Newbie ? About Readout On Garmin

[+GeoRoo]

I received a Garmin Legend for xmas and found my first caches yesterday with my 2 daughters. We had a great time despite the rain and snow. Many of my questions have been answered after spending hours reading thru the FAQ's and the forum, but I still have quite a few. One that immediately popped up yesterday while out caching was the readout. I'm not sure I have the Latitude-Longitude totally figured out. I have 3 numbers to the right of the decimal point. What is the distance that I travel each time a number changes? I understand the latitude would stay the same no matter where you are, but the longitude gets less as you get closer to the north pole? When I did watch the number change it seemed like it was close to 12 inches. Am I anywhere close? This is all new to me, so I hope this isn't too dumb of a question. While using the Go To feature and navigating to our finds yesterday it was easier to use the cordinates and think Ok, I have to go over 20 points to the West then 300 points to the North to get me close to the cache. Thanks for all the info. I've been spending hours and hours reading about my new hobby.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Latitude is constant (distance from the equator) so each .001 is about 6 feet

Longitude changes depending on your distance from the equator. Around N35 degrees latitude, it is about 5 feet for every .001

[+leatherman]

Latitude .001 is about 6 feet.

Longitude .001 is about 4 feet.

 

If your just rough guessing than just make both about 5 feet.

 

Have fun.

Edited December 29, 2003 by leatherman

[+Team GPSaxophone]

switch my definitions of lat/long I think I was backwards, but you get the idea

[+leatherman]

Hey I edited mine because of you! Made me second guess myself. Now I'm going back and forth.

 

Lat 4ft

Lon 6ft

[+ironman114]

Since you are Living here in wash. like I do theyare right. Long stays at 6 feet and up here lat. is real close to 4 feet. I can't remember where but somewhere here in the forums someone provided a link to a web site that shows the distance for las you go north from the equator.

[bnolan]

Dudes,

 

The lines of Latitude are parallel (in fact they are often called parallels) and are always the same distance apart. 1 Min of latitude is approx 1 nautical mile anywhere on the planet. 1 nautical mile is about 6000 feet, so .001 min latitude is about 6 feet.

 

The lines of longitude converge at the poles. At the equator, 1 min of longitude equals is approx 1 nautical mile, but anywhere else on the planet you have to multiply by the cosine of your latitude. I live near the 44th parallel, the cosine of 44 is .719 therefore 1 min longitude would be about 4300 feet and .001 min would be 4.3 feet.

 

How to remember which is which: Latitude sounds like Ladder and the rungs of a ladder are always parallel.

[+Cornix]

While using the Go To feature and navigating to our finds yesterday it was easier to use the cordinates and think Ok, I have to go over 20 points to the West then 300 points to the North to get me close to the cache.

You don't have to look at the coordinates to navigate! Just look at the compass screen, it shows you the direction and distance to the cache.

 

Cornix

[+Sparky-Watts]

While using the Go To feature and navigating to our finds yesterday it was easier to use the cordinates and think Ok, I have to go over 20 points to the West then 300 points to the North to get me close to the cache.

You don't have to look at the coordinates to navigate! Just look at the compass screen, it shows you the direction and distance to the cache.

 

Cornix

When I used my Geko 101 to map out my property in eastern KS, (about 120 acres), I found one surveyed corner marker, then followed the lat or long readings around the perimeter of the property. That was before I figured out how to project a waypoint (which would have been just as easy), but by following lat/long, I was able to find the other three corner markers in pretty heavy timber and rugged terrain.

[+Tiwica]

While using the Go To feature and navigating to our finds yesterday it was easier to use the cordinates and think Ok, I have to go over 20 points to the West then 300 points to the North to get me close to the cache.

You don't have to look at the coordinates to navigate! Just look at the compass screen, it shows you the direction and distance to the cache.

 

Cornix

If you're using "GOTO" you don't need to worry about how far each point is. The screen will tell you in miles, feet or meters how far you have to go (as the crow flies). Watching the coordinate numbers on "GOTO" is not needed. Just travel in the direction of the arrow and when you get within 30 feet, start looking.

[+Tiwica]

Edited December 29, 2003 by Tiwica

[+Stunod]

I can't remember where but somewhere here in the forums someone provided a link to a web site that shows the distance for las you go north from the equator.

You might have been thinking about Markwell's FAQ

[solohiker]

You can use UTM format and everything is measured in meters.