Information

This section provides background information on GPS and other satellite navigation systems plus an in depth view on coordinate systems.

Satellite navigation for beginners

If you are new to the world of GPS and would like to know more, then our overview of GPS and beginners guide to GPS may help.

GPS and Ordnance Survey Mapping

Compatibility problems or simply want more information on how to best utilise your GPS? Read our GPS and Ordnance Survey mapping and FAQs sections.

Still want to find out more?

Links to other resources - organisations and recommendations of additional sources of information that might be of interest or use.

GPS Jamming

Ofcom provide a free subscription service giving notice of any planned GPS jamming exercises brought to their attention by the Ministry of Defence.  Link to Ofcom GPS Jamming notification subscription page.  It must be noted that this service may not cover all jamming exercises nor may it be assumed that any loss of service is due to jamming exercises.

Where on Earth..?

OSGB36^®? WGS84? Latitude and longitude? If these descriptions sound more like gobbledegook than plain English, then check out our Guide to coordinate systems in Great Britain. 

Whilst lacking the reassuring words 'don't panic' of some publications on its cover, you will find this an excellent source of information and a gentle introduction into what can be a very confusing subject. 

The guide can also be considered essential reading for anyone trying to work with coordinates in Great Britain and is available as a PDF to download. 

Projection utilities

For those who know their convergence from their local scale factors, we produce an Excel^®  spreadsheet containing these and other useful projection functions. 

The spreadsheet includes functions to convert the format of a coordinate, an approximate transformation between GPS and National Grid coordinates as well as other applications. 

All the formulae detailed in the Guide to coordinate systems in Great Britain (which forms the user manual to this spreadsheet) are given here and is a recommended read. 

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