Wolf thanks for opening up the GPS Form.

[Siskiyou]

When I returned from a summer on fires I told my wife that I was going to buy a gps.  After 50 years in the woods another tool is welcome.  While I get along very good with a topo map and a compass, I think in this case more is better.  I will follow this forum closely.  Hopefully I will be able to take advantage of your expertise.  This is clearly a learning process and causes a little brain damage. :roll:

I support using LAT/LONG as a location standard for the BLM and National Forest Lands.  That is the standard for dispatching aircraft and emergency equipment when they can get the information.  When a National Incident Team is dispatched to manage a major fire, or works an incident for FEMA their docutments use LAT/LONG to indentify hospitials, helispots, hazards, water sources and other key information.  When a Life Flight helicopter is dispatched to an accident it is given a LAT/LONG.

K-Tags found on public and private lands normally show Township, Range, and Section.  A nail will identify the approximate location of the tag.  At times these tags may also have the LAT/LONG on them.  This is not common on old tags. Base on a little training provided by the military UTM is more accurate, but it is not in common use  by the resources that might pull me out of the woods.

Anyway she pulled out a nice Garmin that she had put away for Christmas, as she handed it to me she told me that if that was not the model I want, I could exchange it.  I did, I exchanged it for the Garmin Legend.  I picked it because it contain a North American Base Map, and I could load up to 8 Megs of maps from Map Source on it.  Waiting for a deal on MapSource Software and will buy the Topo software.

Enjoyed your Web Page.

Siskiyou  :grin:

[coug2wolfs]

Siskiyou

Thanks in kind!  

When I started out I used the long/lat, but if you do any precision work with topo maps the system is a turkey :wink:

UTM is THE way to go. UPS uses it to find indivdual houses!  You can get as close as 10 meters on the maps with it, and there is auxilary templates to help with getting the numbers right.

Now, you are aware that you CAN use long/lat and convert em?

Coug

[coug2wolfs]

Siskiyou

UTM is a method that allows one to pinpoint a location on a topo map to within 10 meters, closer if you have young eyes :wink:

A topo map that is divided into 1000 meter grids will allow you to call GPS co-ords right then and there and wail em into the GPS.  You simply hit the GOTO and I guarantee you will get there!

We are about the LAST nation NOT to be on the metric system.  More the pity as the metric system is so simple it's scary.  Everything is divison or multiples of 10.  For example, a kilometer is 1000 meters.  There are 10 100 meter blocks in a 1000 meter block.  Within a 100 meter block, divide it by 10....are you getting it?  I do very little in the English system anymore.

From a hunting standpoint, a waypoint is a location no matter what system you use.  The advantage to the UTM system is the back and forth on the topo map.  Co-ordinates are just numbers. The UTM sytem lets you translate those numbers to REAL locations on the map.

Rule of thumb is ALWAY read, RIGHT UP.  You ALWAYS start at the lower left corner of the 1000 meter grid.  You match the numbers as 2 64, and 42 38 for example on the left and top of the topo map.  The last 3 numbers are meters.  So say you had 2 64 500, you would be 500 meters into the block, or in the middle.  Now if the other reading is say 42 38 800, then you go up 800 meters. Where the two cross is where you are on the map!

I have used back bearings from landmarks as well, For a long time it was all we had to use :wink:   Now, hit the waypoint button and to Hell with all that backbearing stuff

Dig into UTM, you WILL love it!   And BTW.......METRIC!!!!!

Coug