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Why does my gps change the coordinates I put in?


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Posted

Another user with the same setup that I have (Visor Prism and Magellan GPS Companion) have noticed that when we put in waypoints in Nav Companion, it changes the last digit downward by one. Is this normal for ALL GPS units or is this a quirk of the hardware/software that we are using?

 

I realize that it is a minor difference, hust curious.

Posted

It's just the software, and it's because internally the software stores the coords in a different format from the one you're displaying them in.

 

Here's what I posted in another thread to answer this question: [NAV Companion] rounds the coordinates because internally it keeps the data as degrees and decimal degrees, to five decimal places. When you use a different display format or when you enter data in a different format, it first converts it to DDD.DDDDD. In the process, it occasionally gets a result that doesn't convert back to your original number. I suppose they could fix that if they were inclined to, since DDD.DDDDD has inherently more resolution than DDD MM.MMM, but it's not really that serious: a thousandth of a minute is only about 6 feet or so at most, so it's on the same scale as the error you already get from the GPS. If it bothers you, do what I do: leave the display in DDD.DDDDD but enter the waypoints in DDD MM.MMM. You'll never see the discrepancy that way.

 

warm.gif

 

[This message was edited by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy on June 21, 2002 at 09:57 AM.]

Posted

I have also found if I simple add the 4th digit as a 5, it will properly keep the 3rd place digit without changing it. This is a little quicker than entering a different format.

 

M-D-M Explorations

MrSki and DogMa

40º 07.874'N

88º 11.647'W

Posted

Thanks for the info. I guess I need to look into some other software. Like Warm Fuzzies pointed out in another thread, the software obviously did not get as much attention as the hardware.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best software for the Palm OS to use for geocaching? icon_confused.gif

Posted

Thanks for the info. I guess I need to look into some other software. Like Warm Fuzzies pointed out in another thread, the software obviously did not get as much attention as the hardware.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best software for the Palm OS to use for geocaching? icon_confused.gif

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