NAVSTAR GPS is a really famous navigation system that is applied by a great number of people today. This system is created for detecting the location and velocity of the objects at any place on Earth. It may be done almost in any weather conditions and in all the territories on Earth including polar territory and in outer space to 100 kilometers above the planet. The United States Department of Defense has worked out and accomplished Global Positioning System.

The situation is defined by the principle of measuring the distance from the spot with the definite coordinates to an object. The distance is counted by the delay time of the signal diffusing from the sending satellite to the receiving of it by a GPS antenna. You can see that GPS receiver has to know the distance to 3 satellites and the time of the GPS system to identify 3-D coordinates. As a result, radio signals from 4 satellites minimum are used for the detecting of a receiver's coordinates and altitude. Orbital force supervision is realized from the main control station that is situated in Schriever base, Colorado.

Today GPS receivers are often used for civil purposes, mostly for position and velocity detection. Handheld GPS systems are being sold in different stores and they are built in mobile phones, PCs and onboarders. With a Global Positioning System receiver a user may detect his geographical coordinates at the present moment of time. The exactness of the situation detection is from three to five meters and when the signal is improved from Earth it becomes higher and can be to 1 millimeter.

You can get GPS software as well. Such equipment gives you a possibility to define your geographical location on the electronic map.

GPS maps are divided into two types. The first type of raster electronic maps is the most open and the simplest type. This kind of electronic maps is a simple image of the country where the coordinates of a receiver are used. The primary version of this kind of map will assign its scale. This map may be a simple picture from satellite or a scanned paper map.

And vector electronic maps are created with their own data system within that makes them very useful. There are all facts about surrounding objects, the territory you are located in and other helpful information for a traveler. The area information includes the data about the entire object starting from lakes and ending with hills that are located in this territory. The likeness of these 2 types of maps is in the information about all the hotels, cafes and filling stations. They have all the info about the places you will need to relax in. So you may purchase also portable GPS that will bring you a convenience on the travel.

And of course as anything that is made by human GPS has its own shortcomings. The basic drawback of all radio-navigation arrangements is that a signal may not come to the receiver owing to some circumstances. For example it is practically impossible to detect your location in reinforced concrete constructions. But anyway it is the best way of defining your geographical coordinates for today.

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