Which GPS numbers to use

[Kahuna]

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

[pierre smith]

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

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?

[Radomir]

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.

[mburch]

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

[Mel]

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

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by pierre smith

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

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....


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)

[lucaberta]

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