Does anyone remember Chicken Little? I think he was the chicken who felt the first Canadian snow fall of the season and mistaken it for the sky falling… After all what would you think. The poor chick is born 2 or 3 months earlier in the middle of summer…along comes fall… The first change of weather in September and you get a big dump of snow… Process this with a bird size brain and there you go… The sky must be falling.
NO… The GPS satellites will stay in the sky!
It has been reported that some of the GPS satellites in the sky are reaching their end of life. However, reports from the US government have mentioned that there are more satellites in the sky than ever before.
24 satellites are required in orbit in order to maintain accuracy acceptable to commercial and military needs. There are currently 34 so although we may experience degradation over the short term the system will remain functional.
Here is a link to an article on the subject which was posted May 21, when I first posted this blog.
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=650277B6-1A64-67EA-E43C4F57008DA7A1
The need for GPS is paramount. The people of the world need GPS technology including the US government, Airlines and other aircraft industries, ship navigation, oil and gas, mining, sporting industries. The list goes on and on. The really neat thing is that this system is so important that the European Union has developed a new system just to compete called the Galileo system. So do not worry the sky will not fall…and yes you will find your way home, find that important fishing hole, and record that all important extra mile for your tax reimbursement.
-Chris Pinter, President of Quino Solutions Inc.
REVIEW: THE QUINO GPS RANGER
March 16, 2009
My very first experience with the Quino GPS Ranger was a complete success. The investigation I was conducting required developing information (legally, of course) about the movements of a particular vehicle. I simply attached the device to an inconspicuous place on the vehicle and then retrieved it two months later. The amount of data that the Ranger had collected during that time was incredibly impressive.
There are no markings on the Ranger to identify its function or origin, and the color and design make it look much like an automotive component. A surprisingly strong magnetic base provides for a secure ride, or it can be peramanently installed. It is a small, lightweight unit that fits in the palm of the hand, but when it comes to the operational capabilities, the Ranger is anything but a lightweight.
Two AA batteries power the unit for up to 40 hours of operation, but since it only uses power when it’s “awake,” the unit recorded data for the whole two months. It stores huge amounts of data…the equivalent of driving 500 miles, before having to retrieve the device to download the data to the computer.
I had already loaded the Ranger software on my computer, so when it came time find out what the Ranger could do, all I had to do was connect a USB cable to the device, select my preferences for viewing the data, and hit the go button.
What happened next was a sight to behold. Ranger summoned up the power of Google Earth, and the two of them interfaced, spilling out all of the secrets of the last two months…the path of the vehicle, where and when it stopped, for how long, travel time between stops, average speed, maximum speed…you name it! And the whole thing is viewable and printable in different formats.
Plus, when it’s not being used as part of an investigation, I just sit it on my dashboard and it keeps track of my billable travel time and miles for invoicing my clients. This GPS device works exactly “as advertised” and it should be an integral part of every investigator’s toolbox.
- Dave Sheldon (Arkansas Board of Private Investigators License No. D96-67)
