Do You Really Need GPS

Posted by admin on March 29th, 2008 filed in gpstechstore

Throughout all time the big question has been and still is: Where in the heck am I?

Adam said, “Where are you going, Eve?”

Eve shook her blond hair and said, “Darned if I know, Adam. I’m just bored with this place.”

“Well, stay here then if you don’t know where you are going. You might get lost.”

Adam set on a rock and waited for her answer.

Eve said, “I won’t get lost, Adam. Besides, I’m not a man. If I do get lost, I’ll ask for directions.”

Adam said, “You must have some idea where you want to go, Eve. You can’t just go wondering off into the dark and dreary world.

She looked at Adam with her pale blue eyes and said, “I was thinking more of Paris than the dark and dreary world.

Back in those days folks tried to keep track of where they were by looking at the stars. The great explorer, Phendom, used the stars to navigate. In 45678 b.c. on his first trip to Greenland his chief navigator, Sogbottom, said, “I think we had better head back north, Phendom. I think that is the Southern Cross.”

I found only one reference to Phendom on Google.com. That is how unknown he is. The reference was cached, but the ever-loving Google.com said I could read the text if I liked. I decided to do that until one of those little boxes popped up and told me I would have to install the Korean Language module to read it.

That is how I learned that Phendom, who was probably the first Sea Explorer, was Korean.

I still remember three words in Korean from my Korean War days. I can say, “How are you? (awnyahasiminiga)” I can say, “Come here,” to a man (erioseeo). And I can call a dog (ereereereere, etc.). It’s best in Korea not to get the last two mixed up. Koreans like to throw rocks.

Back to the stars: If you measure the angle from the horizon to Polaris, you will know your latitude. Polaris is the “Pole Star.” You may know it as the “North Star.” To find Polaris, look for the big dipper. If you can’t find the Big Dipper, it is opposite the “W” which is also known as Cassiopeia. To see how this is all done go to: http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/northstar.shtml

You can see why I just love Google.com. “I love those goo goo googlely eyes!” You might try: http://pub2.bravenet.com/forum/167551711/show/337617 for more on Barney Google with the goo goo googlely eyes!”

Don’t forget to drop in to see Barney Google himnself at: http://www.toonopedia.com/google.htm. You will be glad you did.

At this point it would be proper to discuss how the early mariners determined longitude. Darned if I know how they did it. I do know that Captain James 1768-1780 A.D. was the first to use a chronometer to determine longitude. It says so at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_exploration.

The chronometer will just get us into a flimditty just as the sextant would. Let’s move on.

(I made up the word flimditty because it is just what we needed in that last sentence, right? You won’t find it in your dictionary or at Google.com. You must be thrilled to be reading the writings of a modern creative literary genious.)

There is no reason to get into a fitznizzle over longitude and the chronometer.

Skipping history, modern day navigators have a number of ways to find their way home. Some years back a friend of mine told me that he had bought a fishing boat at a sheriff’s sale for $800.00. He was very excited about that boat and so was I. He put a new V-8 engine in the boat and off we went fishing on Delaware Bay, God’s great gift to ardent fishermen.

My son and son-in-law tagged along and we cought a boodle of fish. Toward evening, I put my hand up to measure the altitude of the sun and I said, “In 40 minutes it will be dark. We’d better head in.”

Well, nobody wanted to quit fishing and my friend assured me that we would be able to get in by looking for the navigation light at the mouth of the Maurice River. We would follow the light and slip up the river to the dock.

Finally as the sun dropped into the abyse of spacetime my friend decided it was time to leave. He cranked up the engine but the boat didn’t move. Poking our heads to see what was below deck we found water. The boat had such a tonage of water that it would not move.

My friend had installed a pump so he flipped it on. That didn’t help, so we started bailing out the water. Eventually, we got the boat moving.

I suggested that we put on the lifejackets. The Delaware is full of ugly tankers and cargo ships and such. I could see us in the water screaming at the top of our lungs, HELP!

We headed east but we could not see the blasted navigational light. We moved south and finally we could see it. We motored up the river at a slow pace because the docks on the river had signs that said: NO WAKE!

We moved slower and slower as we took on more water. The musquitos got thicker and thicker. We thought we were with Bogey on the African Queen.

Finally, we arrived at the dock. That’s where we learned that we could not move to the dock because the boat would not steer properly. Then by luck on the 70th try, we pulled up to the dock.

I grabbed two five gallon cans of fish and ran for my Volkswagen bus, ten zillion mosquitoes helping me along.

The next morning, my friend went down to the dock to check on his bargain boat.

He couldn’t see it at first.

Then he found that it was only a few feet away.

Unfortunately, the direction was down!

Glub, glub!

Sorry for that major diversion from our very serious discussion on navigation and all.

