I saw a project where you can incorporate a serial GPS device with an LCD on a microcontroller I believe. It seems interesting to try but I was wondering if you had to pay some company monthly to provide your chip with GPS information? Or is it just out there and avaliable to everyone? Actually my main goal is to have GPS on a budget as I get lost very easily in my own city and do not feel like paying the $80 per month for a GPS cell phone like I had planned. Any thoughts or suggestions?
2007-11-21 18:54:23 · 6 answers · asked by Jerome54 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s6-1uS0Pm_U
its a video I stumbled on, these guys seem to have a lot of fun!
2007-11-21 21:19:07 · update #1
First, a GPS chip simply will get info from the satellites - it won't have information (e.g.: maps) to help you. It's not a bad thing to have, and I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but I'm guessing it's not just knowing your latitude and longitude.
Second, I don't know who pays $80/mo for a cell phone. Even with Verizon, although I didn't do it, they were only asking $10 or so.
I bought for my car a Gamin 360 - cost $350 (they're cheaper now), had maps of the country, spoken turn names, everything. Best thing I ever bought, nearly. I moved to a more "complicated" area and this has saved my butt more times than I can count. If you are in a city that is easy to get lost in (it happens - Manhattan, maybe not, but Boston, definitely) then get a GPS, but for goodness sakes, don't spend $80/month on it. You can get all you need for three or so "months" worth of payments on it.
2007-11-21 19:02:15 · answer #1 · answered by T J 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The GPS information is free (or rather, paid for with your tax dollars). Once you've paid for the device, be it a bare bones GPS chip or a full-fledged Garmin unit, you need not pay any further fees.
If all you need is GPS, skip the phone with all of its monthly charges and buy a handheld GPS unit - or build your own if you're so inclined.
2007-11-22 03:09:21 · answer #2 · answered by Doxycycline 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
in my country (philippines) its free depending on the phone unit and the type of subscription. For prepaid cellphone they will charge you for every sms they send u regarding locations.... but i think that US$80.00 is way too high. maybe the people in your country dont use it as often and is deemed a luxury.
2007-11-22 03:00:44 · answer #3 · answered by Stefani 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i no its out there,not noing where,but have seen it,goes thru a tower just like the first ones
2007-11-22 15:50:33 · answer #4 · answered by THE"IS" 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Larry this is very interesting I need to know more.
2007-11-22 02:58:29 · answer #5 · answered by SpokenTRUTH08 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
flying a kite wood bee better, go fly a kite''
2007-11-22 10:53:27 · answer #6 · answered by kay kay 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