Garmin's "Project Waypoint" option?

[Timothius]

Could someone please explain how and in what way I would possibly want to use the "Project Waypoint" option that my Etrex Legend offers. I just can't seem to understand it, or why anyone would use it. FWTW I am not known for my creativity, perhaps that is why I can't figure it out???

 

Regards

 

Timothius

 

An Irish Toast:

"May you be in heaven a half hour before

the Devil knows you're dead"

[+Navdog]

We used waypoint projections on our Rimwalker II cache for some added challenge and fun.

 

On two legs of the cache you are required to project a waypoint to the next tag. The instructions for the projections on the tags are a compass bearing and a distance. Mark your current position and then input the bearing and distance from this spot for your projection. This creates a new waypoint where you find the next tag.

 

The adventures of Navdog, Justdog, and Otterpup

[+vds]

Ummm, if you're in Tacoma WA to score the Projection cache perhaps ?

 

It's actually a most cool feature to be able to set a bearing of xyz degrees and distance of NNN miles from a particular location, and then home in on the final location directly.

[Idaho Ron]

I use this feature a couple of ways. First I am a bird hunter. I hunt along canyons here in Idaho that are up to 800 foot deep. Many times I can hear Chukar Partridge on the other side. Problem is getting there. In some cases it may take 6 hours of driving to get there. So I shoot a waypoint to the other side in the general area and I know I can find that general area when I get there the long way around.

The other way I use this option is when I am hiking and I see a peak I want to know more about. The area I am in in the sawtooths has MANY peaks. So by shooting a waypoint to the peak in question I can plug that in to my National Geographic TOPO and find out more about it.

Another way I use it I almost forgot about. I Trap Sage grouse for the Idaho Dept of Fish and Game. When I see some flush I shoot a waypoint to the area I see them fly to. That way I can find them later.

I use this feature a lot but I have never seen it used Geocaching. Ron

[+Alan2]

I couldn't figure it out either. Someone said they use it in situations where let's say you see something a half mile away that you want to go too. So you project a waypoint to that location (estimate the distance) and then start navigating to it. When you lose site of the final destination, the projected waypoint on your GPS will keep you navigating to the final location and get you pretty close.

 

Or so I've been told.

 

Alan

[+Alan2]

I couldn't figure it out either. Someone said they use it in situations where let's say you see something a half mile away that you want to go too. So you project a waypoint to that location (estimate the distance) and then start navigating to it. When you lose site of the final destination, the projected waypoint on your GPS will keep you navigating to the final location and get you pretty close.

 

Or so I've been told.

 

Alan

[+Zartimus]

Lots of puzzle caches use them. Like:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=20187

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=25462

 

Given a landmark, they take a GPS reading, then project a distance at a given angle, etc...

 

I like the last guy's non-geocaching usage (hunting birds). I recall an old thread here that stated some other good ones.

 

Cheers!

[+bigeddy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Navdog:

We used waypoint projections on our http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=17295 cache for some added challenge and fun.

 

On two legs of the cache you are required to project a waypoint to the next tag. The instructions for the projections on the tags are a compass bearing and a distance. Mark your current position and then input the bearing and distance from this spot for your projection. This creates a new waypoint where you find the next tag.

---

Since you are already at an existing waypoint (the tag you just found), a quicker and potentially more accurate procedure is to create (not mark) a new waypoint and project the bearing and distance from the stored waypoint you are at. This assumes that the existing tag was found through hard coordinates, not a projection.

 

I've done Rimwalker II, one of several of NavDog's excellent multi-stage caches (which must have taken considerable effort to set up--thanks!), and discovered a limitation in my Garmin II+. It allows projections in only 1/10-mile increments. When the projection is given in hundreds of feet or 1/100 mile accuracy, that creates a messy situation where I have to figure out how many feet I need to walk before or after the projected waypoint, and how to estimate the feet in cross-country terrain. Combined with the bearing tolerance of a whole degree, that makes the result quite uncertain. I had a difficult time with one of the Rimwalker II projections which was near a cliff with many potential hiding places.

Do the latest Garmin receivers still do projections in 1/10 increments?

[+apersson850]

If you look at distance measurement, you'll see yet another use for this feature.

