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GPS Coordinates: Degrees Minus Seconds Is The Most Popular Format

October 23rd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

You may have a GPS unit but may be unsure of how GPS coordinates’ map readings can be used by GPS vehicle tracking systems to exactly locate where your vehicle is located at any given point in time. This is best explained if you consider that a point on a map that is of two dimensions can best is represented as being the point where the lines of height and width intersect. So, if you are looking for a particular campsite or landmark or even want to know where you are presently positioned or even the location of your car you would require GPS coordinates to express these locations.

In fact, GPS coordinate systems make use of either two or maybe three coordinates that need to be present in spherical system of coordinates that have to be aligned with the earth’s spin axis. Thus, you will get different sets of GPS coordinates with one set representing the first line while the second set will represent the second line, which is known in the trade as GPS coordinates lines, and wherever on a map these two lines intersect, that would represent the point of your location.

Different Systems

There are a number of different GPS coordinates systems that can be used to find out the exact location of anyplace of interest to you as long as it is present somewhere on the globe; though, the standard degrees minus seconds coordinates are most popular of all positioning systems.

The best way to visualize GPS coordinates is to think of the GPS coordinates system as being a clock and each degree is the same as an hour on the clock with each degree being further broken up into sixty minutes and minutes broken into sixty seconds. Thus, a minute would be the same as one mile wide at the earth’s equator while the second would be 0.0192 miles. So, in this method of interpreting GPS coordinates, one degree would be the same as 69.1722 miles and a minute would be 1.1528 miles while a second would be 101.45 feet.

There is another GPS coordinates system and that is the one that uses decimal format and is most often used by GPS vehicle tracking system manufacturers when they wish to handle data in their GPS units. However, even if a user selects GPS coordinates that are representative of a different format, this data will be converted into the format that has been used and thus, decimal format becomes the format that was requested and displayed in this format on the GPS unit screen.

GPS Comparison For Campers And Mountain Rescue

October 21st, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

GPS technology has the potential to become of the most miraculous tools for saving lives. At the moment, most GPS devices work great only if they are out in clear settings. The GPS satellite orbiting the planet sends down low level radio transmissions to be picked up by your GPS handheld device. However, these transmissions often can’t go through rocks, buildings or trees. If you are trying to find your way through the woods in deep winter, your GPS might be useless. So, here’s a summary of a GPS comparison made by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Test Parameters

These GPS comparison tests were made in the summer of 2000, about a generation of GPS devices ago. Most of these models or updated versions are available. Three test “courses” were used in three National Forests and training centers in Montana, California and Idaho. The goal was to work under very thick forests in the height of their foliage. There were about five volunteers in the GPS comparison study.

Devices Compared

The GPS comparison was between:

Rockwell PLGR-96 Trimble Pro XR Trimble GeoExplorer 3 Magellan Map 410 Garmin GPS III

Summary

The GPS comparison also included how accurate the GPS devices data was to where they actually were. They found it was very hard to get an accurate reading when directly under a tree. They still needed to try to get a clear patch of sky in order to get an accurate reading. Not only that, they needed to see a recognizable constellation, like the Big Dipper. One of the advantages of a forest is that stars are much more brilliant because artificial lighting isn’t covering them up.

In the end, the GPS comparison did not recommend the Rockwell and the Trimble Geo 3. The Rockwell is professional device of $10,000 and well out of the reach of any camper or mountain rescue unit. All of the other units of handheld GPS devices were recommended. But the costs of GPS devices have lowered considerably since the 2000 GPS comparison tests. They also recommended purchasing additional antennas that can be attached to most GPS units to amplify the reception of the GPS satellite radio signal. Some GPS units now come with antennas that can extend out like a transistor radio antenna. These antennas often fit cellular phones. The GPS comparison test showed that the latest technology and latest models were more cost efficient in finding out where you were in the forest.

 

 

GPS Auto Tracker Helps Locate Wayward Travelers

October 19th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Located high above the Earth, orbiting the planet is one of the best theft-deterrent devices known to the auto industry. A GPS auto tracker can help locate the position of a vehicle, often within a few feet, helping police recover stolen vehicles as well as help rescuers locate missing persons. A vehicle equipped with a GPS auto tracker can also help businesses keep track of their company assets while they move freight around the country, helping lost drivers and improving delivery times.

Many companies provide GPS auto tracker units in their vehicles to help trim operating costs by insuring their employees with access to company vehicles are on the right track as well as being where they are supposed to be. By knowing their company vehicle is equipped with a GPS auto tracker, most employees are less likely to stray from their scheduled course. This helps prevent unnecessary costs associated with employees traveling into areas where they have no business.

Trucking companies have also found GPS auto tracker to be an invaluable tool in tracking down stolen merchandise. If a truck is stolen, the tracing system can pinpoint its location and help in the recovery of the stolen goods.

Use With Mapping Systems Help Prevent Being Lost

Many individuals have a GPS auto tracker in their vehicle when they travel to help them find their way through unfamiliar cities and towns. When it is coupled with an electronic mapping service it can provide specific directions of how to get to one place from their current location. This can aid business travelers as well as pleasure travelers, insuring they do not get lost heading for vacation.

Many in-car units are capable of having maps from several different locations available and there are service providers that sell the maps to just about any area of the country. While having the GPS auto tracker connected with maps from everywhere in the world probably is not financially feasible, having the maps of the most often traveled areas can make finding the way around as simple as changing memory units in the GPS auto tracker.

One disadvantage is that a GPS auto tracker depends on the signal from satellites and the unit has to be in a line of sight of the satellites in order to be found. If the unit is under a tunnel, for example, there is a good chance the ground will block the signal. The same is true in many parking garages as the steel and concrete blocks access to the signals.

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