Sometime after the compus was discovered, man discovered radio navigation. Transmitters along the cost sent out a characteristic bleep that boats could triangulate on or dead recon on to find their way home. We learn the following at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_navigation

“The first system of radio navigation was the radio direction finder, or RDF. By tuning in a radio station and then using a directional antenna to find the direction to the broadcasting antenna, radio sources replaced the stars and planets of celestial navigation with a system that could be used in all weather and times of day. Taking two such measurements and plotting the directions on a map will result in an intersection, your current location. Commercial AM radio stations can be used for this task due to their long range and high power, but strings of low-power radio beacons were also set up specifically for this task. Early systems used a loop antenna that was rotated by hand to find the angle to the signal, while modern systems use a much more directional solenoid that is rotated rapidly by a motor, with electronics calculating the angle.”

Placing transmitters on Global Positioning Satellites solved all of our navigational problems except during heavy sunspot activity or overlyactive solarwinds.

The End

copyright©John T. Jones, Ph.D. 2005

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com)is a retired R&D engineer and VP of a Fortune 500 company. He is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering), poetry, etc. Former editor of international trade magazine. More info: http://www.tjbooks.com. Business web site: http://www.bookfindhelp.com (wealth-success books / flagpoles)

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GPS Tracking

Posted by admin on March 28th, 2008 filed in gpstechstore

Global Positioning Systems or GPS are satellite navigational systems made-up of 24 satellites revolving round the earth. Each satellite has a corresponding receiver on the earth. The satellites orbit the earth at a height of about 12,000 miles. It makes two complete orbits everyday. The GPS satellites continuously transmit digital radio signals that contain data on the location of the satellites and the time taken for signal transmission.

GPS tracking is the term given to the process of being able to locate the exact location of a receiver on earth. Now that the production cost of GPS technology is significantly lower than when it first came into existence, many companies have found new ways to make use of this technology. In GPS tracking, the user is able to keep a track of where they have been using a portable GPS device. GPS tracking can be used in a better way when it is combined with other broadcast technologies, such as a wristwatch or radio. GPS watches, for example, can be fitted with a GPS receiver, which relays a signal to a central command center equipped with GPS software systems. The central command center can track the position of the watch and transmit that information to a third party. That third party may be anyone who needs the position of the wearer urgently. In fact, a variety of such GPS phones and wristbands are sold in the market today. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it provides the driver with an integrated GPS system, without the necessity to purchase a car navigation system, or a PDA-based GPS system. It also offers the possibility to relay that information via a radio or cell phone transmitter.

GPS systems have been used primarily as vehicle locators, especially in cases when a vehicle attached with such a system is stolen. The police, once informed, can find out from the control center where the vehicle is, and proceed to track it down. Tracking is also being used in other fields such as pet tracking, coordinated tracking and consumer tracking.

GPS provides detailed information on GPS, GPS Tracking, Handheld GPS, GPS Systems and more. GPS is affiliated with Free Cell Phone Number Search.

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GPS Usability Over Functionality

Posted by admin on March 27th, 2008 filed in gpstechstore

There is an easy test that I like to use when evaluating a GPS, or any type of electronic device. I call it the user manual test. When I pick up a new GPS for the first time, I see how easily I can operate the GPS with common sense alone and without using the manual. Criteria for a good GPS is firmly based on how easily I can operate the menu options and pick up the functions. This is an aspect that some people overlook yet it is perhaps the single most important part of a GPS.

The first reason that user friendly functions and menus are so important is that the vast majority of people who buy GPS units are seasonal or occasional users. They are not out there 5 days a week, honing their skills and keeping the idiosyncrasies of their GPS at the forefront of their mind! Consequently, most users want to be able to pick the damn thing up and be able to get their hands on accurate information that can make the difference between getting lost, or even a fatal ending to an outdoor adventure.

The second reason that GPS units need to be easy to use is that they are often used by groups such as hunters, fishermen and hikers. This makes it quite likely that some members of the group will not be experienced with your particular model or brand of GPS. In these kinds of circumstances it is doubtful that anyone will want to sit down and read a user manual, that is if you still know where it is! So do yourself a favor and get a GPS that makes sense to you without having to go to the book, if for nothing else that from a safety point of view.

The third reason it that if you are willing to spend a couple of bucks on your GPS and choose a top brand such as Magellan or Garmin you don’t need to worry too much about what functions are included. The level of competition between these two companies is so high that neither is willing to put sub-standard products into the marketplace. At http://www.thegpscentre.com you can see reviews of GPS units and see how close these brand really are in both quality and price. What will make the difference will be the users ability to take advantage of the functions.

Remember, there is no point having a GPS with several navigation screens, thousands of automatic way-points if you can’t work out how to use them with ease. Happy trails and safe navigating to you all.

The author is a regular contributor to http://www.incargpsworld.com and permission to reproduce this article is given only on the basis that all links remain active and intact.

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