Experiment · GNSS · Sound
Find the signal.
A satellite signal arrives far below the noise. Your receiver has to guess its timing and its Doppler shift before it can hear anything. Use your ears and your eyes.
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- 01Sweep the grid. Each cell is one guess of timing (code phase) and Doppler.
- 02Listen. Near the satellite a tone rises out of the hiss. A wobble means the Doppler is still off.
- 03Tune in on the bright cell. Balance the Early and Late bars and stop the dot from spinning to lock.
Real receivers search this same grid, in half-chip steps and 500 Hz Doppler bins. That's about 43,000 cells for every satellite, which is why a phone with no hints can take a while to find you.