GPS Tracking Devices » Tracking Devices

GPS Tracking Devices

dat — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:00:17 +0000

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have been around long enough for most people to have a basic idea of what they do. Originally developed by the government for military use, the technology has evolved and now drives many GPS tracking devices commonly used by consumers. The variations include GPS watches, GPS tracking surveillance units, GPS enabled cell phones, GPS vehicle tracking, GPS navigation systems for boats, automobiles, planes and portable handheld tracking devices, among others.

Over the years the accuracy of all GPS devices has improved to the point (within a couple meters) of being almost mind boggling. Fortunately, for all of us, the cost of the technology has steadily decreased, even while the performance and reliability has improved. Only a few years ago the thought of buying a well made GPS device for under $100 would have seemed impossible, yet today, it is a fact. With the reduction in cost, the popularity of these devices has almost literally, exploded.

The GPS evolution has also meant a drastic reduction in the size of the units. This breakthrough may have allowed the popularity to increase even more than the reduction in price. Who would want a device the size of a shoebox mounted on the dash board of a car or strapped to ones arm? Clearly, a GPS watch would never have become practical without the reduction in size. I still have a “handheld marine unit” from the early 1990’s that makes me laugh at the size, whenever I see it, which admittedly, isn’t often. Thankfully those days are long gone.
GPS tracking devices, receive signals from orbiting satellites to determine the user’s latitude and longitude usually within a couple meters. This makes its simple to track your current location, speed, direction of travel, distance to go, exact time and many other functions. For the serious running/walking enthusiasts using a GPS watch a heart rate monitor adds the ability to tailor the exercise to personal targets and monitor them along the way.
The biggest challenge may be the decision of which GPS tracking watch is best for you, that’s where we will help.

GPS Watches vs GPS Tracking Devices

dat — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:01:58 +0000

We thought it might be helpful to provide some explanation about the various types of GPS tracking devices. So far, and for the foreseeable future this site will speak to the users of GPS Watches (also commonly known as a runners watch) that are geared towards exercise and fitness enthusiasts. As we have mentioned elsewhere on this site these GPS watches are convenient to wear and provide a wide variety of useful data intended for the user to monitor and optimize the workout efforts.

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.

Manufacturers of GPS Tracking Devices

dat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:47:13 +0000

There are two manufactures of GPS tracking watches at this time; Timex/Garmin and Suunto. Casio was in the business of GPS tracking watches but they have discontinued their product line. There are several different models being offered by Timex/Garmin, with different options available for each. It is important to understand that GPS tracking watches use the satellites in orbit to pinpoint a position, they do not provide full mapping on the go as you will find in automobile or other similar type units. They do provide data for speed, distance, elevation and of course, position. Some also provide monitors for measuring heart rate or cycling cadence. Looking at the products available on the market you will notice a couple of notable variations in the way they are packaged. The systems utilize, at a minimum, a GPS receiver and a digital time piece. In all cases the time piece containing the digital display is worn on the wrist as with a typical wristwatch. The GPS devide itself may be contained within the time piece or, separately, to be strapped or clipped to arm or belt.
Garmin introduced the Garmin Forerunner 101 and the Garmin Forerunner 201 quite some time ago. These are what we would call all-in-one models but they really do not resemble a wristwatch. Instead they look like a small electronic device which was strapped to the wrist using a Velcro strap. Later, Garmin introduced the Forerunner 205 and 305 which are all-in-one models that look like a digital wristwatch although larger in size, to be sure. While they don’t provide mapping they do display position information, latitude, and elevation, among other things. Along the way they have also introduced USB connectivity to share data with your PC and A/C battery chargers.
Timex has been in the watch business and has been well known within the triathlon community for decades. Their current product line is based on a separate watch / GPS receiver for maximum versatility. They also offer a wide array of non GPS watches typically used by runners and triathletes. Presently, they do not offer any of the all-in-one type of GPS tracking watches.
The other manufacturer of GPS tracking watches is Suunto which offers several models as well. Suunto offers a neat device to help measure distance on a golf course to help players accurately pick the right club for a given shot. The unit also stores data that can be reviewed after play is completed allowing a player to analyze the round and make future improvements. Suunto GPS tracking watches generally have an appearance more closely resembling a typical digital wristwatch. The GPS device is contained in a separate unit allowing the watch size to remain compact. Typical options are; altimeter, barometer, countdown timers heart rate monitors etc.