How Do GPS Units Work?
You may question why GPS gadgets cost as much as they do. Learning about the technology behind them may help make the price a little easier to accept. More and more often, GPS systems are being added as standard features in the latest cars and personal electronics such as PDAs and cellular phones. This article will explain in words that the average person can understand how GPS systems operate. If you were hoping for all of the technical details, you certainly should have no trouble finding that information elsewhere on the web.
GPS Basics
There are roughly 2500 satellites currently in orbit around the earth. Not surprisingly, GPS satellites make up a great percentage of these. Yet only 36 of them are actually still in operation with many others having been retired. They constantly send a low-power radio signal to Earthly GPS receivers (not the other way around). In order to determine an exact position, the GPS system evaluates its distance from three of these satellites.
When their solar power panels are completely unfolded, 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 approximately 2,000 pounds. The oldest satellite is from 1978. Rumor has it that this one often relates tales from the old days when satellites had it much tougher than they do today. Just a little satellite humor there.
But Seriously
Earlier I talked a little about GPS receivers. So what are they exactly? If a device is able to receive the signals output by GPS satellites, it can be regarded as a GPS receiver. One might be on a commercial cruise liner, another in a taxicab and yet another is that Navigon 7100 GPS in my neighbor’s car. The current average cost for a personal GPS system is about $300. A price tag of $300 isn’t that out of line when you consider that you didn’t have to pay for all those gps satellites to be built and launched into space, nor do you have to pay a fee to use the signals from them.
The US government is responsible for paying the costs involved in manufacturing and launching satellites into orbit.|Our government here in the US has decided to take on the costs needed in creating this network of GPS satellites. Your only job is to power on your GPS system and enjoy the easier travel that it brings you. So now you should have a pretty good understanding of what goes on behind the scenes when you power on your GPS system.