New applications for GPS are being discovered all the time.
Dog GPS tracking collars are a great example.
GPS (Global Positioning System) is a global navigation satellite system developed by the Department of Defense.
Who'd have thought that anything developed by the same folks who build missiles and jet fighters would some day be used to help pet owners find their lost pooches or help hunters keep track of their dogs? The technology to do this was made available by President Ronald Reagan.
According to Wikipedia, "after Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down in 1983 after straying into the USSR's prohibited airspace, President Ronald Reagan issued a a directive making GPS freely available for civilian use as a common good.
" "Initially the highest quality signal was reserved for military use, while the signal available for civilian use was intentionally degraded," Wikipedia says.
But eventually that change, and in 2000, the precision of civilian GPS improved from about 100m to about 20m.
Now global positioning has become more popular and new applications have been developed, such as dog GPS tracking.
Today there are several types of dog GPS tracking collars on the market.
The more inexpensive models, such as the PetSafe GPS Locator, are designed for pet owners who want to be alerted if their dog gets out of the yard and be able to pinpoint his location if he does escape.
The more expensive models are designed to track multiple dogs or to help hunters pinpoint their dogs' location and know whether they are running, sitting, on point or treeing quarry.
Dog GPS tracking collars are a great example.
GPS (Global Positioning System) is a global navigation satellite system developed by the Department of Defense.
Who'd have thought that anything developed by the same folks who build missiles and jet fighters would some day be used to help pet owners find their lost pooches or help hunters keep track of their dogs? The technology to do this was made available by President Ronald Reagan.
According to Wikipedia, "after Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down in 1983 after straying into the USSR's prohibited airspace, President Ronald Reagan issued a a directive making GPS freely available for civilian use as a common good.
" "Initially the highest quality signal was reserved for military use, while the signal available for civilian use was intentionally degraded," Wikipedia says.
But eventually that change, and in 2000, the precision of civilian GPS improved from about 100m to about 20m.
Now global positioning has become more popular and new applications have been developed, such as dog GPS tracking.
Today there are several types of dog GPS tracking collars on the market.
The more inexpensive models, such as the PetSafe GPS Locator, are designed for pet owners who want to be alerted if their dog gets out of the yard and be able to pinpoint his location if he does escape.
The more expensive models are designed to track multiple dogs or to help hunters pinpoint their dogs' location and know whether they are running, sitting, on point or treeing quarry.
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