To achieve the best data you may need to purchase the optional heart rate monitor and bike sensor. These options work wirelessly for maximum convenience and ease of use that is, considering they are separate accessories. Some other manufacturers incorporate the heart rate monitor with the watch unit which we find to be a better option.

Satellite signal acquisition is reasonably quick thanks to the SiRFstarIII tm technology. All GPS watches or other receivers will occasionally lose signals depending on the area’s obstructions. That said tree cover and use within large cities with taller buildings continues to improve as time goes by and technology improves.

As you might expect, the unit measures speed, pace, distance, altitude, timer and rate data. The screen is set up to display 4 data fields in a quadrant layout which works well and is fairly easy to read and monitor.

The days of getting lost should be over thanks to the ability to store 100 waypoints and upo to 50 routes. These features can be most useful for those who do a lot of traveling and run or bike in unfamiliar cites or countries. If your work out takes you to the beach or pool the watch is good to a depth of 50 meters.

Once your work out is complete you can download the data to your PC and utilize the online tools to dissect your strengths and weaknesses. This is where GPS watches can really add some benefit to your training regimen. Also the lithium battery can be recharged while plugged into your computer so it will be ready the next time you need it.

All and all this is a solid performer with our only criticism being that Timex offers the heart rate monitor optionally and not built into the watch itself.

“It’s a ubiquitous utility that everyone takes for granted now” said Bradford W. Parkinson. Some 30 years ago he led a Pentagon team that came up with GPS at a military base in California. Today experts working at the same base are improving an upgrading the system. They want to increase the accuracy, the variety of uses and make it more reliable.

The accuracy goal is to enable positioning within about an arms length or a couple of feet. Currently accuracy is good to about 10 to 20 feet so the improvement is significant. Other improvements will result in capability we have not seen yet.

There are 24 satellites in orbit and these will need to be replaced with new ones for the goal to be met. Replacement is scheduled to be done one at a time and will take about 10 years to complete. The upgrade is being headed by the air force in El Segundo, CA where Parkinson and friends developed the current GPS.

Partial credit for the current system goes to the launching of Sputnik by the Russians in 1957. Following that launch US scientists immediately wanted to track its position and found that they could track it by monitoring the radio waves it produced. They soon realized the opposite would be possible as well; radio waves from a satellite could be used to track the position of something on the ground. That something would ultimately be the receiver.

Naturally the Government and military were very interested in developing a system to help with National Security concerns. Specifically they needed help guiding submarines and warheads. Initial accuracy was only about 100 feet, not good enough for military use. Parkinson entered the scene and was charged with developing the system and improving accuracy. He said; “I was told that the system was useless and had no future. I guess we proved them wrong” Now 75 Parkinson is still involved and leading the team with its effort.

The Pentagon operates the GPS system which is now used in every country around the world. You may recall the days when they intentionally degraded the signal for civilian receivers. Once they stopped degrading the signal the commercial uses for GPS really took off. It is expected that in 2010 the number of users relying on the satellites is measured in hundreds of millions worldwide.

Reports are that the Chinese, Russians and Europeans are developing there own systems for fear the US Government could shut down their access or manipulate their signals.

The upgrade is reported to cost about $8 billion and will take the better part of a decade. Boeing will build 12 satellites while Lockheed Martin will build the other 18. Of the 30 new satellites 6 will be kept for spares in support of the other 24 which are in continuous orbit.

The system upgrade comes some 30 years after the original development and should take us another 30 years into the future.

Searching the internet and other electronics retailers will reveal a growing interest in using GPS tracking devices to track the position of other people or vehichles. Common uses may include tracking your children, your suspicious wife/husband, employees and so forth. Some may have been confused and think the “exercise” watches can be used for tracking others, they can not, at least not without some customization. To be useful for such perposes the GPS device need to have an additional  transmitting capability.

GPS devices are all similar as far as using the satellite network to pinpoint the receiver’s position. In order to provide the ability to monitor some one wearing or possessing the receiver the information needs to be transmitted to a monitoring station. This is commonly done using cell phone towers or other radio signal technology. Exercise watches don’t transmit signals to cell towers or anywhere else.

If you are looking at tracking someone without there knowledge it is possible to do but not with GPS exercise watches. You are now entering the “spyworld” which is a growing industry with many new and innovative tracking devices. You might check into Garmin GPS for a wide variety of GPS devices from the industry’s leading manufacturer.

We will soon add two new product reviews of popular GPS Tracking Watches.