Which GPS numbers to use
 

Which of these gps coordinates do I enter into my 430 to find the place?
I am not up to speed on the differences between these degrees and decimal conversions. I think the 430 takes decimal and not degrees min sec. but Im not sure. And I dont understand the negitive number.

Thanks,
Mike
34-06-21.3530N / 084-26-54.7430W
34-06.355883N / 084-26.912383W
34.1059314 / -84.4485397

Strange.....
 

Hi Mike,
Those are some strange looking numbers.....where did you get them? Furthermore, all three lines appear to be different locations. :confused:

I have three Garmins, a 95, 195 and GX55 and they take something like this:

N33 21.496
W82 34.011 Did you add the hyphens?

You can use the second format you listed, but manual mentions a few formats it'd accept (Position - Latitude/Longitude (degrees/minutes or
degrees/minutes/seconds), MGRS, or UTM/UPS).

In the example you mentioned, - is for West (a positive number would be for everything east of 0 meridian). Also, that minus inbetween other numbers is just a "spacer".. you can just ignore that.

It depends!
 

The GPS can be set up to accept a whole bunch of different lat/lon formats. On the 430, I believe you go to the third AUX page, then select Units/Position. There is an item in there that lets you choose either degrees-minutes-decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.

good luck,
mcb

You can set up the GPS to use whichever format you choose.
Degrees-minutes-seconds
Degrees-minutes-tenths of a minute
Degrees-tenths of a degree
The most commonly used is #2...degrees-minutes-tenths of a minute

It's the same place
 

Pierre ..... back to geography/mathematics school for you.... :)

The are all the same location.

Taking the N ones as an example..

First one
34-06-21.3530N is in degrees, minutes and seconds of an arc

Take the seconds field (21.3530) and divide by 60 (60 seconds = 1 minute)

21.3530/60 = 0.355883

Second one
34-06.355883N is in degrees and decimal minutes - note the fraction of the minute is what we calculated above.... :)

Take this whole minutes field (the minutes and the decimal portions) and divide this by 60 (60 minutes = 1 degree of arc)

06.355883/60 = 0.1059314

Third one
34.1059314 is in decimal degrees only

And, guess what, this decimal portion of the degrees is exactly what we calculated above.... :D


Back to skool for you...... ;)

These are the SAME LOCATIONS, however the format needed for data entry into the Garmin 430 must be in the user's manual somewhere. On a wild guess, I would think this is programmable, and the 430 could take any of the formats. I seem to remember I use the second format with my GX55..

gil in Tucson - elementary mathematics (and geography)

I can recommend using the calculator page at GPS Visualizer for coordinates conversions:

http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators

In the top calculator, you can enter coordinates in *any* format, and the web page will convert them and present them in different formats, either as separate lat/long, or as a single string. Very handyy when working with waypoint in Google Earth!

I've worked with Alan Schneider providing him with feedback on the page, and he's done a great job. He surely gained his $20, which I gladly Paypal'd to him!

And BTW, my take on the coordinates used by the Garmin 430 and all the certified panel-mount GPS is that they *must* be DM.m, as all the coordinates for waypoints and VORs/NDBs are expressed in that format. Of course my Garmin 296 uses three decimals after the dot, so there is much better resolution available.

Ciao, Luca