 

My Vista allows the distance to be specified down to 0.01 km, the bearing to 1º. If you want better direction resolution, you can change to MILS.

 

Perhaps setting it you yards gives better distance resolution, too? I haven't tried, yet...

 

OK, now I've tried. But setting the distance unit to yards didn't help. Projection is still done in 0.01 mile resolution, just like when setting length units to "British".

 

Changing to MILS does work, however, for the direction setting.

 

Anders

 

[This message was edited by Anders on August 06, 2002 at 12:47 AM.]

[geocach16]

First, I choose UTM rather than the various forms of Degrees, because it offers the smallest distance you can express. Now to the main question.

 

I am convinced the Internal Precision of the device is better than what you can enter from the outside world.

 

Under Units, make sure Statute is selected.

 

Ideally, your Projected Waypoint is in whole degrees. Select Ft, rather than Miles, while on the Projection screen.

 

Now, you can express the distance in feet as xxx.xx. For example, you can say 127.35 feet at 088 degrees.

 

I am able to be within 0-1 feet for the many survey points on my property when comparing the GPS distances with the survey drawing distances.

 

Of course, you must establish the GPS provided starting point carefully, and Average the location many times. Then you can begin projecting your way points with more confidence.

 

Trimble offers a free Planning utility where you can see the hourly DOP (Dilution of Precision) for your exact location. Select the very best times to take your initial base reading.

 

Bill

Tecumseh

Edited November 20, 2008 by geocach16

[+Quiggle]

Moving to GPS and Technology forum.

[geocach16]

When projecting a waypoint, whole degrees must be specified. For example, you must say 088.

 

To circumvent that limitation, I projected a waypoint at 088 degrees and also 089 degrees at a certain distance.

 

My distance between P088 and P089 was 6 feet.

 

If the actual direction was 88 degrees 20 minutes 00 seconds, you could multiply 20/60 of a degree times 6 feet to get 2 feet.

 

Then, project a new waypoint 2 feet south from P088. That's about the best you can do.

 

Again, all the projections done to match a survey drawing is dependent upon the validity of the initial GPS reading which established the starting point. It requires luck and good fortune to get started accurately.

 

I found great satisfaction in having a 0-1 foot match with the survey drawing distances.

 

There may be limited value in the exercise, but it was fun anyway.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

The other way I use this option is when I am hiking and I see a peak I want to know more about. The area I am in in the sawtooths has MANY peaks. So by shooting a waypoint to the peak in question I can plug that in to my National Geographic TOPO and find out more about it.

 

Me too! This is the only way I use the feature. Over time, you'll get much better at estimating distance too.

[+Tequila]

For search and rescue, we often use the feature to be able to reach a specific location in a dense forest. For example. the Search Master may send a team down a logging road and tell them to go 300 meters off the logging road on a specific bearing. In the past, we would use a compass with one person in the middle keeping everyone on that bearing. Another person would measure the distance by counting paces. Using the waypoint projection feature, we have automated a tedious task. And we can be much more accurate.

[SiliconFiend]

The other way I use this option is when I am hiking and I see a peak I want to know more about. The area I am in in the sawtooths has MANY peaks. So by shooting a waypoint to the peak in question I can plug that in to my National Geographic TOPO and find out more about it.

 

Me too! This is the only way I use the feature. Over time, you'll get much better at estimating distance too.

Rich, I'm sure you know about this site, but maybe some other readers haven't seen it. Quick summary: it can create a dynamic horizon view with peak identification for any spot on Earth (I think)

[wurthless]

In a nutshell,,,

if you want to mark or "waypoint" a location WITHOUT walking over to it physically to mark it,,,

you " project a WP"

I use it to tell a Helicopter where to drop water on a spot fire that I see in the distance by giving him the Lat and Long of the waypoint that I project over the fire,,,,, so I don't have to walk over there to do it. Many other uses play with it and you"ll prolly come up with one of your own,,,,

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Rich, I'm sure you know about this site, but maybe some other readers haven't seen it. Quick summary: it can create a dynamic horizon view with peak identification for any spot on Earth (I think)

 

Yeah, and I believe there is a way to export them as a GPX file. A great pre-trip exercise for peak baggers.