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Nuck007
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-10-28 21:00:45 |
Posts: 1747
Philly, Pennsylvania , USA
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Hey Nyrcoc's on the move,
If you don't use GPS either on the road or trails then this thread simply is not for you, kindly go back under your warm rock.
My question is how well do you or yours know your GPS? I'm not literally looking for answer to this question.
Food for thought:
1) In an emergency phone call for help could you or yours relay the actual N/W coordinates from the GPS device to the party trying to help you?
2) If you got a phone call for help and you received the exact N/W coordinates from their GPS device, would you know how to enter the N/W coordinates into your GPS device to find them?
Tip:Practice, practice, practice until it becomes routine. Also if you ever receive or place an emergecy phone call don't hang up unless there is a reason to hang up, you need to throughly share important facts.
Share your thoughts please or ideas.
BE STILL! Nuck.
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09' HONDA, 420FPA Rancher AT/PS/ESP/EFI/IRS, back up pull start, 12v outlet, Ricochet skid plates, Warn winch, Western heated grips, Delran battery tender, 25" Swamp Fox tires/ITP rims. Oil:HONDA,HP4S,full-syn 10W-30
07' Suzuki, 450 King Quad. Traded in
86' Honda, 200 SX. Sold
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Unit505
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-10-28 21:52:41 |
Posts: 1590
Keithville, Louisiana , USA
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The day my wife understands more than a map on the screen................NOPE! NOT GONNA SAY IT! I've been married long enough not to fall for that one!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know how to get my coordinates, If I had to call someone to call someone, it would be the operator - not my wife!
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08 KQ450,26"Swamp Witches,2"ABM Lift,Celica Links,Spring Spacers,1"Rear Spacers,UNI Air,Snorkels,Rerouted Dif/Fuel Vents,Relocated Rad Bottle,Iridium Plug,1mm Coop,19g weights,SZ10 spring,Dif Lock/Reverse Lim.Mod,Upper Mount Mod,Fan Switch,Start In Gear,Voltage/Temp Gauges,H4 Lamps,55W Rev Light,Warn Bumper & 25RT Winch,Heated Grips, Kolpin Hand Guards, XOG GPS,White Pod
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Arizona Griz
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-10-28 22:45:39 |
Posts: 85
Mesa, Arizona , USA
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I don't think you would want to call an operator. 
GPS coords are a piece of cake, the call would go to one of my friends who was in the know. 
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A pickup, a few trailers and some rides.
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Unit505
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-10-28 22:52:15 |
Posts: 1590
Keithville, Louisiana , USA
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RU Talking about rescue or to come give me a hand with a flat tire? If your talking rescue, you want to give it to them on a recorded line so that the rescuers get first hand info. If your in trouble and in a rural area, they might not have 911 and the operator is the wisest choice.
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08 KQ450,26"Swamp Witches,2"ABM Lift,Celica Links,Spring Spacers,1"Rear Spacers,UNI Air,Snorkels,Rerouted Dif/Fuel Vents,Relocated Rad Bottle,Iridium Plug,1mm Coop,19g weights,SZ10 spring,Dif Lock/Reverse Lim.Mod,Upper Mount Mod,Fan Switch,Start In Gear,Voltage/Temp Gauges,H4 Lamps,55W Rev Light,Warn Bumper & 25RT Winch,Heated Grips, Kolpin Hand Guards, XOG GPS,White Pod
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Nuck007
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-10-29 08:26:41 |
Posts: 1747
Philly, Pennsylvania , USA
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Nyroc's on the move,
My intentions of this thread are to help raise awareness of the basic GPS knowledge with the people who rely on YOU to get them home.
So please let me re-phase the question.
If you and another traveled 5,10 or 50 miles into the trails and you(including your ATV) became incapacitated, would your other rider/guest be able to use your GPS to find help/home or relay the N/W coordinates 
TIP:I have separate GPS mounting bracket on each ATV so I can EASILY switch the GPS unit from one ATV to the other ATV with no tools necessary. As would make sense, an extra GPS unit would only help.
TIP:I like to make a way point at the trailhead and explain that info with my other rider.
Straighten the curves and flatten the hills, Nuck. 
