Global Positioning System Navigations, also known as GPS Navigations in layman's terms, is a navigation system supported and relying on a network of satellites.

Almost everything that can make life less of a hassle can be invented in our day and age. We see this in the case of the GPS devices, which proves especially all-powerful when make a foray into places we are completely clueless. Gone are the days which are as recent as 15 years ago when folks will have to arm themselves with maps and a bit of arithmetic just to know exactly where they are.

The Many Uses for GPS

GPS navigation mighty sound like the new kid on the block, but the network of "Global Positioning Satellites" , courtesy of the US government, has been around since the 1970’s.

Some twenty-four satellites crisscrossing the earth high above compose the GPS network. The GPS receivers at the ground are fed with data from several satellites at a time. With this information, the receivers can, by a process similar to triangulation, tell the user his or her exact location in latitude, longitude, and sometimes altitude too.

The Armed Forces are the originally intended beneficiaries of this (at that time) new technology. Your past history lessons will remind you that travelers over the hundreds of years relied on the essentially the same technology for generations: the compass, sextant, maps and hand calculations. While radios were quantum leaps, GPS devices compute your coordinates in real time, with precision up to three feet!

But where how does the public's accessibility of this government property come in? Although the US Government retains ownership of the GPS network, it keeps the broadcasts unencrypted. The bottom line in this is that just about anybody with a receiver can avail of free GPS data. Companies and outdoor folk alike have started to use receivers in many different applications.

Here is one example of GPS devices' use that starts right in the home. Think of all those parents who fret about their teenagers especially if they have started learning to drive on their own. But what if the parents don't want the kids to know about the arrangements? Auto shops offer small, hidden GPS receivers in kids’ cars. Parents can then use simple computer software which tracks in real time their kids’ movements on a map.

Perhaps you've heard of the geocaching craze popular among outdoor clubs? Geocachers hide a little container in a public place, for example, ranging from a plastic container with trinkets inside to a shoe box with a used book. They then go to geocaching groups with forums online and post hints of latitude and longitude just enough to start a good geocaching expedition. Then other geocachers search for these boxes with their GPS data. The fun is rooting around for a mysterious well-hidden container in what could be an area with a 25-foot radius. Successful participants can keep the little treasure and put in their own cache for the next hunters.