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A minimum of three satellites are required to determine a 2D fix.
Remember, the unit must have a clear view of the satellites in order to
receive their signals. Unlike radio or television signals, GPS works at
very high frequencies. These signals can be easily blocked by trees,
buildings, an automobile roof, even your body.
Like most GPS receivers, this unit doesn’t have a compass or any other
navigation aid built inside. It relies solely on the signals from the sat-
ellites to calculate a position. Speed, direction of travel, and distance
are all calculated from position information. Therefore, in order for the
unit to determine direction of travel, you must be moving and the
faster, the better. This is not to say that it won’t work at walking or
trolling speeds — it will. There will simply be more "wandering" of the
data shown on the display.
GPS is plenty accurate for route navigation, but the U.S. Federal Avia-
tion Administration has special needs for aircraft traffic control that go
beyond basic GPS. The FAA has a plan under way to boost GPS per-
formance even further with its Wide Area Augmentation System, or
WAAS. This GPS add-on will include a time control element that will
help airliners fly closer together while avoiding collisions. In addition to
carefully spacing airplanes along travel corridors, WAAS will eventu-
ally make instrument landings and takeoffs more accurate as it re-
places existing aviation navigation systems.
Non-aviators can use WAAS signals to make their GPS navigation even
more accurate. Your unit receives both GPS and WAAS signals. How-
ever, WAAS has some limits you should know about.