+Korichnovui Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 I swear, the hardest part to making a new geocache is dealing with the website! It seems to insist on using DDM coordinates. So I need something on the web that can convert GPS coordinates INTO the DDM format. But there doesn't seem to be any decent sites that do this!! The few I've googled up are all really crappy / not easy to use. Does someone have a nice one on hand? Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) I use GPS Boulter and love it. It converts coords to all formats. Edited April 14, 2018 by Max and 99 1 Quote Link to comment
+Korichnovui Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 Thanks I suppose this site is working pretty well for me Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Where are you getting the "GPS coordinates" from? A GPS unit, I assume? It should be possible to configure your unit to use DDM format, no? Having done that, all previously recorded waypoints, your new caches etc., will be read out correctly. Quote Link to comment
+Korichnovui Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 I use an iPhone, which has the compass app and also google maps, neither of which seems to prefer DDM format, so things have been a little tricky Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Do NOT use the iPhone's native compass app for taking coordinates. The Degree/Minutes/Seconds format is terrible for geocaching, due to its lack of precision. Where I live, 1 second represents about 100 feet latitude and 76 feet longitude . That means your coordinates could indicate a spot anywhere within a 7,600 square foot area. Obviously, that lack of precision is not acceptable for geocaching. Geocaching.com uses the Degree/Decimal-Minutes format (DD° MM.mmm') as the standard. It's what virtually all GPS units come set to from the factory. It's precise to about 6 feet (or about a 36 square foot area). Converting from one format to another does not increase the precision. You just end up with bad coordinates in a different format. As a reviewer, bad coordinates taken with the iPhone compass app are a top ten problem in the cache review process. 5 Quote Link to comment
+on4bam Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Try this one but remember GIGO (Garbage In = Garbage Out). Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 If you have the Geocaching app on your iPhone, you can set it up for DD MM.mmm (which will simplify your edit cache page issues) and use it to take coords - bottom of article on accurate coords in the Help Center illustrates this. 1 Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 10 hours ago, Max and 99 said: I use GPS Boulter and love it. It converts coords to all formats. +1 That one is especially good if you already have coordinates copied to paste. There is one box to enter the whole line, just like what is shown on a cache page. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) 9 hours ago, Korichnovui said: I use an iPhone, which has the compass app and also google maps, neither of which seems to prefer DDM format, so things have been a little tricky Use "Commander Compass" instead, and select DDM. Or look at the coordinates shown on the Official Geocaching App at the selected cache site. Or search the store for "Free GPS". The Geocaching App allows saving waypoints. In any case, you could take a screenshot of coordinates. Edited April 14, 2018 by kunarion 1 Quote Link to comment
+Korichnovui Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) Yeah I also noticed that the native apple compass does not have good resolution, so I was using google maps which seemed really accurate I'll try the geocaching.com app and some of the other things mentioned here, thanks guys! Edited April 14, 2018 by Korichnovui Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 I'm surprised Keystone didn't react to the Google Maps part of that sentence. Plucking coords from an online map is also a no-no for hiding a cache. It's not precise enough. Satellite imagery is often misaligned by at least a little, occasionally a lot. Quote Link to comment
+Korichnovui Posted April 14, 2018 Author Share Posted April 14, 2018 Well I have used the google maps at the site of the cache and make a waypoint and use those coordinates from what I can tell so far, it has been very accurate as I’ve been a bit anal about checking it between other applications such as geocaching.com Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 As I stated in an old thread, I was not happy when Groundspeak removed the coordinate conversion feature from the geocache page (it was on every page, just below the coordinates). I used that thing so often, then suddenly it was gone! Quote Link to comment
+noncentric Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 44 minutes ago, Korichnovui said: Well I have used the google maps at the site of the cache and make a waypoint and use those coordinates from what I can tell so far, it has been very accurate as I’ve been a bit anal about checking it between other applications such as geocaching.com Have you checked the coords when actually navigating to a cache? That is where it becomes an issue. Quote Link to comment
+Henne1312 Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 I use https://www.deine-berge.de/Rechner/Koordinaten/ It´s in german, but I think it´s self-explaining. Quote Link to comment
+*GeoPunx* Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 When I find myself needing to convert coordinates for any reason; this site has not steered me wrong yet: Earthpoint Quote Link to comment
+Jayeffel Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 (edited) On 4/14/2018 at 6:28 AM, Isonzo Karst said: If you have the Geocaching app on your iPhone, you can set it up for DD MM.mmm (which will simplify your edit cache page issues) and use it to take coords - bottom of article on accurate coords in the Help Center illustrates this. I see no way to do that on the Geocaching App on my iPhone. Under "setting" all options I see are to use "metric system" or not, or the get a "close to cache warning" or not. Edited April 17, 2018 by Jayeffel grammar errors Quote Link to comment
+The A-Team Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 10 hours ago, Jayeffel said: I see no way to do that on the Geocaching App on my iPhone. Under "setting" all options I see are to use "metric system" or not, or the get a "close to cache warning" or not. Yes, it appears that the app is hard-coded to use the DDM format. That's fine, because it's the format you'd want anyway. Quote Link to comment
+Jayeffel Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Ok, nice something worked out! Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 13 hours ago, The A-Team said: Yes, it appears that the app is hard-coded to use the DDM format. That's fine, because it's the format you'd want anyway. DDM format is used for *displaying* coordinates, but under the hood (e.g. in GPX files) all lat/long coordinates are represented as Decimal Degrees which is much easier to work with for coordinate "math". Quote Link to comment
+Korichnovui Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 I had forgotten I had this other app from a long time ago called "Theodolite" I'm trying it out in the field. It's cool to be standing at the geosite and take a screen shot while using the theodolite app, it shows the surrounding area and also has the GPS coordinates on it Quote Link to comment
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