GPS and Map Co-ordinates

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by redhawk

Thats odd.

I was taught UTM in the service in the 60's. We also used kilometers (Klicks) instead of miles.

Far as having a UPS. Today i wouldn't leave home without one, especially in places like the Adirondacks where the density and the canopy make being able to triangulate position by using landmarks is next to impossible.

I still wnat my map and compass, but the compass is primarily a secondary and back up instrument.

All USGS Topos have the UTM Grids as well as the majority of other maps. I even prefer the 1/25000 (metric) topos over the 1/24000 scale.

Funny, I prefer distance in meters but still prefer feet for height.

same here. not sure if MGRS is the same as UTM... i think so. similar system at least. numbers might be different. never could see the logic behind lat/long for land navigation.

i use a compass mostly to stay roughly oriented and it's usually just a fisheye (though i carry a larger one too.) most times i'm not on brand new territory. i try to sort of memorize the map anyway, and work more by terrain association. compass just acts to keep me straight.

if i carry a GPS, it's usually in a brand new area and i mostly mark my vehicle, so i can find my way back to it. i also mark potential deer stand or camping sites too. i don't load the maps to navigate by. i like paper maps and use the GPS to find a grid.

being trained by the military causes some habits to die hard... meters for distance, feet for elevation, like hawk said. i prefer the military maps epecially for their printed grid and scale (1:50k). don't have to look on the edge. it's right there in front of you. can't always get them though. but it's hard for me to understand a 1:24... guess it's inbred after awhile. you just get comfortable with a certain scale. i even took the adirondack paddlers map and a long ruler and made my own gridlines on it (which were already marked on the edges).

[Foottraffic]

I prefer to use UTM because of my expeirence with SAR. It is basic and there is no confusion with datum sets, etc.

[richard1726]

I use Lat and Long because:
1. Tradition, it's fun to use a system with so much history.
2. Cruised, courtesy of the US Navy (Submarine Officer), all under the worlds oceans using same.

Based on what I've read I will learn UTM! Hope it is quicker to enter a coordinate, it takes a while when transfering lat - long from map to a gps.

[redhawk]

Originally Posted by richard1726

I use Lat and Long because:
1. Tradition, it's fun to use a system with so much history.
2. Cruised, courtesy of the US Navy (Submarine Officer), all under the worlds oceans using same.

Based on what I've read I will learn UTM! Hope it is quicker to enter a coordinate, it takes a while when transfering lat - long from map to a gps.

Richard, if you're talking about transferring the coordinates from a topo map, most of them now have the UTM "Ticks" on them.

Hawk

[DSettahr]

Originally Posted by redhawk

Richard, if you're talking about transferring the coordinates from a topo map, most of them now have the UTM "Ticks" on them.

Hawk

UTM is much easier to use than Lat/Long. The scales are the same for both vertical and horizontal measurements. Plus with the grids printed on many topo maps, it's quite easy to take a coordinate from your GPS unit and eyeball where it is on the map without using an engineer's scale.

[colden46]

Originally Posted by Foottraffic

I prefer to use UTM because of my expeirence with SAR. It is basic and there is no confusion with datum sets, etc.

Different datums are just as much of an issue with UTM as with lat/long. As a specific example, the UTM grid printed on most USGS topo maps is NAD27 but the default datum for most GPS units is WGS84.

[redhawk]

Originally Posted by colden46

Different datums are just as much of an issue with UTM as with lat/long. As a specific example, the UTM grid printed on most USGS topo maps is NAD27 but the default datum for most GPS units is WGS84.

BUT..... The GPS units, as well as GOS software allow for the selection of Datum. It's up to the user to make sure that the GPS and the map or the co-ordinates being used match.