All About GPS

What It Is and How It Works - For those who are unfamiliar with the term, GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It's a method of finding a receiver anywhere on earth or in orbit, and it's probably one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. GPS has so many different applications that many technologies and ways of working are continually being improved in order to make the most of it. Now why is GPS so important and useful? First, we have to understand how it works.

In order to work, a satellite network orbiting the earth is used. These satellites each broadcast a specific signal, which is received by inexpensive aerials and passed on to GPS devices where it is then decoded and used by dedicated software. The information garnered from these signals allows the GPS software to identify the satellite, its specific location, and even calculate the exact time it took for the signal to travel from the satellite to the receiver. Using different signals from different satellites, the GPS software is able to calculate the position of the receiver.

Mapping It Out - Even getting the information about the receiver's location will be useless without something to compare it with. This is where the mapping comes in handy; thru this, GPS can analyze our location and maps out possible routes. Actually, the mapping data is what makes a GPS device expensive. It must be accurate and updated reasonably frequently.

There are several kinds of maps, and each is intended for different users with different needs. Road users, for example, require that their mapping data contains accurate information about the road network in the region that they will be traveling in, but will not require detailed information about the lie of the land. Hikers, however, might require a more detailed map about the local terrain, water spots, and tracks or trails, but they won't need extensive information about the road systems. On the other hand, sailors will need specific data about the sea bed, navigable channels, and other related information that will allow them to navigate safely.

And what about fishermen? They also use marine GPS to keep track of the movements of fish in real time and to predict where they'll be the next day. The advent of GPS fixing has also meant that co-operative fishing has become much easier, where several boats relay their locations to each other while they locate the best fishing waters. There are also GPS devices called 'fish finders', which combines GPS and sonar functions to track and store detailed fishing and maritime information.

Get Started with GPS - Consumers can avail of several GPS devices that are specifically designed for a variety of uses and functions. Sophisticated in-car GPS systems, which feature voice guiding, powerful dynamic route calculation, and the possibility to update the map from a CD, are now available. Then there are handheld GPS devices, such as those from Magellan and Garmin, which store a map inside, and are usually designed for outdoor use. They do not have detailed road information and the user has to find his own way from point A to point B without any route calculations.

A more recent solution has appeared on the market which uses the power of a PDA to run the actual GPS software. A GPS receiver can be easily attached to these devices, which makes them possibly the cheapest and easiest GPS receivers to use in the market today. Bluetooth technology has also started to make use of GPS, using a single PDA device wirelessly connected to several receivers.

Chiun Masters is a researcher and writer working for http://www.audioavi.com, where you can get quality GPS and audio equipment. Visit us for all your audio equipment needs.

- Chiun Masters