You've probably heard about GPS tracking technology. But how can you personally put it to use, and how exactly does GPS function. Understanding the fundamentals of this usefeul equipment will let you make a smart decision when it comes to buying a device that's right for your specific personal or business needs.
GPS tracking has become very common in the past few years. Once out of reach for the average person, GPS technology was primarily designed for federal agents to track crime suspects. These days, everyone from parents, to employers, and geologists are using GPS tracking in a variety of unique applications extending from ensuring their teenage children's safety, to tracking the migration of birds or other wildlife.

The Fundamental Workings of GPS tracking Units

The GPS tracker, an acronym for Global Positioning System, is a device that determines the exact location of a person, automobile, or other moveable assets using satellite, cellular (aGPS), or radio waves. In its most fundamental form, the GPS tracker device generally communicates with multiple satellites in low space orbit. From there, the various satellites triangulate the tracker's approximate location. That means you can put the tracker in a totebag, car, or on a person and determine their location..
Depending on the type of GPS tracker you select, the places it travels are either stored within the tracker itself to provide a historical record of just where the device has been, or with a real-time tracker, the location information can be digitally sent to a central location or an individual Internet-enabled computer in real-time, as the device moves. At first popular among law enforcement agents, many businesses recently have adopted GPS technology to streamline operations and now even by consumers to protect their children.

The Difference Between Real-Time v. Passive GPS Trackers

There are two basic types of GPS tracking: real-time and passive.

Real-Time GPS Tracker

Like all trackers, a real-time GPS tracker continually communicates with space satellites to triangulate the tracker's approximate position. What makes the device real-time is the fact that the unit sends all data to the Internet constantly in real-time, where you can log on and monitor the tracker's progress. Most systems even give detailed information like time, place, and how fast the tracker is going. Originally only used by law enforcement agencies tracking a suspect, GPS technology is now common to businesses tracking fleet vehicles as well as average people tracking new teen drivers or their family car as it travels.

Passive GPS Tracker

The other main kind of GPS tracker is a passive tracker also known as a GPS logger. Like a real-time device, these devices continually communicate orbiting satellites, but, instead of sending the tracker's position in real-time, passive GPS deveices store position points inside the tracking device itself. When you are ready to see just what locations the device has travelled, you can download a historical record of all places visited. This is ideal for law enforcement during investigation, or possibly a person who loaned a vehicle to an employee, or family friend and wants to verify that they actually took the car where they said.