Free GPS Guidance
Posts Tagged ‘GPS devices’
Hey, Happy 4th of July everyone! I was just sitting here reminiscing about some of my friends I haven’t seen in quite a while and some of the July 4th celebrations I have been to in my lifetime. Maybe I’m getting old, but I like getting in touch with old friends whether they live near or far away.
Anyway, one great friend of mine used to crack me up. She was a terrific bargain hunter, and normally by the 4th of July she would announce that she had finished her Christmas shopping! Sounded like an amazing idea, and I often laughed at her for that, especially since her teenage daughter had caught on and would claim not to have a thing to wear suddenly before school and talk my friend into giving her daughter any clothing Christmas presents early which would send my friend back off shopping to replenish the shortage. Pretty smart girl, her daughter!
Well, with that thought in mind my thoughts moved on their own to the idea of checking out the great GPS accessories and GPS devices on sale and the realization that I, too, could save a lot of money on this year’s gifts by following my friend’s example and beginning planning now while watching the great GPS prices throughout the next few months. Wouldn’t that be great to finish my own shopping before the rush and madness in the stores that starts on Black Friday? That will be my motto for this year – get moving and watching the great sales early to avoid the stress. Wouldn’t I love it if I can be just like my old friend during the holidays who would sit back and wrap and decorate and party and enjoy the lights and the fun side of the holidays while the rest of the world would hustle trying to catch up! I can pick up a GPS receiver for one friend, perhaps a GPS mount for another, perhaps golf GPS for yet another at great prices on each. If I watch the possibilities will be nearly endless. This is the year I personally plan to shop smarter, not harder.
Americade. You probably never heard of it, but it is the annual motorcycle rally which normally arrives in Lake George’s beautiful little resort town each year just after Memorial Day. What a sight to see cycle after cycle driving by. What a nice group of folks, mostly family types of all ages, on quite a variety of cycles. Some have three wheels, most have two. Some have side cars or little luggage trailers of amazing shapes and sizes.
While walking down the sidewalk admiring all these amazing cycles I began to notice how many had motorcycle mounts for their GPS devices. Most of the GPS units had been removed and carried off in pockets or purses to keep them safe of course, but there was quite an assortment of different motorcycle GPS mounts to be seen. It is easy to understand how folks who like the wind blowing on their faces would like the freedom of discovering new and varied roads and getting off the beaten track, but still wanting to be able to get back to their hotel or their homes reliably. Yup, it is time for the rest of the cyclists to look at the advantages of GPS units with bike mounts to feel even more carefree as they ride off into the unknown. Be safe, explore and enjoy the wind in your face on the open road.
When you compare benefits of GPS devices, a feature commonly noted is the number of “channels” a GPS has. What are channels, and are they important to help determine which GPS system to purchase? First, it might be helpful to have a basic understanding of how GPS works. Sometimes taking it down to a very basic level is quite helpful. At the most basic level, your GPS needs one channel for every satellite it is communicating with. You need to realize that there are exceptions to this, but we are going for simplicity here. The more channels your GPS has, the more satellites it can communicate with at one time. The GPS satellite system is designed to provide similar levels of service anywhere in the world, so at any given moment your GPS unit will only be able to “see” a few of the satellites at one time. At least half of the satellites will on the other side of the earth, while others could be out of view due to mountains, trees, buildings, and so on. Sometimes channels are reserved for more than just tracking a visible satellite, but also for searching for other satellites which are predicted to come into view. If you continue to watch the screen over time you will see that some satellites disappear from view while other satellites appear on the horizon. While your GPS might be tracking only 8 satellites, it might be using a couple of other channels to search for new satellites which it predicts will come into view.
Some very basic GPS navigation systems have a single or dual channel scanning receiver that can read and ‘lock’ onto 8 to 12 satellites. If a device can give me a fairly accurate location with only 4 satellites, why would I want more than 5 parallel channels? Since 5 would only allow for a margin of 1 visible satellite, having more channels would permit your unit to maintain a position when you moved behind a building where you suddenly lost contact with several satellites. Ideally you would like to be able track all available satellites simultaneously to maintain a fix under the worse possible conditions. If you turn a corner and several satellites are now obscured from view there is a good likelihood that the extra channels will instantly bring several others into view, thus maintaining continuous accuracy. I hope this has been useful information to help make your decision as you purchase your new GPS navigation system.