Can You Do It?
The Commercial Market
Innovations
The Magellan Systems Corporation produced some of the earliest hand-held GPS units for civilian use. In 1986 its engineers began experimenting with electronic mockups of a unit. This is the earliest “breadboard” used to test circuitry and components at Magellan.
The Magellan Systems Corporation produced some of the earliest hand-held GPS units for civilian use. In 1986 its engineers began experimenting with electronic mockups of a unit. This is the earliest keyboard used to test circuitry and components at Magellan.
The Magellan Systems Corporation produced some of the earliest hand-held GPS units for civilian use. In 1986 its engineers began experimenting with electronic mockups of a unit. This is the power supply used to test circuitry and components at Magellan.
This receiver was designed for navigating on land using the same Transit satellite transmissions used to steer submarines. Smithsonian scientists used this receiver while doing geological field work in the 1980s. It enabled them to navigate vast expanses of desert devoid of landmarks. The Transit navigation system ended service in 1996.
Made by Texas Instruments in 1981, this is one of the first commercial GPS receivers and antennas. The National Geodetic Survey, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Naval Surface Weapons Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, used such receivers for surveying the Earth’s precise shape.
This equipment, originally built by NAVSYS of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the basis of a federal experimental emergency response system from 1995. Tested in Colorado, the system relied on GPS data, cellular telephone connections, and map databases. Commercial services—Ford’s Rescu and General Motors OnStar—superseded this test system.
