How does a navigation system know where I am?

[khanrashed110]

Hi guys,

 

Hope you can help me. I need to know how GPS works and how it knows where I am? I need a relatively detailed explanation and have so far only found very brief and general explanations on the Internet. If anyone can answer this for me or knows a link to a detailed explanation I'd be very grateful if you could let me know.

 

Thanks

[MtnHermit]

Perhaps this: How does GPS "triangulation" work?

[+The Blorenges]

The global positioning system: History, basic concept, structure, applications, communication, error sources, accuracy enhancement... etc etc

 

Do you need more detail than above?

 

MrsB

[+Viajero Perdido]

Doing a report for school?

[jholly]

Hi guys,

 

Hope you can help me. I need to know how GPS works and how it knows where I am? I need a relatively detailed explanation and have so far only found very brief and general explanations on the Internet. If anyone can answer this for me or knows a link to a detailed explanation I'd be very grateful if you could let me know.

 

Thanks

Google is your friend

[+Walts Hunting]

Hi guys,

 

Hope you can help me. I need to know how GPS works and how it knows where I am? I need a relatively detailed explanation and have so far only found very brief and general explanations on the Internet. If anyone can answer this for me or knows a link to a detailed explanation I'd be very grateful if you could let me know.

 

Thanks

Google is your friend

 

One google request will give you more info than you can assimilate in a year.

[+user13371]

KhanRashed110, most of the folks around here are afraid to tell you the truth, at least not until you've got 1000 posts to your credit. Once you hit 3000 posts, you'll actually get an email from Groundspeak explaining all of it.

 

But I'm guessing you have a homework assignment and your teacher probably put a due date of Tuesday on it, and you can't get 1000 posts in here before then. So in the spirit of helping a newbie in need, I'm gonna skip the traditional waiting period to tell you THE TRUTH.

 

Shortly after July 1947, the US government found a way to integrate nanometer sized radio transmitters into living human tissue. All hospital-born infants in the US since 1950 are given a small infusion of these before they're even out of the neonatal unit. Anyone NOT born in a hospital after 1950 gets them whether they know it or not, whenever they go for flu shots, other vaccinations, or fluoride treatments at the dentists office.

 

The original purpose was so the military industrial complex could monitor movements of people en-masse -- any large collection of nano-transmitters in one place has a distinctive radio signature. Surprisingly, there was no real defense/military use for this - the whole point was to collect marketing research, to see where to build supermarkets, laundromats, fast food restaurants. This kind of intelligence gathering is critical to the business sector -- when you want to track down the reason for any grand and shadowy scheme -- follow the money!

 

There are some people who know about this and resist, and do silly stuff like wear tinfoil hats. I insist that's silly though because the nano-transmitters can't cross the blood-brain barrier. They mostly reside and multiply in adipose tissue, not ganglia.

 

Though intended for mass-population tracking originally, since the end of the 20th century there's been a shift in focus. Now is's all about tracking individuals. It's still a commercial purpose, not military -- this is why wherever you go there's always Starbucks or an ATM or even a full service bank - even in the middle of a supermarket -- which makes no sense at all UNLESS THEY SAW YOU coming! See how it works?

 

The huge upsurge in tiny, personal electronics (MP3 players, "smart" phones, etc - GPSRs were just an afterthought) is really just to equip the population with signal boosters. You see, there aren't enough nano-transmitters in any one person (except maybe someone really obese) to track an individual's signal over long range. So your phone or GPS picks up YOUR signal at close range, and transmits it along with other personal information stored in the device (your phone number, email address, credit card numbers and employment info, Groundspeak account name and password, caches you've found, etc) to the central command center.

 

Anyhow, to bring this back to the real core of your original question: Some bright boys in Washington had the idea that as long as they knew where everybody was, there was a commercial opportunity to sell little boxes that could say "You Are Here." It's as simple as that.

 

Hope this helps you in your school work. Tell your teacher you read it on the Internet - The Groundspeak Forums specifically - so it must be true.

 

Well, my work is done here. I'm heading out for coffee at the nearest Starbucks - oh look, there's one on my front lawn now! Anyone want to join me?

Edited October 7, 2012 by user13371

[jholly]

KhanRashed110, most of the folks around here are afraid to tell you the truth ....

That Starbucks on your front lawn has nothing to do with nano transmitters. They are like rabbits and have a strict proximity guideline, there needs to be one every 528 feet. And you thought the ET highway was bad.

[seldom_sn]

http://www.trimble.com/gps_tutorial/

 

Maybe not as interesting as Area 51, but a lot more informative.

[+Chief301]

KhanRashed110, most of the folks around here are afraid to tell you the truth,

 

You, my friend, have a gift....

[+user13371]

Or I've just had too much coffee today.

[+coggins]

KhanRashed110, most of the folks around here are afraid to tell you the truth,

 

The truth is that it does not know where you are. If it is working, it has the ability to determine where it is. You, on the other hand, will have go by it's solution to determine where you are, but it won't ever know where you are, even the one's with built in cameras.

[+Walts Hunting]

Nice of you to not tell him about the little guyninsidemwho occasionally sticks out his sextant for a reading when noones looking.

[+The Blorenges]

KhanRashed110, most of the folks around here are afraid to tell you the truth,

 

You, my friend, have a gift....

 

Yes, I enjoyed that post too. I suspect user13371 won't be around much longer. Even as I type the black helicopters will be homing in on his abode.

 

MrsB

[+Walts Hunting]

Or I've just had too much coffee today.

 

I've got to get to Portland and bike with this guy down to Starbucks. Although it looks like it would be a short ride.

[+user13371]

I was only kidding about the Starbucks. The rest of it was all true though.

If you're in Portland, Stumptown is still a lot better than Starbucks.

Edited October 8, 2012 by user13371

[khanrashed110]

Hey, thanks for all your help here guys. There were some really helpful posts here and some.. erm.. interesting ones .

 

I'm actually doing some research for a client of mine. I'm going to be putting together some resources on this topic and will let you know once I've got a finished piece to show you.

 

Thanks again guys