Sunday, October 30, 2011

A GPS Device - Some Thing You'll Absolutely Need

By Alice O. Jordan


My husband and I have an ongoing, friendly argument as to who gets lost the most. It's pretty much even, I suppose.We like to take road trips, just pack the car and go. However it is tough during times where we have to find a client's office, or a specific area in an uncharted city.Once, we got lost in a big city and ended up in a part of town that was dangerous. It gave us a very important lesson on safety and directions so in the days that followed, we started using a GPS system that we bought for the car.

Global Positioning System or GPS was initiated by the US Department of Defense that functions with 24 satellites.Today, there are about 30 active satellites transmitting signals used in nautical navigation, aviation, land surveying, or anything that requires an exact position.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy had this navigational system coming from the satellites since 1973 and became the foundation of new advances in that technology. From the beginning, the U.S. armed forces employed the GPS system primarily for operations in the field, supplying men through radio with clear-cut directives. This was stated in the Future of the GPS by the National Research Council's Committee. Noticeably, more ordinary citizens have been using the Global Positioning System technology after its many improvements as compared to people in the armed forces. Noted for its excellence in the 1991 Gulf War, this was the time when the GPS system was presented publicly for the first time.

Now, in the civilian sector, it is helping save lives, helping society in various ways and providing jobs. As the technology progresses by leaps and bounds, who knows in several years, we'll be using GPS by the size of a credit card. You'll never go astray!

Some of the uses of the GPS systems are emergency vehicles to pinpoint destinations and map their routes, locating lost vessels at sea, trucking and transportation companies keeping track of their fleets and delivery in a timely manner, pilots for navigation, dusting crops, aerial photos, and surveying.Earth scientists even use the GPS system to monitor earthquakes and the shifting of the tectonic plates.

Besides mapping roads, tracking forest fires, and honing airline flight plans, one of the greatest advantages of civilian use is in the car. Cars that are manufactured nowadays have GPS technology installed in them. GPS devices for cars are also sold separately which you can acquire for your car if you do not have one on.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, since the global market for GPS receivers and systems is estimated at more than two billion dollars and growing with expectations of over thirty billion dollars in the next ten years.

My husband and I are now at ease that we have this GPS to direct us when we're off to see our customer at his/her place and we'd still be on schedule, or in case there's an emergency, we would easily be found, or if we get lost, we could just redirect ourselves with the GPS to find our way back. It just occurs to us naturally that we'd like to go somewhere even places we don't know.We just get in the car and go, and wherever we decide to stop is okay with us.But it sure is nice to know if we do get lost, we always have our GPS system.




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