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09' HONDA, 420FPA Rancher AT/PS/ESP/EFI/IRS, back up pull start, 12v outlet, Ricochet skid plates, Warn winch, Western heated grips, Delran battery tender, 25" Swamp Fox tires/ITP rims. Oil:HONDA,HP4S,full-syn 10W-30
07' Suzuki, 450 King Quad. Traded in
86' Honda, 200 SX. Sold
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Arizona Griz
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-10-30 09:22:57 |
Posts: 85
Mesa, Arizona , USA
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I don't think I ride with anyone that does not know how to use a GPS.
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A pickup, a few trailers and some rides.
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TurboBrute
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-11-07 00:12:05 |
Posts: 52
Lexington, Kentucky , USA
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Good points nuck007.
I have 5 different GPS units.
One is a Magellan for the car. The other 4 are Garmins that I use off-road.
Looks like my trusty ol GPS III+ is about to die on me though. It's acting up...
I'm gonna take your advice and practice some this weekend.
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09 Brute Force 750i - Ricochet, Powermadd, ITP Mudlites, Moose aluminum box, Garmin Rino.
On the plains of hesitation lie the blackened bones of countless millions who at the dawn of victory sat down to rest, and resting died.
09 BF 750i - Super Black - 1992 FJ1200 (now 1320)
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Nuck007
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2009-11-07 12:53:27 |
Posts: 1747
Philly, Pennsylvania , USA
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TurboBrute,
Yeah you see my point. If I were to use your Magellan GPS in a jam I most likely would need extra time to find the page showing the N/W coords. If I we're riding together it's worth taking a little time to get familiar with each others GPS.
I can tell you my gf really wouldn't have a clue, and I should pracatice with her. We travel far from the truck and deep into the woods and would surely be a problem getting back to the truck in a jam w/o GPS as our guide.
I'm on my way, I'm making it, with the eye of a tiger, Nuck.
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09' HONDA, 420FPA Rancher AT/PS/ESP/EFI/IRS, back up pull start, 12v outlet, Ricochet skid plates, Warn winch, Western heated grips, Delran battery tender, 25" Swamp Fox tires/ITP rims. Oil:HONDA,HP4S,full-syn 10W-30
07' Suzuki, 450 King Quad. Traded in
86' Honda, 200 SX. Sold
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17A
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-01-13 20:41:39 |
Posts: 14
Bath, Ontario , Canada
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[u]Finding Location with the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS)[/u]
If you are like me and have a very vague idea or none at all of how to use Latitude and longitude to position yourself on a topographic map, then switch to MGRS. All GPS Receivers have this ability and it only takes a few moments to change your settings.
Military Grid Reference System - MGRS Grid Example: UQ12478 99236
First of all here is how to change your positioning from Lat/Long on your GPS receiver to MGRS. Don’t worry, you can change it back and you won’t lose any waypoints tracks or any other data stored in your unit. I’m doing this on a Garmin GPS Map 60 so it may differ slightly from brand to brand.
• Go to the “Main Page” and choose “Set up”
• Go to “Units”
• See “Position format” probably at the top
• Hit the drop down list and scroll up or down till you see MGRS and then choose it
• You now are set up for MGRS Data. If you turn on your unit and go outside, it will give you a MGRS grid format similar to the one above
MGRS data is far more simple than Lat/Long for locating yourself. Using MGRS data from your GPS Receiver on a 1:50,000 scale Map Sheet, you can see where you are within ten seconds no matter how deep in the boonies you are with no natural features close by. You can accurately read to 1000 meters for a gross error check, 100 meters with no instruments and accuracy to 10 Meters using a protractor. 100 Meters accuracy is more than you need to see exactly where you are by using the MGRS System, and then reading the natural features around you such as lakes, streams and hills (contours) to pinpoint yourself. All I’m going to explain is how to read the MGRS UTM data off your GPS Receiver, and apply it to a 1:50,000 scale map down to 100 Meters. This is very easy to do, and in a couple of minutes you will be reading grids.
