GPS Systems

At the time of writing - and most likely for the foreseeable future, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is the one and only satellite navigation system in civilian use. GPS has revolutionized the way in which we plot our positions on land and sea and in the air.

So how does it work? The earth is orbited by a score or more GPS satellites, each one transmitting timing and location signals back to earth. Commercially available GPS receivers (available in hand held units, and as additional features in mobile phones and even watches) each process the data from the satellites, enabling users to plot their position or find their way.

At its simplest, GPS works on the extrapolation of the time taken for satellites’ signals to reach the receiver. Navigators can then plot their positions based on how long it takes to receive the signal, indicating how far away the source of the signal is, and by extension where they are in relation to it. Bearing in mind that there is an inbuilt time lag of three seconds or so, it is possible to plot coordinates to a remarkable degree of accuracy.

The GPS market is expanding rapidly and manufacturers are working hard to hone the systems all the time. For outdoors adventurers there is the increased level of security that navigating with GPS brings. Thanks to the incredible accuracy of the GPS receivers, hikers are never likely to loose their position; never likely to lose their way.

Find out more about the systems on offer by clicking the links on this page. It’s easy. Invest in GPS for yourself and you’ll find that navigating can be as straightforward as clicking links too.

GPS receivers aren’t just convenient; they’re truly liberating. Now the world really is your oyster…


