Global Positioning System

:GPS redirects here. For other uses of the acronym GPS, see GPS (disambiguation).

GPS for private and commercial use

It was announced that once ready the GPS system would be made available for civilian use in response to the KAL 007 incident in 1983 (see external link below). Since its completion then, the GPS system is free for everyone to use; all that is needed is a GPS receiver, which costs about $90 and up (March 2005). This has led to widespread private and commercial use, including new applications in entertainment and games. Examples of private use as a game is the popular activity Geocaching, in which a GPS unit is used to search for objects deliberately hidden in nature, by traveling to the GPS coordinates. Geocaching is popular with both children and adults. Commercial use can be land measurement, navigation and road construction.

Related Topics:
KAL 007 incident - 1983 - Geocaching

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GPS on airplanes

Most airlines allow private use of ordinary GPS units on their flights, except during landing and take-off, like all other electronic devices. Portable GPS units do not transmit radio signals like mobile phones; however there is some concern that the local oscillator, used to match the GPS frequency to the internal receiver could cause interference to communications equipment on the aircraft. This is a concern, as stray emissions from GPS units in the aircraft are electronically shielded to prevent the energy from the oscillator from leaking into the equipment. Additionally, some airline companies disallow use of hand-held receivers for security reasons, such as unwillingness to let ordinary passengers track the flight route. On the other extreme, some airlines such as Song and JetBlue integrate GPS tracking of the aircraft into their aircraft's seat-back television entertainment systems, available even during takeoff and landing to all passengers.

Related Topics:
Mobile phone - Oscillator - Song - JetBlue

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~