Below is a section of Map in 1:50,000 scale of the Denbigh, Ont area that we ride all the time. Look at the map closely and you will see faint blue lines running vertical (eastings) and also horizontal (northings). The squares they form are called Grid Squares and are 1000 meters x 1000 meters or a square km each. You can see faint yellow highlighted lines. One is running north/south and the other is running east/west. Look on the west side of the map along the yellow highlight and you will see numbers along the highlight for each corresponding easting.....10, 11, 12 etc. Same thing for the northings starting at the bottom along the highlight, you see 93, 94, 95.....00, 01, 02 etc. The reason it only goes to 99 and then begins at 00 again is because of the 100,000 meter zone. Each set of northing’s and eastings will only go from 00 to 99 in any particular zone. If you look in the north center of the map, you will see two enlarged sets of letters in faint blue (UQ and just above UR). Those letters designate the two 100,000 meter zone of that section of the map. Since the northing’s reach 99 in this section of map, the next northing line (00) is now in the UR zone. Any location below the 00 northing in this section of the map is in the UQ zone and any location from the 00 northing upwards is in the UR zone.
An MGRS reading off your GPS will look something like this: UQ12478 99236.
If it is broken down, what you have is the UQ – the 100000 meter zone, followed by ten numbers. The first five numbers are the Easting’s and the second five numbers are the Northing’s. Depending on your make and model of GPS, the numbers may be in one straight line (as above with a space between the Eastings and Northings), in a single row with no space, or as they are on my Garmin stacked with the 100000 meter designator and the five numbers of the Easting’s on top and then the five numbers of the Northing’s on the bottom as below. Easting’s will always be first, followed by Northing’s.
UQ 12478
99236
This is referred to as a ten figure grid, and shows accuracy to 1 meter on the ground. Well I don’t know about you but if I look at the grid square, on the map I cannot divide it into 1000 individual meters with only my eyes. What you can do though is look at a grid square and roughly divide it into 100 meter blocks.
UQ 12478
99236
To break the data down further, take the first two number of the Eastings (12) and the first two numbers of the Northing’s (99). These numbers designate the entire grid square (1000 x 1000 meters). The next easting (4) and Northing (2) are the 100 meter numbers. The final two numbers of the Eastings (78) and Northings (36) break the location down to 10 meters and one meter respectively. Since we are only breaking it down to 100 meters, we can throw away the final two numbers of the Eastings and Northings so we end up with a six figure Grid of:
UQ 124
992
Now to check where that Grid puts us on the map.
We know that the location will be south of the 00 Northing because of the UQ. Always begin with the Eastings. First, read the first two numbers of the Easting’s (12). Remember the Easting’s are the blue lines running vertical. Follow along the yellow highlight until you find the 12 Easting. Now find the Northing (99) and read it over until it intersects with the 12 Easting. You will be in the Southwest corner of the Grid Square. In this Grid Square is a small section of the northern part of Barker Lake with a trail running to the north. This is the Grid Square we are working in for this location. Now to find the exact spot we are at (to 100 meters) take the final Easting (4), which means 400 meters, and move in that grid square left to right 400 meters just by eyeballing it. Take the final Northing (2) and go up 200 meters by eyeballing it, and you will see the location is the junction of the trail meeting Barker Lake.
All done.....Have a beer
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Dave
2010 Outlander 650 XT - Red
Photo: http://s203.photobucket.com/home/Funkyadventure/allalbums
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Nuck007
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-01-13 20:59:22 |
Posts: 1747
Philly, Pennsylvania , USA
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Wow 17A obviously you're lost welcome to nyrocatv.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this GPS feature.
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09' HONDA, 420FPA Rancher AT/PS/ESP/EFI/IRS, back up pull start, 12v outlet, Ricochet skid plates, Warn winch, Western heated grips, Delran battery tender, 25" Swamp Fox tires/ITP rims. Oil:HONDA,HP4S,full-syn 10W-30
07' Suzuki, 450 King Quad. Traded in
86' Honda, 200 SX. Sold
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17A
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-01-14 05:47:17 |
Posts: 14
Bath, Ontario , Canada
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One thing I forgot to mention above is that when using a Topographic map with your GPS, you must have them both set up on the same "map Datum". The Datum is a set of rules and algorythms that were used to produce the map data. If your Datum's do not match, you may be out as much as 200 meters on your fixation (location). Think of it this way. If you were using a Kawasaki shop manual to reference how to change the oil on your Honda, it would be similar but not completely accurate.
