Lat. And Long. Question

[lanwarrior]

Hi all,

 

I tried to find a cache location in SF, CA, which is shown to be at N 37° 46.009 W 122° 28.355 (WGS84). The map shows this to be at Golden Gate Park.

 

But when I plugged in the number (37.46 and -122.28), the map shows me the location at San Mateo.

 

I tried this using 2 different mapping software. Am I doing something wrong?

[+nincehelser]

It sounds like you're using the format wrong. It isn't appropriate to replace the degree sign with a decimal point.

 

Try entering the degree number, then a space, and then the minutes number with the decimal.

 

George

[+gallahad]

First of all, the initial coordinates are verifiable within the data base. Haven't been to Stow Lake for decades... but enough of that.

What mapping software are you using and where did you come up with "37.46, -122.28?

 

Try 37:46, -122:28

Edited December 7, 2003 by gallahad

[+Warriorrider]

As stated, it sounds like you are entering it in the wrong format. I don't know what software you are using but with my Mapsend I have to enter it like this...

 

N 37:46.009, W 122:28.355

 

Hope this helps

[lanwarrior]

Hi all,

 

I am using Microsoft Street & Trips 2004 at the PC and PocketMap Navigator on the PocketPC.

 

Both software doesn't accept the format you suggested above, only on the mm.ss format. As a matter of fact, MS Street & Trips "Help" file shows the following:

 

If you are entering coordinates in decimal format and the location is south of the equator or west of the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, express the latitude or longitude as a negative value; for example, -15.75 degrees latitude and -64.25 degrees longitude.

 

In both software, there are 2 edit boxes, one for the lattitue and the other for longitude.

 

So using the cache location at N 37° 46.009 W 122° 28.355, it seems I have to entered it at 37.46 and -122.28.

 

Is this correct?

[+nincehelser]

Hi all,

 

I am using Microsoft Street & Trips 2004 at the PC and PocketMap Navigator on the PocketPC.

 

Both software doesn't accept the format you suggested above, only on the mm.ss format. As a matter of fact, MS Street & Trips "Help" file shows the following:

 

If you are entering coordinates in decimal format and the location is south of the equator or west of the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, express the latitude or longitude as a negative value; for example, -15.75 degrees latitude and -64.25 degrees longitude.

 

In both software, there are 2 edit boxes, one for the lattitue and the other for longitude.

 

So using the cache location at N 37° 46.009 W 122° 28.355, it seems I have to entered it at 37.46 and -122.28.

 

Is this correct?

That software sounds awfully restrictive

 

I'm gathering that it only accepts degrees in decimel so you're going to have to do a little math to get the conversion.

 

Example: 37 degrees 46.009 minutes. You need to convert the 46.009 from minutes into a fraction of a degree, or (46.009 / 60) which is 0.7668 or so.

 

Add that to the 37 to arrive at 37.7668 for the software.

 

The reason you can't just simply put in a decimal point is that there are only 60 minutes in a degree, not 100. This is one of the areas where Metric never really caught fire.

 

George

[+gallahad]

Sorry I failed to make my earlier point clear. I meant to suggest that you use the colon [:] as a separator rather than a decimal [.] between the numerical characters. I experimented with your coordinates using MapSend and I found that using the [.] the coordinates placed me in San Mateo. Using the [:] placed me in Golden Gate Park.

Edited December 8, 2003 by gallahad

[lanwarrior]

nincehelser,

 

You hit the money, dude! I do HAVE to convert the minutes to fraction of degrees.

 

I wonder if most software requires this manual conversion or is it just me.

 

Allright.. now I can begin to do some Geocaching! WOHOO!!

 

Thanks for all the help guys!

[+Prime Suspect]

nincehelser,

 

You hit the money, dude! I do HAVE to convert the minutes to fraction of degrees.

 

I wonder if most software requires this manual conversion or is it just me.

 

Allright.. now I can begin to do some Geocaching! WOHOO!!

 

Thanks for all the help guys!

Street Atlas will take either format, without the need for conversion.

[+Warriorrider]

You can try something like this too...

 

http://www.jeeep.com/details/coord/