GPS Systems

With the price of gas rapidly approaching 4 dollars per gallon, can you afford to be driving around looking for a location you need to be? Not to mention the cost of your time, or the aggravation of not finding what you're looking for. People die every year because they take a wrong turn and get stuck on a snowy, isolated road. With the advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) you never have to be lost again.

The Global Positioning System is a network of satellites orbiting the earth that transmit radio signals. If you have a GPS receiving unit you can locate your position, track your direction, distance and speed. This is done by using trilateration, where the receiving unit measures the distance between itself and three or more of the satellites. Since the satellites know where they are, and the time it takes to send and receive the signals, the receiver can calculate its own position.

To make it even more useful, computer programming companies have written software for the units that have maps of, virtually, the entire world. So, now, when your position is located by the receiver, it can tell you where you are in relation to things you can recognize (i.e. streets, addresses, highway exits, etc).

Now, imagine the realm of possibilities for the use of GPS. Attach a receiving unit to a child's wrist or in their pocket, and with a tracking unit you can monitor the child's location at all times, or the location of any object a receiver unit is attached to; a car, a dog, a boat, a person with Alzheimer's disease.

As a runner or cyclist you can track your workouts, precisely, measuring distance, pace, speed and routes. There are GPS receivers with software for lakes, channels and oceans, for marine charting and navigation, and there also units for aeronautical use.

There are units that mount to your wrist, like a watch, units that are handheld, like a cell phone, units that mount in your car, on your boat, on your bicycle or motorcycle. There are units with a map and there are units that give you directions verbally. All have become very user friendly and easy to learn. They range in price from about a hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on how detailed you want to get. The trick is to determine which type of unit best suits your needs.

Don't be afraid any more. Life is short and the world is big, so get out there and have an adventure.