All modern GPS Receivers use a Default Datum of WGS84 (World Geodedic Society 1984). Examples of some datums you will find on paper topographic maps are:
NAD 83, NAD23, NAD72
It's very simple to check the Datum. On the paper map, it will be on the border usuall around where they put the Magnetic Declination Scale. It will say something like: Datum NAD83.
Very simple to check the Datum setting on your GPS Receiver. Go to the same place as you did for setting your position format explained above and it will be close by in a drop down list similar to the position format. Choose the datum that matches the Datum on your paper map and you're all set.
Below are a couple of Pics of that Grid used above on the topo map where the trail meets the lake. Very rugged trail going in and a couple of huge mudholes.
North Shore of Barker Lake -
MGRS GRID - UQ 124 992
KWDog
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Dave
2010 Outlander 650 XT - Red
Photo: http://s203.photobucket.com/home/Funkyadventure/allalbums
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Bojib
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-04-07 17:07:17 |
Posts: 75
Chavies, Kentucky , USA
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I've always wondered about this. Maybe not so much my being able to relay coordinates, but the emergency responders I'm sending them to being able to recognize what I'm giving them.
Since there isn't a basic system that EVERYONE uses, will they recognize the coordinates that I give them. I may give a number in lat/long that could be in decimal degrees, degrees decimal minutes, degrees minutes seconds. I may switch it up and use UTM coordinates (what I like better and usually use) or the recently referenced military grid system.
I may even be using a different datum, although I think that the differences in datums would still allow emergency personnel to get close enough to find you if need be.
Without a standard system in place, and without properly trained personnel, what good would knowing your location and being able to relay that information be if they can't interpret it?
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2008 Suzuki KingQuad 450 AXi
Stearns Rear Rack Bag
Uni Air Filter
Maxxis Zillas
Member of Knott County Trail Riders
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17A
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-04-07 21:16:51 |
Posts: 14
Bath, Ontario , Canada
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I would be fairly certain that any type of SAR Tech (Search and Rescue) Organization would be well trained in recognizing all types of positioning systems and formats. And you would be correct about the Datum....even if they were on a different Datum it would get them to a least a hundred meters or so of you even in heavy bush. Best thing to have these days is one of those SPOT messengers that can send 911 messages to the SAR Techs in the form of your Lat and long as well as a Google Map link if you are in a life threatening situation.
Google "SPOT messenger" for more info.....I have one, works great.
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Dave
2010 Outlander 650 XT - Red
Photo: http://s203.photobucket.com/home/Funkyadventure/allalbums
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67halfcab
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-07-08 23:17:34 |
Posts: 4
Cadillac, Michigan , USA
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Excellent Post!
I just bought my Garmin 60Csx this spring and entering a coordinate to physically find was the first thing I learned how to do, but not for the reason of rescue or safety, but rather during our last hunting trip 3 for 3 of my hunting buddies with GPS units could not find us on the Wyoming plains to come help with our Antelope (and we gave them coordinates) so we had to drag them 1.5 miles the nearest trail.
On the 60Csx it's as simple as hitting "Mark", editing the coordinates, then click map. You can zoom in/out to see your destination and your current location. I just did it with some BS coordinates and marked off the coast of Alaska. Don't think I can get there with my ATV
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07' 700 w/eps and bone stock!
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Nuck007
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Subject: How well do YOU or YOURs know your GPS??? | 2010-07-09 06:48:19 |
Posts: 1747
Philly, Pennsylvania , USA
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67halfcab,
Yes Good "case in point".
And true by just pressing "Mark" (button the Garmin GPS) this will quickly display your current GPS coords.
Thanks for sharing your experience. s
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09' HONDA, 420FPA Rancher AT/PS/ESP/EFI/IRS, back up pull start, 12v outlet, Ricochet skid plates, Warn winch, Western heated grips, Delran battery tender, 25" Swamp Fox tires/ITP rims. Oil:HONDA,HP4S,full-syn 10W-30
07' Suzuki, 450 King Quad. Traded in
86' Honda, 200 SX. Sold
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