rabbithutch

Being the tadpole that I am here, perhaps this has been discussed elsewhere. If so, please point me to it. It occurred to me that GCing and surveying land parcels are not so distantly related in that they both depend on locating specific places on the face of the Earth. By extension, the question then arose as to whether or not any GC tools could be used to locate land parcels. Of course, with LatN/LongW and enough precision one should be able to put oneself on a parcel of land and locate same on a map. However, in many of the Eastern States, land parcel deed descriptions do not contain any LatN/LongW data but rely on a system of metes and bounds. With the USGS topo maps available for computer use and software to put oneself on points on those maps, it seems that one should be able to navigate within a USGS topo map - provided one chooses the appropriate one to download - using descriptions from deed descriptions or survey records IF there is any way to establish a known waypoint within the USGS map. So, the question is, "Does anyone know of software that allows one to combine USGS maps with one's deed or survey descriptions to locate property on maps?" This question presupposes that USGS maps have been used extensively in land surveying and that some database(s) has been created to related the survey descriptions to map coordinates. The primary use I would make of such a tool would be to locate information I've uncovered in family history research on valid maps. Of course, using metes and bounds descriptions would add to the challenge of GCing, too.

Is there an app that will reveal L/L on an iPhone? Can anyone compare the accuracy of the GPSr in an iPhone with say Nuvis and then hand-held GC-friendly units? Relative comparisons that are subjective really aren't what I'm asking. Can you give comparisons using Long/Lat results? Judging by the maps on my iPhone 3G. I'd say they are accurate enough for car travel, but I'm curious as to how much precision there is in the L/L. For example, if a Garmin hand-held has precision of seconds to 6 decimals, what precision does the iPhone 3G have? I read today that the 4G will have L/L coordinates for pics and addresses. Waiting to see about that.

This has been a great thread for me. Before I start I want to thank the OP and everyone who has replied. I'm a geezer but a noob to GC. I know only the very little that I've read on the 'net; and that, of course, can be very confusing. I have an old Street Pilot (NOT suitable for GC IMO) and a very old Magellan brick (prob. not GC friendly). Being retired, I don't have extra cash; so need to spend wisely and had about convinced myself that a Nuvi 1300 would be the best buy for me and the bride (which would rule out buying a unit to dedicate to GC). Reading this thread gives me hope that I can buy a Nuvi and still enjoy the kind of not-too-rigorous GCing that I can do. At least until I find the limits of a Nuvi for the GCing that I will do. The problem is that I don't know much about either GCing or vehicle GPS systems (or hand-held GC-friendly units). I have lots of questions, but I'll only ask a couple - OK 3 - of them here. 1) How can I determine whether or not a particular Nuvi has WAAS? (Specifically the 1300). 2) Is the Garmin Nuvi 1300 series suitable for the needs I described above or is there another Nuvi series I should look closely at? The 1300 at $120 sounds like a bargain but I've spent money unwisely before 23) Why are there 2 types of GPSr? It seems to me that Garmin could make topo maps for the Nuvi. Surely that cannot be more memory or processing intensive than all the street names, POIs, traffic, et al functions made for the motorist's use. (Remember that I confessed my ignorance up front). Would be great if the admins here could create a forum for Nuvi and other motorist's unit posts.

Thanks for the responses, folks! I think I'll dig the old Magellan out and see if it gives me anything close. It'll be a lot easier than trying to get the funds for an Oregon out of the Finance Department. I remember that the old receiver tracked 3 sats; so that signal acquisition will not be like a modern unit. Then again, we don't have the tree cover here in Texas that will hamper it all that much either. But, it doesn't matter much because I might discover that I won't spend much time at the hunt, anyway. Thanks again!

Just discovered geocaching and thought it might be something I'd like to try. I'm retired and it would be nice to have some goal oriented activity that will take me out to interesting pursuits. I found geocaching.com and have been reading various web pages. I have an iPhone and downloaded the geocaching app. From investigating the app, I discovered that there are lots of caches in my area. I have an old Magellan hand held GPS (don't remember the model). I bought it new sometime between '97 and '00. It is a brick! About the same size and weight and burns batteries pretty quickly; however, I wondered if I could use it (instead of my Garmin auto unit ) for Long/Lat readings. IIRC, when I got this receiver, the accuracy was within about 50 yards. What I don't recall is whether this was built into the receiver (for military/national defense, I think) or the signal. Can anyone help me here? I realize one might need the Magellan model number but I'll have to find it before I can tell you. I thought maybe this question might save me the effort of looking for it if the offset is built into the receiver. TIA