which Coordinate system?

[FunkyGibbon_1970]

Hello,

I've been dabling with geocaching with not much success, I have a question please, which coord system should i be using on my device?

deg/min.mm

deg/min.mmm

deg/min/sec

Im using a Magellan 315 Mentor

 

Thanks in advance

Shaun

[+Shaved Ewok]

Hello,

I've been dabling with geocaching with not much success, I have a question please, which coord system should i be using on my device?

deg/min.mm

deg/min.mmm

deg/min/sec

Im using a Magellan 315 Mentor

 

Thanks in advance

Shaun

 

Deg/min.mmm

[+eusty]

And make sure the datum is WGS84

[+Mineral2]

It doesn't really matter. I often use the UTM grid because it's easier to locate yourself on a map.

[robertlipe]

The answers above are spot-on, except perhaps for Mineral2's which doesn't really apply as this isn't a mapping model.

 

The Magellan 315 is about 14 years old. The original version had some really wacky resolutions (remember, this was a unit designed while selective availability was still a thing) like not displaying feet, so you could only see ".1 miles" or something. There was an upgrade that added "feet" (maybe meters) as a break after "miles". Finding that on the web might be a bit tough. The company has been bought and sold so many times since that unit was made that they'll be no help. If you have the cable, you can probably find the upgrade and squirt it in which should get you to DD MM.MMM and frankly, for a unit of this age, I wouldn't bother buying a cable - most people will also need a serial/USB adapter to go with the cable and in the end, it'll still be a pretty frustrating experience even after you work through the cabling/upgrade/operational issues. Frankly, even a really bottom-end newer device like an Explorist GC or an Etrex 10/20 will be less annoying if you find this one needs the upgrades and you have to enter the cable game.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=13 often has newer

[FunkyGibbon_1970]

Thanks for all you replies, yes the 315 is an old unit, it was a cheap introduction to geocaching and it seems to work well for my needs,

I was using GRB36 datum dont know why, i just associated it with GB or UK, I have now changed it to WGS84 and will see if I have more luck with that,

the problem i have been having is it sends me to the wrong place, if I google the OS grid refrence it gives me it correctly puts me in my back garden, but the log/lat put me a 2 doors away in my street, it may be the age of the unit or more likely something im doing wrong or even googlemaps,

I did make a homebrew seial cable for it and got NMEA out but not tried uploading to the unit yet, maybe thats the next thing

 

Thanks again

[+Mineral2]

Nah, you mis-understood the use for UTM... It's useful for transferring your coordinates to a paper map, where the UTM grid is drawn out at a finer resolution. But then, I learned to navigate with a map and compass, and learned to integrate GPS technology on a non-mapping unit.

 

But for geocaching, it matters not which coordinate system you use (the datum, however, is important). Your device will convert all coordinates to whatever system you are using, and then plots your location and gives you a fairly accurate bearing with which to follow to get to the cache... that is, if your unit can keep good signal reception. (I don't think the high sensitivity antennas were standard back then)

[FunkyGibbon_1970]

Signal reception is good even close to buildings or under tree cover, now i've changed the datum i will go out at the weekend to a few known caches and see how it goes