What You Need To Know About Gps

What it is and how it works For the uninitiated, 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 can be used in so many different ways that new technologies are constantly being developed and refined to take advantage of them. Why is GPS so important and useful? First we need to understand how it works. It uses a satellite network orbiting the Earth to make it work. Each of these satellites emits a specific signal that is received by inexpensive antennas and transmitted to a GPS device, where it is then decoded and used by dedicated software. The information gathered from these signals allows GPS software to identify the satellite, its specific location, and even calculate the exact time it took the signal to travel from the satellite to the receiver. Using different signals from different satellites, GPS software can now analyze the location of the receiver in terms of latitude and longitude. Mapping Even getting information about the location of the receiver will be useless without something to compare it to. This is where mapping comes in handy; thanks to this, the GPS can analyze our location and map possible routes. In fact, mapping data is what makes a GPS device more expensive. This should be regularly and frequently updated to be accurate. Several types of maps are created for different users. Road users need maps containing accurate data about the road systems in their particular region, but they do not need land location data. However, hikers may need a more detailed map of local terrain, water points and trails or paths, but will not need extensive information on road systems. On the other hand, mariners will need specific data about the seabed, navigable channels and other related information to enable them to navigate safely. And what about the fishermen? They also use marine GPS to track fish movements in real time and predict where they will be the next day. In fact, cooperative fishing has become much easier with GPS, allowing boats to relay locations to each other while searching for the best fishing spots. There are also GPS devices called "fish finders" that combine GPS and sonar functions to track and store detailed information about fishing and marine traffic. Getting Started with GPS Consumers can use several GPS devices that are specifically designed for different uses and functions. In-car systems have advanced features such as voice guidance, dynamic route calculations and even updating your maps from CD-ROM. Rugged handheld GPS devices such as Garmin and Magellan devices have a map inside and are typically used for outdoor activities. 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. More recently, PDAs and even a few sophisticated cell phones have incorporated GPS technology into their own systems. A GPS receiver can easily be attached to these devices, making them possibly the cheapest and easiest GPS receivers on the market today. Bluetooth technology also began to use GPS using a single PDA device wirelessly connected to multiple receivers.