Military conversion

[+eltee1]

I did a search on this and couldn't find any other post about it. ....so here it is....

 

My GPS can be set to use a variety of coordinate systems such as WGS84, NAD27, UTM etc.... but none of these appear to be compatible with the military Grid Coordinate system.

Military Grid coordinates display their accuracy in the number of digits used.....a 4 digit coordinate gets you within 1000 meters. An 8 digit coord. gets you a within 10 meters. and a 10 digit coord. gets you within a meter.

The world is broken up into sections with a two letter prefix for each area and then sub divided within each section into numerical grids.

What I'd like to know is, are any of the other existing "civilian" coordinate systems compatible with the military grid system and if so what is it called and can it be used in a GPS?

Thanks and regards,

Eltee1

[+PDOP's]

Is your GPSr one of these? If not try this free online conversion utility.

 

PDOP's GPS Pages

[+eltee1]

Yes my GPSr is a Magellan SportTrak Pro.

So I take it that the military grid system I was asking about it called MGRS and presumably I can set my receiver to that system?

If so...very cool...and a big thanks. I'll have to play with it later and see if I can change it to that. Still lots of features on it that I haven't utilized yet.

I hope its in there though because a software conversion just wont cut it when I'm out in the field and will need my GPSr to give me the coords that match my maps.

Thanks and regards!

[+Breaktrack]

Man, didn't get to this one quick enough. You are correct, the MGRS is what you're looking for. Do I ever wish I'd have had that when I was on the big green rocks....lol. (Lots are sand colored now...hehehe). You'll love it, but remember, don't rely on it exclusively.... just like maps.

 

... and try not to break a track.

 

"Afghanistan was a battle. Iraq was a battle. The war goes on."

[+ThisWayOut]

God, I HATED when we would throw a track!! It never happens where it was nice and flat. Alway rocky or full of tree stumps. And better yet, cold and rainy. Ah, the good old days....NOT!

 

If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

[+15Tango]

UTM is the same as MGRS, but different--the grid zone designator is the same (i.e. 15T for where I live) as well as the last numbers for your east/west and north/south--with my Vista, it's the last 5 digits. But with UTM, the letters for your east/west and north/south in MGRS are replaced with numerals as well--in my case, VK is replaced with 04 for the "V" and 49 for the "K". So a ten digit grid in MGRS would look like 15T VK 12345 67890, in UTM it would be 15T 0412345 4967890 (normally in Militarese, we wouldn't have spaces, but my GPS shows the coords with spaces).

 

"There comes a time in every rightfully constructed boy's life when he gets an urge to seek for buried treasure"--Mark Twain

[+eltee1]

Thanks for all the replies. 15Tango...great explanation of UTM to MGRS!! Much appreciated.

 

As for breaking track.....naaaa....that Never happens. LOL

 

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Bushwhacking is much easier in an M1 Abrams!

[+15Tango]

Mech Inf for almost 7 years, and every time we'd take the darned things out, we'd throw a track (M113A3s). Anyhow, WGS84, NAD27, NAD83, etc. are all datums, and hddmm.mmm, MGSR and UTM are all formats--datums are, in the simplest terms, where the zero point is located, and the format is the units you use to describe how far away from the zero point you are located. Even though the datum used is Greenwich, England for E/W and the equator for N/S, one must realize that a 2D map is made from wrapping a piece of paper around an orange, drawing the map, then flattening it out, thus the difference in coordinates from different datums.

 

"There comes a time in every rightfully constructed boy's life when he gets an urge to seek for buried treasure"--Mark Twain