EDITORIAL INFORMATION

GPS (Global Positioning System) - the first navigation system with a worldwide coverage which can be used any time and in any weather conditions - is at last available at a reasonable cost.

This book, aimed at those who want to purchase or study GPS in depth, tries to help its users so as to get maximum profit from their devices as well as use all their functions, ranging from how to obtain a simple position and bearing to follow, to how to connect it to a radar, loran, automatic pilot, log, plotter or video probe. Conrad Dixon explains the use and interpretation of received data, how to check their accuracy and how to adjust them in case it is necessary. He advises what one must look at when purchasing the set, how to get the maximum precision in its use, and he also clarifies the name jargon that appears in the manuals. The following devices are studied in detail: Garmin, Maguellan, Apelco, Raytheon Echostar, Micrologic Admiral.

(Extracted form the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-1- Cómo Funciona el GPS.

-2- Los Receptores de GPS y su Instalación.

-3- Puesta en Marcha y Primeros Problemas.

-4- Posición y Estado.

-5- Cómo Ir a Sitios.

-6- El Directorio de Puntos de Paso y Cómo Crear una Ruta.

-7- Desvío Transversal.

-8- Funciones Especiales.

-9- Alarmas y Avisos.

-10- Precisión, Fallos y Otros Usos del GPS.

-Glosario.

-Índice.

OUR REVIEW

Noray publishing house, devoted to the publishing of works related to sea navigation, could not ignore one of the issues which are becoming fashionable nowadays: the GPS systems. Such systems make good use of the information on position provided by the American satellites Navstar, originally devised for military applications.

Although the receivers which utilize the signals of their Russian counterparts, the Uragan/GLONASS system, will soon be available, and despite the fact that the market for such devices is nowadays bursting with new models and brands, the book makes a good review of the basics in the system (even though it does not study the satellites themselves in depth), while focusing on whatever may be of interest to the user.

This is an interesting, easy to read book, which devotes a great part of its contents to the practical questions in the use of GPS receivers and their utilization in real life, basically onboard ships. Anyway, we will mention its erroneous cover, which shows the image of two Viking Martian probes as if they were Earth satellites.