cwyap Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 I have myself a Garmin xTrex GPS. So far so good. No complaints. But I have been wondering - If I am going on a trip and start marking waypoints, should I set my GPS compass to point to True North? Or should I leave it to the default setting of Magnetic North (with 0 declination/variation)? I am not into mapping but I do mark out trails for jungle hikes for my colleagues and friends to follow subsequently. We do not have topo-maps (the availability of such maps in our country is severely limited) so I suppose unless we are doing orienteering or surveying, True North setting will be more appropriate? Advice on this is appreciated. Thanks. Quote
+ZoomZoom Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 Whether True or magnetic, it doesnt matter if you use your gpsr to get you back to your starting point as it leaves a breadcrumb trail behind. If you use your gpsr for locating caches or for excample following a topo map, I would choose True north. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Quote
+PDOP's Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 Seeing as how you'll not be working with maps I don't think it matters as long as everyone in your group uses the same setting. If someone is using a manual compass which has no declination setting then it would be best to stay with magnetic north on your GPSr. Quote
+Prime Suspect Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 This has been discussed many, many times. Do a forum search on "Magnetic North" and you should find a lot of information. Quote
+Alan2 Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 Waypoint coordinates do not change regardless of the setting. You can set your GPS at Magenetic or True North and you'll have the same coordinates for the same location. What changes is the direction of the north arrow on a compass or the compass direction between waypoints. If you're making maps you can overlay the grid on the map afterward plotting the waypoint showing a True North or Mangetic North grid. For your location in Kuala Lumpur, there's only a 1 degree declination between MN and TN, so you won't see much difference anyway. good luck. Quote
cwyap Posted December 20, 2003 Author Posted December 20, 2003 Thanks a lot guys. Your comments have now given me a clearer picture of what to do with the Garmin's compass North setting. I think Alan's comment is the most comforting. Quote
Clown Knife Posted December 21, 2003 Posted December 21, 2003 If you will be using a magnetic compass to compliment your GPS unit, then use Magnetic North, the same as the compass. No need to mix the two. Quote
+Alan2 Posted December 21, 2003 Posted December 21, 2003 Just an after-thought. While TN or MN will not effect the coordinates, Datum selection will. MAke sure your GPS and your friend's GPS's are set for the same Datum - WGS84 is the one used by this site and good selection. Quote
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