Co-ordinates

[Scorpanicus]

I note that the geocache site co-ordinates are given in two sets of digits. The first is 6 digit, the secomd 7 digits. (E 435468 N 5064208)

If I manually enter a waypoint in my gps or create one with 'Mark' it has two sets of 7 digits.

Why does one set of the geocache co-ordinates only have 6 digits?

Thanks.

[+kunarion]

I note that the geocache site co-ordinates are given in two sets of digits. The first is 6 digit, the secomd 7 digits. (E 435468 N 5064208)

If I manually enter a waypoint in my gps or create one with 'Mark' it has two sets of 7 digits.

Why does one set of the geocache co-ordinates only have 6 digits?

Thanks.

If you're asking for general information about coordinate systems, and "UTM" in particular, this may help, at least with the 6-digit/7-digit part of the question: https://www.maptools.com/tutorials/utm/quick_guide

 

If instead you want to find Geocaches, you should start by setting the GPS receiver to use the same coordinate system that the Geocaching.com site uses.

 

A GPSr may be set to one of many settings. Geocaching.com coordinates are presented in a particular way, which is often the default setting on a Garmin GPSr and others: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=531

 

Edited November 3, 2016 by kunarion

[Keystone]

And here's another Help Center article about different coordinate formats. UTM isn't even listed, as it's not used as much as the others.

[Scorpanicus]

Thanks for the replies. I have my gps position format set to 'New Zealand' 'Geod datum 49'

This gives digital co-ordinates that correspond to my printed paper topo maps grid system. (I prefer using these over lat & long)

If I use the 'mark waypoint' function it produces two sets of 7 digits for the location. (E & N)

I was just confused as to why the digital geocache co-ordinates given on the site only have a group of 6 digits in the first group.

(I'm probably missing something here, but if the gps actually marks a pos with 7 digits, why does the 'geocache' (E) position only show 6?)

[+kunarion]

Thanks for the replies. I have my gps position format set to 'New Zealand' 'Geod datum 49'

This gives digital co-ordinates that correspond to my printed paper topo maps grid system. (I prefer using these over lat & long)

If I use the 'mark waypoint' function it produces two sets of 7 digits for the location. (E & N)

I was just confused as to why the digital geocache co-ordinates given on the site only have a group of 6 digits in the first group.

(I'm probably missing something here, but if the gps actually marks a pos with 7 digits, why does the 'geocache' (E) position only show 6?)

Different coordinate systems display coordinates in different ways. The web site shows coordinates as "HDD MM.mmm" and also in UTM, not 'New Zealand' 'Geod datum 49'. See post #2 above.

Edited November 6, 2016 by kunarion

[Scorpanicus]

Thanks for the replies. I have my gps position format set to 'New Zealand' 'Geod datum 49'

This gives digital co-ordinates that correspond to my printed paper topo maps grid system. (I prefer using these over lat & long)

If I use the 'mark waypoint' function it produces two sets of 7 digits for the location. (E & N)

I was just confused as to why the digital geocache co-ordinates given on the site only have a group of 6 digits in the first group.

(I'm probably missing something here, but if the gps actually marks a pos with 7 digits, why does the 'geocache' (E) position only show 6?)

Different coordinate systems display coordinates in different ways. The web site shows coordinates as "HDD MM.mmm" and also in UTM, not 'New Zealand' 'Geod datum 49'. See post #2 above.

 

Ok. Thanks kunarion. I guess it just threw me as I expected NZ caches to be given in 'New Zealand' notation which corresponds with topo maps here.

[+Windstorm+]

If I use the 'mark waypoint' function it produces two sets of 7 digits for the location. (E & N)

I was just confused as to why the digital geocache co-ordinates given on the site only have a group of 6 digits in the first group.

(I'm probably missing something here, but if the gps actually marks a pos with 7 digits, why does the 'geocache' (E) position only show 6?)

The Easting (E) can be written as 7 digits, but the first digit is almost always zero, so often the zero is dropped and it's written as 6 digits. To enter the 6-digit coordinate in the 7-digit space on your gps, just put the zero back in front and enter the other 6 digits. For example, (E 435468 N 5064208) gets entered in the gps as (E 0435468 N 5064208).