But What Exactly IS GPS?
Motorcycle GPS is a very effective motorcycle navigation system, but what is GPS?
We’ve talked quite a bit on our website about different motorcycle gps systems, but lets look at exactly how GPS works for a minute, so you understand the technicals.
GPS is a satellite based navigation system and positioning system. GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and that’s what it is. It’s a technology that allows you to locate your position on the globe with extraordinary accuracy.
It was originally developed by the US department of defence for military purposes, and is officially called the NAVSTAR system. NAVSTAR stands for Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging and consists of 3 essential elements.
1. A range of available satellites to send signals.
2. Earth based monitoring stations to receive the satellite signals.
3. Your GPS receiver.
There are 24 satellites that send continual radio signals to earth that are used by the GPS network. Your GPS navigation unit needs signals from at least 4 satellites at any time, so it is essential that there be a number of avialable satellites available so that signals are constant.
There are 5 monitoring stations, the main one in Colorado springs and 4 others spread around the globe. The signals from the 4 are sent to the main station which “corrects” it and sends it back to the satellites, which then allow your GPS receiver to use it.
As we said, it is satellite based, but how exactly does the GPS signal arrive?
It comes by low power radio signals which can pass through clouds, glass and plastic and other soft objects, but not through solid things like buildings. It must be a “line of sight” from the satellite transmitter to the GPS receiver, so if you’re somewhere where you can’t see the sky chances are pretty limited that you’ll get much reception.
The signals are cross referenced to produce a reading that gives you a precise location on the globe by latitude and longitude.
That’s the basics of GPS. It has advanced a long way from the basics now, and with the advent of modern sophisticated software and mapping solutions GPS navigation has become the most successful navigation technique ever invented for the mass market.
GPS navigation systems are now available for private use, rather than just military. It is used on land and at sea, by people from all walks of life. From cars to planes to motorbikes to handheld to boats and more, GPS is the future of navigation systems to allow us an easy and effective method of determining exactly where we are, and where we want to go, and much much more.
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