2 Gps Questions

[+Kenderwolf]

1) I have an old eTrex - grey in color, not sure how old it is as I bought it from a friend. I have two questions: is there an odometer somewhere? I hiked/seeked for 7 hours today but have NO idea how far I traveled. I purchased a pedometer to count steps for next time, but an odometer on the GPS would be even better. According the online manual I think there should be one, but I can't find it.

 

UPDATED: Thanks for all the info -- I've found the odometer thanks to everyone's help!

 

2) Can anyone tell me, roughly, how to determine mileage distance between points based on coordinates? For example, if one coordinate's minutes are 25.000 and the other is 25.001, how far away is that in miles?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited January 4, 2006 by Kenderwolf

[+Alan2]

I'm not sure which model you have in the Etrex line. However, there should be a page called Trip Computer or something like that where you can get totalizatin of travelling.

 

However, you will find that due to the error in computer current position, the trip odometer can be off substantially especially indicating much longer trips than you actually took. This is complicated by the fact that if you're walking under foliage, and you lose a lock on the satellites, the GPS will assume straight line trips from the last good signal to the next, which increases the inaccuracy.

 

You'll be better off with a pedometer.

[+GOT GPS?]

I think that would be the eTrex Summit

 

Here is the manual for the Etrex Summit

http://www.garmin.com/manuals/eTrexSummit_OwnersManual.pdf

Try Page 25 of the Manual for the Trip Odometer, and Trip Time

 

There is no Trip Computer Page, but you can change the info on the Compass page of the Etrex Summit GPS.

[arthurking83]

2) Can anyone tell me, roughly, how to determine mileage distance between points based on coordinates?  For example, if one coordinate's minutes are 25.000 and the other is 25.001, how far away is that in miles?

 

Thanks in advance.

I think this is hard to do without resorting to some serious maths.

It's easier to work out the distance between 2 lattitudes, to a reasonable estimate, something like 110km between each lattitude integer value, but longitude is harder to figure out due to the convergence of the lines.

 

If you were in the arctic region near 89° north, I think the difference between an single integer of longitude is about 1.5kms

 

so the easiest method to work out the distance of point A and point B is to use an online Distance Tool

[+Kenderwolf]

I think this is hard to do without resorting to some serious maths.

It's easier to work out the distance between 2 lattitudes, to a reasonable estimate, something like 110km between each lattitude integer value, but longitude is harder to figure out due to the convergence of the lines.

 

If you were in the arctic region near 89° north, I think the difference between an single integer of longitude is about 1.5kms

 

so the easiest method to work out the distance of point A and point B is to use an online Distance Tool

Oh, thank you so much -- that will definitely help. I figured there was probably some serious math involved that would bury me in calcuations. Appriciate the link very much.

[+Sputnik 57]

Surface distance between two points. All math done by java script elves in the back room.

[Vlad]

i dont' have my yellow on me today but if i recall correctly by pressing up or down on the compass screen you will cycle through all the different field types and odometer is one of them (if i recall correctly)