HikingFamilyof4 Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Hi, I so confused my loacl city is putting on a Geo-quest and all their coordinates are 8 digit numbers instead of 7. I have 2 different Garmin GPS and nither will accept 8 digit coordinates. Do you have to use all 8 digits or can you accurately skip the last? Quote Link to comment
+Brooklyn51 Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Can you post an example or two? Maybe one of the digits should actually be a letter, like N or W, or some other format is being used? Quote Link to comment
+ClaytonH Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Odd, my magellan is the exact opposite, and I just add a 0 to the end. I'm guessing you can likely omit the last number and still be ok Quote Link to comment
+JBnW Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Could be a couple of things: First, make sure the coords from the City are in the correct format NXX XX.XXX WYYY YY.YYY It could be that they are using a different format, and if so you can set your Garmin to accept those. Second, if these are in the correct format, just with an extra digit, you can round that last digit off. Many cities have a GIS system that is based on real survey data which is more accurate (and has more digits) than most handhelds are capable of. They just might be publishing what their GIS spits out without realizing it's more accuracy than anybody needs (or can use). If you're still having problems, please let us know and we'll be happy to help. Cheers! Quote Link to comment
HikingFamilyof4 Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 Can you post an example or two? Maybe one of the digits should actually be a letter, like N or W, or some other format is being used? Example1 39.110123N 94.404007W Example 2 39.063400N 94.423158W Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 They are using Decimal degrees 51.55160, -2.55255 rather than the usual caching Degrees and decimal minutes N51°33.096', W2°33.153' Also available are Degrees minutes and seconds N51°33'05.7", W2°33'09.2" An explanation can be found here: http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk/resources/gps.html#coords (Hope they have the correct Datum set! WGS84) Quote Link to comment
+JBnW Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 OK. The coordinates are in a different format, which your Garmins will accept. You didn't mention which model(s) you have, but this is commonly in something like "System>Setup>Units", and you should change it to "hddd.ddddd". Then enter all these coordinates. Then, change the GPS back to "hddd mm.mmm" to be consistent with the coordinate format of Geocaching, so that all your other coordinates will "fit". The GPS will do all the calculations for you. Also, you may wish to ensure that the City is giving the coordinates using the proper Datum, which is WGS84. They most-likely are using WGS84, but now is a good time to check before going through the troubles of typing in bad coordinates. Cheers! Quote Link to comment
+Brooklyn51 Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 You could also Google a coordinate converter which converts a set format into the others. For instance decimal degrees to degrees and decimal minutes goes like this: Example 1 converts to N 39 06.607 W 94 24.240 Example 2 converts to N 39 03.804 W 94 25.389 This is a link to the converter I use, a very handy utility http://boulter.com/gps/#39.063400%20-94.423158 Another handy utility calculates distances between 2 coordinates http://boulter.com/gps/distance/ Quote Link to comment
+DonB Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Can you post an example or two? Maybe one of the digits should actually be a letter, like N or W, or some other format is being used? Example1 39.110123N 94.404007W Example 2 39.063400N 94.423158W If you want to convert them to the format Groundspeak uses just multiply the decimal part of the coordinate by 60 and round the answer off to three decimal places. Example 1 39 6.60738 rounded off to 39 6.607 94 24.24042 rounded off to 94 24.240 Or if you don't want to do it yourself there are several online sites or freeware downloads that will do it for you. Quote Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Can you post an example or two? Maybe one of the digits should actually be a letter, like N or W, or some other format is being used? Example1 39.110123N 94.404007W Example 2 39.063400N 94.423158W If you want to convert them to the format Groundspeak uses just multiply the decimal part of the coordinate by 60 and round the answer off to three decimal places. Example 1 39 6.60738 rounded off to 39 6.607 94 24.24042 rounded off to 94 24.240 Or if you don't want to do it yourself there are seve ral online sites or freeware downloads that will do it for you. http://www.geocaching.com/wpt/ Quote Link to comment
HikingFamilyof4 Posted August 5, 2010 Author Share Posted August 5, 2010 You could also Google a coordinate converter which converts a set format into the others. For instance decimal degrees to degrees and decimal minutes goes like this: Example 1 converts to N 39 06.607 W 94 24.240 Example 2 converts to N 39 03.804 W 94 25.389 This is a link to the converter I use, a very handy utility http://boulter.com/gps/#39.063400%20-94.423158 Another handy utility calculates distances between 2 coordinates http://boulter.com/gps/distance/ Thank you To everyone that got me educated on that subject!!!!!! The Website Above worked PERFECT! It converted and it got me exactly to the point! I however did try just leaveing off the last digit and it ssaid I was 13 miles off, so the conversion was the fix@! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment
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