Learning How GPS Units Work
GPS systems may seem kind of on the pricey side at first glance, but if you take the time to understand how they work, it helps to make the cost more reasonable in your mind. More often than not, we are seeing GPS systems being automatically included in PDAs and cell phones as well as the newest car models. This writer isn’t an engineer or scientist, so this article is a simplified explanation of how GPS systems operate. If you need a more technical explanation, there are other articles on the web that address that.
Here We Go
You may be astonished to discover that there are over 2500 satellites that are orbiting our planet at this very moment. Quite a significant percentage of them are GPS system satellites. Only about 36 actually are operative – the others are retired GPS satellites. A low-power radio signal, which can be picked up by your GPS system, is constantly transmitted by the global positioning satellites. By receiving a signal from three of these satellites, a GPS is capable of measuring the distance from each and calculates a position based on that information.
When their solar power panels are completely spread, a GPS satellite can be about seventeen feet wide. They run on solar power and as additional insurance have backup batteries installed. They are designed to be functional for a minimum of ten years and weigh some 2,000 pounds. There is a “senior” satellite that has been functional since 1978. That one goes around telling all the junior GPS satellites how hard it was in his day and how lucky the younger ones have it. Yes, I’m joking!
But Seriously
So what devices qualify as GPS receivers? It’s basically any device that is able to receive signals from GPS satellites. Nowadays they can be seen everywhere: from the cruise ship to Alaska that your boss enjoyed recently to the new Navigon 7100 GPS in your neighbor’s automobile. The average price of a personal GPS systems receiver is around $300. Considering you didn’t have to pay to design and launch the satellite into space, $300 is a fairly conservative price.
It’s the US government who foots the bill for building the satellites and launching them into space. So you can sit back and relax in your car, knowing that this network of satellites will promptly and dependably direct you to your destination. So now you should have a pretty good understanding of what goes on behind the scenes when you power on your GPS system.
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