Notes, page 20.