Author Topic: Okay! Let’s first of all clear up what we call satellite navigation, and why.  (Read 3569 times)

Lyle Brotherton

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Okay! Let’s first of all clear up what we call satellite navigation, and why.

Ultimate Navigation Manual Die-hards already will know this ;) For all folk who are new to our community, please allow me to explain my choice of terminology.

Hoover is the name of a company, yet it has become synonymous with the vacuum cleaner.

Similarly, GPS is the name of the American Government’s satellite system used for navigation, yet it has incorrectly become synonymous with similar systems developed by other countries.

The European Union has a system called Galileo; this is already partially operational within Europe, and will have complete global coverage by 2019.

China has Compass, already fully operational for all of China, with 10 satellites in orbit, and will have complete global coverage by 2020.

Russia has GLONASS which has been fully operational since 2011 

The correct term given to all of these systems, including the American GPS, is Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and the devices we use to receive the signals from GNSS to navigate with are called satnavs.

Therefore, for full clarity we shall call them handheld satnavs, as that’s what they are.
“Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance” - Plato