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GPS Navigation

GPS stands for 'Global Positioning System' and is a satellite system which transmits a signal allowing people with a GPS receiver to retrieve data about their worldwide location, direction and speed. The satellite system that controls GPS is officially called "NAVSTAR GPS" and was developed by the United States Department of Defense. Access to the GPS signal is currently free for civilian use, the US Government does however control the features allowed for civilian receivers exported outside of the US. A basic civilian receiver will be composed of a clock, an antenna with the correct frequencies, an LCD display and 12-20 channels. As civilian receiver advance they are coming packaged with features such as pre-loaded maps for the whole of the UK, a touch screen, searchable postcodes digits, live traffic information, speed camera locations, dynamic routing, an internal hard drive and at least a 3.5 inch colour LCD display. There are currently three main types of GPS devices, stand alone which come with a car cradle to hold the device in a automobile, those integrated into a Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) device and thirdly handheld which are designed for outdoor pursuits like hiking and skiing.