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Lat/long Question


jetdog

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Not sure if there is an easy answer to this....but here goes:

 

If you have a given L/L coordinate, for example....N42:20:78, W88:08:02 and anoother, N42:21:79, W88:09:03 (just changed the min/sec # by one) is there a way (without plugging into the GPSr) to estimate distance between the two points?

 

The reason I ask is because I have a Mag. SporTrak Map and can't figure out how to enter LAT/LONGS without going to TOPO software then downloading to GPSr. Don't have that ability in the field when hunting.

 

Thanks....

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In order to enter coordinates, press and hold the GOTO button.

 

A screen will pop up with the coordinates to your current location. You can cursor down to those numbers and edit them to whatever coordinates you want.

 

I know this wasn't intentional, but your method of posting the coordinates is confusing. There are many different formats for displaying coordinates.

 

N42:20:78, W88:08:02 could mean several things. I suspect you are trying to write:

 

N42°20'78"

 

Meaning Degrees, Minutes, Seconds. Although this would be illegal, since you can't have more than 59 seconds.

 

You might be trying to write:

 

N42°20.78'

 

Which is degrees, decimal minutes, although typically this format uses three decimal places of precision.

 

GC.com uses Degrees, Decimal minutes. That is, there are no "seconds" on geocache coordinates. Instead, the minutes have a decimal portion on them.

 

Make sure you don't confuse the formats, as that will put you in the wrong location, sometimes by several miles.

 

Jamie

Edited by Jamie Z
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Distance between degrees of latitude, get smaller the further away from the equator you are. Thus, the difference in distance between 2 given coordinates will be significantly different for someone in Maine compared to someone in Florida.

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LATITUDE difference between Florida and Maine is on the order of 3 inches.

Longitude changes as use move north and south. :D

Longitude changes with the cosine of the latitude.

(Back to the high school trig class!)

 

There are some extremely small differences in each due to irregularities of the earth's surface, but those can be safely ignored for our purposes.

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