Satmap Central England 1:50k SD Map Card From John Lewis , &, 10, 150000, active, activity, bedfordshire, bike, camping, card, central, cheshire, counties, derbyshire, digital, england, family, gps, john, landranger, leisure, lewis, lincolnshire, liverpool, manchester, map, ordnance, outdoor, owner, planning... £59.00	Satmap Northern England 1:50k SD Map Card From John Lewis , &, 10, 150000, active, activity, bike, camping, card, counties, cumbria, digital, durham, east, england, family, gps, isle, john, lancashire, landranger, leeds, leisure, lewis, man, map, north, northern, ordnance, outdoor, owner, planning, proud, rid... £59.00	NAVMAN X300 Sat Nav Unit From QED , 16, based, battery, crystal, description, device, display, gps, liquid, measurement, navman, navs, notes, outdoor, portable, purpose, qed, satellite, silver, sports, sportstool, stock, warranty, x300... £79.99
e trex H From Cotswold Outdoors , activity, camping, case, christmas, compact, cotswold, environment, fi, gifts, gps, hiking, hunting, light, operating, outdoor, outdoors, pack, peak, receiver, resistant, screen, shing, side, switches, unit, water... £80.00	Suunto Gps Pod From Venture Sports , activities, crosscountry, cycling, distance, employs, global, gps, heart, hiking, inline, kayaking, meter, monitors, navigation, outdoor, pod, positioning, rate, skating, skiing, speed, sports, suunto, system, t3, t4, t6, track, variety, venture, waterp... £84.99	NAVMAN X300 Sat Nav Unit From Miller Brothers , 16, based, battery, brothers, crystal, description, device, display, gps, liquid, measurement, miller, navman, navs, notes, outdoor, portable, purpose, satellite, silver, sports, sportstool, stock, warranty, x300... £88.41
Garmin Geko 201 GPS ( Garmin Geko 201 ) From Maplin , ·, 12, 20, 201, 201’s, battery, biking, camping, carry, check, game, games, geko, geocaching, gps, hiking, it''s, locations, maplin, mark, nav, navigate, navigation, navigator, outdoor, outdoors, play, played, pocket, points, routes, sa... £89.99	GPS Pod From Cotswold Outdoors , 10plus, aaa, activities, arm, attach, batteries, bike, christmas, cotswold, custom, distance, employs, gifts, global, gps, heart, meter, monitors, outdoor, outdoors, outside, pack, pocket, pod, positioning, pouch, power, rate, slip, speed, strap, suunto... £90.00	Satmap Lake District 1:25k & 1:50k SD Map Card From John Lewis , &, 10, 125000, 150000, active, activity, camping, card, digital, district, explorer, gps, john, lake, landranger, leisure, lewis, map, ordnance, outdoor, owner, planning, proud, ramble, satmap, sd, sport, sports, survey, you&rsquore... £99.00
Satmap Peak District 1:25k & 1:50k SD Map Card From John Lewis , &, 10, 125000, 150000, active, activity, camping, card, digital, district, explorer, gps, john, landranger, leisure, lewis, map, ordnance, outdoor, owner, peak, planning, proud, ramble, satmap, sd, sport, sports, survey, you&rsquore... £99.00	Foretrex 101 Outdoor GPS Watch ( Garmin Foretrex 101 ) From Maplin , ·, 15, 20, 101, 500, a71hy, aaa, activity, adventure, batteries, beginning, cable, campsite, computer, dotted, fishing, foretrex, gliding, gps, hands, hang, hunting, interface, ipx7, kayaking, lightweight, locations, log, lost, maplin, memory, mou... £99.99	FORETREX 201 (GPS) From SatNav2U , 'wearable, enthusiastssporting, ergonomic, navigatorperfect, outdoor, personal, wristband'... £128.85
GPS 60 Handheld Outdoor GPS ( Garmin GPS 60 ) From Maplin , ·, 28, 60, aaa, alarm, batteries, budget, cable, city, clock, connection, database, destination, display, enthusiasts, factory, fishing, functional, games, garmin, geocaching, gps, high, hunting, indoor, interest, interface, internal, ipx7, maplin... £129.99	Foretrex 201 Outdoor GPS Watch ( Garmin Foretrex 201 ) From Maplin , ·, 15, 20, 201, 500, ac, activity, adventure, armed, battery, beginning, cable, campsite, charged, charger, computer, cradle, dotted, fishing, foretrex, foretrx, gliding, gps, hands, hang, hunting, interface, internal, ipx7, kayaking, lightweight,... £129.99	TOPO Great Britain From Cotswold Outdoors , 2gb, 32, 98, 256, advanced, britain, cable, cotswold, covers, created, data, demand, digital, disk, display, drive, dvd, dvdrom, england, enthusiasts, garmin, gps, interface, later, mainland, mapping, maps, mb, navigation, navtec, ordnance, outdoor, out... £149.99
Forerunner 205 From Simply Hike , 205, a/c, cable, cdrom, center, charger, cradle, docking, expander, forerunner, garmin, gps, hike, interface, leisure, manual, outdoor, owners, strap, system, systems, training, usb... £169.50	eTrex Legend HCx Handheld Outdoor GPS ( eTrex Legend HCx ) From Maplin , ·, 256, accepts, accidental, adding, adventure, africa, area, atlantic, automatic, basemap, battery, boundaries, bright, cable, card, cards, cities, city, compartment, computer, connection, conveniently, cover, covers, crevasses, crisp, data, deep... £169.99	Garmin forerunner 305 From Tesco , 12, 305, a/c, additionally, antenna, based, battery, cable, centre, channel, charger, chest, compact, data, design, enthusiasts, fitness, forerunner, garmin, goals, gps, grey, heart, high, internal, lightweight, lithiumion, mains, monitor, outdoor, para... £199.99
GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld Outdoor GPS ( GPS 60CSX ) From Maplin , ·, 18, 60csx, 64mb, a11bl, aa, accessory, accurate, altimeter, automatic, automotive, autoroute, barometric, basemap, batteries, battery, bracket, cable, canyons, card, cards, compartment, compass, computer, conditions, cover, data, deep, determin... £269.99	X10 Military From Simply Hike , 10, baclight, battery, celebrating, compass, computer, conditions, degrees, difficult, faster, gps, hike, launch, lightest, military, mils, navigation, outdoor, outdoors, red, smallest, suunto, tracking, units, unlike, usb, watches, world&aposs, wristop... £298.00	X10 From Simply Hike , 10, battery, celebrating, computer, conditions, difficult, faster, gps, hike, launch, lightest, navigation, outdoor, outdoors, smallest, suunto, tracking, unlike, usb, watches, world&aposs, wristop, x10... £298.00
Oregon 300 Outdoor GPS ( Garmin Oregon 300 ) From Maplin , ·, 114l, 193g, 240, 300, 36dcm, 3inch, 400, 58w, 60529, aa, acquisition, adventure, adventures, altimeter, automotive, barometric, basemap, batteries, battery, cable, carabineer, card, clip, compass, contents, customise, decrease, dem, detailed, d... £329.99	Colorado 300 Handheld Outdoor GPS ( Garmin Colorado 300 ) From Maplin , ‘n, ·, 15, 240, 300, 384, 400, aa, addition, adventures, altimeter, automotive, barometric, basemap, batteries, bottom, cable, cache, carabineer, card, clip, colorado, compass, configurable, customise, data, descriptions, design, detailed, di... £349.99