A Global Positioning System Receiver (GPS receiver) can give you very valuable information, such as, how long and far you have been traveling and your current and average speed. GPS receivers can place you on a map and give you your location, as well as where you have come from. Always in communication with satellites, GPS receivers trace you across your path if you continue to leave your receiver on.

How a GPS receiver works is complicated, but very accurate. Locating at least three satellites, a GPS receiver can locate any object you are targeting in any weather, 24 hours a day. Through the locations of these satellites and the distance you are from the satellites, a math term called trilateration can help the GPS receiver find you. It analyzes high-frequency and picks up signals, helping to locate and map on a GPS system.

The Department of Defense is always checking the exact positions of the satellites and sends out that information to your GPS receiver. At times the sun and moon change the orbits of the satellites, but they are monitored and adjusted constantly. Civilian GPS receivers can map and track within approximately 100 meters, where as a military GPS receiver can provide within typically 20 meters.

GPS receivers calculate latitude, longitude and even altitude of where you are. Many GPS receivers provide detailed maps of your location that can be downloaded into the memory of your GPS system, making it very user-friendly.