> The terror setting in deeper when the consumer GPS unit stopped responding after 30,000' altitude
Ah yes, the CoCom export control limits so you can't use it to build an ICBM. Legally they're supposed to stop working above 60,000 ft and 1,200 mph, but some manufacturers interpret that as an "or". The rumor was that some really cheap chips out of China failed to implement either, so if you'd bought a crappier gps module, you might have been fine!
You’ve just described a significant amount of ITAR. Am Canadian but have to deal with it occasionally. MWIR/LWIR imagers are another prime example. I can order way better (spec-wise at least) IR sensors from AliExpress than I can from the US. Something about high frame rate IR being useful for some kind of guidance towards hot things shrug
I've recently seen a very concrete example of a Chinese CRPA GPS/Glonass/Galileo receiver which is being integrated into some Russian UAVs. It's a COTS thing the vendor in China will sell to anyone. In addition to not obeying any arbitrary limits on GPS speed/altitude it's a 4-element small array for better signal discrimination.
Ah yes, the CoCom export control limits so you can't use it to build an ICBM. Legally they're supposed to stop working above 60,000 ft and 1,200 mph, but some manufacturers interpret that as an "or". The rumor was that some really cheap chips out of China failed to implement either, so if you'd bought a crappier gps module, you might have been fine!
That's an awesome story tho!