News & Publicity FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2000 Contact: James L. Willinger (800) 433-0616

GPS SIGNAL NO LONGER SCRAMBLED FOR CIVILIANS PHOENIX: Today, consumers who use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) will benefit from greater system accuracy, now that the Pentagon's practice of intentionally degrading the signal to civilian users ended May 3, 2000. Originally designed as a U.S. Department of Defense navigation aid, GPS technology became accessible to the public in 1995, according to James L. Willinger, vice president of Wide World of Maps, one of the Valley's largest retailers of consumer GPS equipment. With the use of signals transmitted from military satellites, hand-held GPS receivers are able to do complex calculations to locate and graphically display your position on the earth. The GPS units also processes data to display routes to other points, record movement, direction, distance, speed and altitude. This information can be very helpful for a variety of outdoor recreation activities or when driving in an unfamiliar area. Many GPS units can also plug into a computer where points and locations can be downloaded, uploaded and become interactive to map a trip, complete with navigation points, road condition and even weather information. Since its inception, the satellite-based GPS signals for civilian use have been degraded with an accuracy of about 100 meters, according to a CNN report. That policy was meant to prevent potential adversaries from using GPS technology to launch attacks against US forces or targets. An unscrambled signal has never before been available to civilians. Consumers will immediately see the benefit of the more accurate signal, Willinger added. Because you never knew how clear or scrambled the signal was in the past, it was difficult to have confidence in the information you received. Now a GPS reading will be accurate within 20 to 50 feet, or better. Wide World of Maps offers a wide selection of GPS models by Garmin and Magellan, starting at under $100. Wide World of Maps occasionally conducts hands-on classes on how to use GPS technology. Call (602) 279-2323 or (480) 844-1134 for more information. Wide World of Maps is relocating its Mesa location (currently at 1334 South Country Club Road) to be more accessible for East Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe and Chandler residents. The new store opens May 26th at 1444 West Southern Avenue in Mesa; just minutes from the entire East Valley by using Highway 60 and the new Highway 101 Loop. It's in the Fiesta Plaza shopping center northeast of Mesa Community College and right across the street from Fiesta Mall on the northeast corner of Longmore and Southern. Their Phoenix store remains at 2626 West Indian School Road, just west of I-17. Founded in 1975 by Robert Molner, Wide World of Maps is an Arizona-based map company with design, production, wholesale and retail activities. The company's website at www.maps4u.com features secure on-line shopping for thousands of items (including GPS units and accessories) and consumer information about maps. The Phoenix Mapping Service division publishes the metropolitan street atlases for Phoenix and Tucson and a variety of custom maps for government and business. For information on anything map-related, call (602) 279-2323. ### How the GPS System Works: Launched by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Global Positioning System became fully operational in 1994 with 24 satellites in orbit. The system has been functional much longer than that and was used, for example, in the Gulf War in 1991. The GPS system depends on two things to make it work: First, each satellite has an on-board atomic clock that gives it an extremely precise time base. The satellites send radio signals to the receiver, and the precise time bases make it possible for the receiver to determine exactly how far away each satellite is. The receiver is able to calculate exactly how long it took for the signal to travel from the satellite to the receiver, and from that time determine the exact distance between the receiver and the satellite. Second, each receiver has stored in memory an almanac that indicates where each satellite is in its orbit at any given moment. The almanac is possible because of the extremely precise orbits flown by the satellites. Since the receiver knows exactly where each satellite is (from the almanac) and exactly how far away each satellite is (from the radio signals it receives), the receiver can calculate its exact location in space. There are a couple of extremely interesting problems that have been glossed over here however. For example, a $100 hand-held GPS receiver certainly does not contain an atomic clock itself, so how does it synchronize itself with the satellites? It turns out that the radio signals sent by the satellites contain extra information that allows a receiver to derive the exact time from the radio signals it receives. The receiver must be able see multiple satellites for this algorithm to work, but what it means is that once a GPS receiver has locked on to 3 or more satellites, it is itself functioning with atomic clock accuracy. ###

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