WHEN GPS DOES NOT WORK

The GPS system has been around for more than a decade, and today developments in devices that carry GPS chips and use GPS systems have made navigation and tracking a lot easier. There is a GPS device for most navigational purpose, whether guiding an aircraft through a delicate landing, helping engineers survey the lay of the land, giving directions to a confused driver through the busy city, advising sailors on where they are in the vast ocean, or guiding a researcher in the middle of the jungle. All these are done with accuracy and precision and continuous correspondence between the GPS receiver and the satellites. When does the system become unusable?

GPS navigation When Maps are Unavailable

Global Positioning System can be availed virtually anywhere on the surface of the globe, if you are directly underneath the sky, that is. If the GPS-integrated device you are using is dependent on maps and you use it where a map of the place is unavailable then you might not be able to navigate to your destination unless you have the coordinated for that place. That would only be a limitation on the part of the programming and software since the GPS system can work anywhere. Be assured that the device still knows exactly where you are via coordinates and there is just no available map to display your location with.

There is a rough solution for this problem but you would need the computing power of a pocketPC and a way to link your GPS device to it. You can then download Global Positioning System AutoRoute software of your liking as well as a local map. The software then integrates the navigation ability of your device onto the available map after fixing some settings.

GPS Device Use For Indoor activities

The true limitation of GPS receivers lies in the inability to navigate if not directly exposed to the sky. Performance drastically drops when receivers are under dense foliage, under a roof, inside a building, or if you are lodged between forests of skyscrapers. So, good luck trying to locate your car in the mall's basement parking lot. Well, if the technology was so efficient and people would have lots of money to spend then they might start attaching GPS receivers to all their belongings, pets and kids. There is an equally inefficient way to fix this problem. The use of GPS repeaters can help locate receivers indoors but these signals cause interference to other GPS devices.

GPS Navigator When there is Interference and Jamming

Electromagnetic interference can also be a problem. GPS transmissions are relatively weak when they reach the ground, and getting information from the satellites can be tough for the receivers, impossible at times. This can occur from solar flares, degrading signals transmitted to the lighted half of the globe, and also from geomagnetic storms near the poles.

Jamming the GPS signals can also be done intentionally or unintentionally. This happens when stronger signals block and interfere with GPS transmissions within a certain range.