GPS FAQs

How does GPS work? How does it transmit?

GPS stands for Global Positioning Satellites. It is a misnomer that a GPS unit “Transmits” a signal to the satellites, instead the satellites transmit a signal to earth that can be read by the GPS receiver (thus it is a passive system) the GPS receiver then uses the signal data and the positions of multiple satellites to calculate its own position.

In a live tracking system the GPS receiver is coupled with either a Radio transmitter or a cell phone based system. The unit transmits its position via data to a cell tower between 5-15 minutes. This is the only active transmission of the device and only lasts a few seconds.