In April 2006 The Times published a story headlined “Sat-nav dunks dozy drivers in deep water”.

It reported that there a lucrative new sport in the Wiltshire village of Luckington: fishing stranded motorists out of a ford at £25 a time.

Since a road closure, dozens of drivers had blithely followed directions from their satellite navigation systems, not realising that the recommended route went through the ford.

Some farmers charged £25 to give a tow with tractors. On another occasion motorists were sent to the edge of a 100ft drop on an unclassified road at Crackpot in North Yorkshire.

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Which goes to show two things. That sat-navs are the must-haves of today and that they are by no means foolproof.

Sat-nav sales have increased 510 per cent in the past two years, according to market research organisation Mintel, with drivers in Britain spending £305 million on systems last year.

Their popularity is partly down to falling prices, which now average £100 compared to £1,000 when they first arrived.

In the future the devices could merge with in-car entertainment systems to provide music, video, navigational help and mobile communications all in one unit, according to Mintel’s Car Accessories report. Parking sensors and speed camera detectors are two other car accessories enjoying sales increases, the report says.

The first satellite navigation system was Transit, a system deployed by the US military in the 1960s. Satellite navigation allows for hitherto impossible precision in the delivery of weapons to targets.

The best known satellite navigation system is the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS), the only fully functional satellite navigation system. This consists of more than 20 satellites orbiting at an altitude of approximately 20,000km. The satellites are tracked by a world-wide network of monitor stations.

The European Union and European Space Agency has launched its own alternative called Galileo which should be working, under civilian control, from 2010.

Galileo is expected to be compatible with the next-generation GPS system that will be operational by 2012. The receivers will be able to combine the signals from 30 Galileo and 28 GPS satellites to greatly increase the accuracy.

Drivers can use mapping and navigation software to superimpose their position onto a map and through the navigational part of the software, determine the routing to another location.

In-car sat-navs basically break down into four types:

Transferable / Dedicated:
Transferable or dedicated devices are self-contained GPS units that can easily be moved from one vehicle to another and normally come supplied preloaded with the manufacturer’s application software, ready to use straight from the box.

They usually attach to the windscreen and at the lower price bands will have UK mapping pre-installed on the memory card supplied providing voice and visual turn-by-turn instructions when navigating anywhere across the UK.

For those who want to venture further afield European mapping is either available as an optional accessory or you can spend more to cover the whole of Europe – great for those driving holidays.

One thing to watch out for is that many new vehicles are equipped with either a heated screen or a heat reflective screen, which can affect the GPS signal and in some instances block it all together. An external antenna could be the answer.

PDA Based:
The Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) can be used in-car and then hand-held as you walk from a car park to your intended destination.

Standard PDA’s can be used with a ‘Wired receiver’ (also known as trailing lead or GPS mouse). One alternative to these are GPS receivers that use Bluetooth, a wireless technology that connects two devices allowing them to communicate with each other.

Mobile (SmartPhone) based:
Featuring the latest Bluetooth technology you can now use your mobile phone to navigate. By using a Smartphone (Windows-based) or Symbian phone you can have a fully functional navigation system with you at all times.

Tracking Units / Dataloggers:
Tracking units/dataloggers are designed for those people who need to keep an accurate trace on a vehicle or a person’s whereabouts. They act as a regular GPS receiver and will also keep a record of the areas travelled during the day.

Bikers can also benefit from GPS technology. The key requirements for bikers are a waterproof unit, shock resistance and the available mapping options and there are models being specifically designed for this use.

Useful links: www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk