The GPS Advisor

Many people are thinking that it may be good idea to add an in-dash or portable GPS unit to their vehicle. Everyone has a different reason for considering an automobile GPS…some are tired of getting lost, others have a business where they must do a lot of deliveries.

Whatever your reason, with today’s vast array of automobile GPS devices, you have plenty of selection and great options for adding GPS to your driving experience. My friend is a real estate agent, and just started using a GPS to direct him to his home showings…saving countless hours of time manually mapping out directions beforehand.

One word of caution: Although these units add convenience to your driving, they can be another dangerous distraction - like cell phones have become. It is a good idea to pull over before entering data into your gps unit…or you can let the passenger do the navigating while you keep you eyes on the road.

Factory In-dash GPS Units Are the Pricey Option

Every time I go car shopping, I am amazed at the high premium that auto manufacturers charge to add the GPS “package” to your new car. We are talking thousands of dollars in most cases. I always think it is a better idea to save your cash (unless you have it to burn) and augment your car with an after-market portable GPS system.

I am seeing a trend with some manufacturers where built-in GPS systems are becoming a standard option, but this is usually with the premium cars. Today’s factory-installed GPS systems usually operate off of a DVD system and use one DVD to hold all of the maps for the United States.

Expect to pay over $1000 for these in-dash GPS units, however, they are usually nicely integrated with other functions of your car. BMW and Acura have pioneered the way for in-dash GPS, although other manufacturers are working to tie in real-time traffic, weather reports, and road accident reports. It won’t be long before all new cars come standard with some GPS functionality.

Portable GPS Units Are the Economical Way to Go

My real estate friend is using a portable GPS, which has been great fun. He drives and hands the GPS around to different people in the car as needed. Although these units are not as sleek and integrated as in-dash GPS receivers, they provide solid functionality and ultimate flexibility for a much lower price.

I really like the ability to move these GPS devices from car-to-car, meaning you can buy one unit and share between cars as needed. The portable GPS units generally have a smaller screen and less advanced features, but they get the job done beautifully.

Recommended Product Lines

If you are looking for less expensive portable GPS units for your car, we would suggest taking a look at the Garmin Nuvi series or the Magellan Maestro series. Both of these manufacturers have great reputations for quality and the units themselves feature easy-to-use interfaces, color maps, and hard drive map storage.You can also get versions with voice-guided directions.

More to come as we dive deeper into the features of portable GPS units for automobiles. Stay tuned!

Your GPS Device (that you are about to own) is a sophisticated electronic device that is capable of constantly listening to many satellites and crunching some serious numbers into perfect navigational coordinates at your disposal.

In simple terms, your GPS unit is basically an antenna that picks up signals from the network of orbiting satellites and uses complex mathematics to “triangulate” your position on Planet Earth.

As long as your GPS unit is up and running, it will be getting information from at least 3 of the orbiting satellites to use in calculating your position, as well as your current speed and direction.

The Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) Network consists of many satellites that are orbiting the planet twice a day and provide the ability to get an Earth position on the surface, as well as up to 60,000 feet above the planet.

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The Global Position Satellite (GPS) Network

In this post, we give you an overview in human terms of what the Global Position System is and how we consumers and earthlings use it in our everyday appliances, cars and handheld devices.

The Global Positioning Satellite Network (GPS) was launched into space in the early 70’s and consisted of 25 (or so) satellites that were positioned strategically in 12 hour orbits around Planet Earth. There are also five ground stations around the world that keep things in working order.

These navigation satellites broadcast signals constantly to the Earth’s surface, which are used by GPS receivers to calculate exact positions in 3-dimensional space (latitude, longitude, and altitude).

How Does a GPS Navigation Device Determine Your Location?

Your handy compact GPS navigation device acquires signals from at least 4 of the GPS satellites in orbit to generate what is called a 3-D fix on your location. From this fix, your GPS device can determine your location, current and average speed, directional heading, and even your elevation in relation to sea level.

If you want to remember back to Trigonometry class (dont’ worry, most have no recollection here), it is possible to use angles and the distance between points (meaning between you and the satellites) to precisely measure a location. The good news is that you don’t have to know HOW they work…just that they DO work brilliantly!

GPS Was Developed by the Government for War Fighting

GPS navigation works so well, that it was conceived by the U. S. Government to fight wars and guide nuclear missles to their targets with accuracy down to less than one meter. I love it when we actually benefit from military technology, instead of just paying for it!

At first, the Government would not allow us meager civilians to use the system at it’s full accuracy, concerned that our enemies - both local and abroad - would use it as a precise targeting system. This restriction was lifted, allowing us to get the full accuracy that our military enjoys.

The brilliant scientists and our hard-working tax dollars have created a wonderful system for terrestrial navigation with the GPS network, allowing us to benefit in a myriad of ways in our personal lives. I am personally grateful for the technology and love using it in my life!

Turning GPS Navigation Signals into Meaningful Uses

Your GPS receiver uses the precise latitude, longitude, and other location data to overlay this information onto map files stored on the GPS device, revealing your current position on the color graphic map as well as where you’ve been since you started collecting GPS location information.

This is the power of putting GPS navigation into other devices. Now your toaster can be tracked in 3-D space. How did we ever live without this stuff?

Since the GPS receiver is constantly recalculating your position relative to the satellite’s position, the GPS unit can track your location in real time as you progress along the trail or in your car. Just make sure your GPS antenna has an unobstructed view to the sky (day or night) at most times to catch the GPS satellite signal.