GPS Information

It was the early 1970s and the Golan Heights had been in Israel’s possession for several years. Day trips were becoming more popular and my family decided to rent a car and see this beautiful area. It would have been great if GPS had been accessible.

We got lost; very lost. Not long aftwards night began to set in, in addition to being low on gas, all eight of us, noticeably Jewish, overpacked into a rental car, with no clear notion of where we were. We finally found a small Arab town, clearly part of Syria not too long ago. However if we were aware of its existence more than likely we would have reached for our pepper spray guns.

Fortunately, the people of the town were incredibly helpful, kind and concerned. Widely known, that wasn’t necessarily the case in those days. The people opened up their one and only gas station in the area, filled us up with fuel, supplied us food, in addition tp extremely good direction. In other cases the situation could have turned out much worse. We were lucky. Today, no one has to face such a situation; if they have their GPS.

How Does a GPS work?

The GPS, or Global Positioning System, satellites orbit overhead, beaming signals down to equipment that is found in a GPS receiver inside a vehicle. The receivers are completely passive, being unable to transmit. By identifying which satellite is supplying which signal, the unity can then triangulate its virtual position. When added with the mapping software it can advise you with realistic accuracy, where you are located at any moment.

Traveling with a GPS

If you are unsure about purchasing a GPS, but you like to go on road trips on a consistent basis, there are a number of reasons why you should own one to bring along, even though you may not operate it all the time.

Firstly: You are more than likely going to end up in a region you are not familiar with. That is kind of the point of going on a road trip. With a GPS you are certain to arrive at your destination, even at night, even if it involves odd turns, even if – well, you get the idea.

Secondly: You won’t be asked to pull over to take out a road map, to reread on a constant basis. Your GPS should be able to provide commands out loud, which means you can keep your eyes on the road while driving. Just program the address you want to reach and go – and if the voice is bothering you, turn it down until you near your destination.

Thirdly: You will stop making any wrong turns ultimately ending up in a location where you will instantly think to yourself – “why didn’t I buy a tazer?”.

Easy to install, helpful to have along, GPS devices have made travel safer and more accurate – and they just keep getting better.

Tags: communications, GPS, pepper spray, tazer

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