Quote:
So, sorry to bring this up, but are you going to clarify this post? If I and two others are confused reading about the system, isn't there a risk that someone using the system might get confused too?


Specifying a WGS84 reference is subject to a lot of misinterpretation.

There are the following ways to specify a global GPS location

There is Degrees Decimal Notation.

DDD.DDDD N DDD.DDDD W
DDD.DDDD N DDD.DDDD E
DDD.DDDD S DDD.DDDD W
DDD.DDDD S DDD.DDDD E

There is Degrees Minutes Decimal Notation.

DDD,MM.MM N DDD,MM.MM W
DDD,MM.MM N DDD,MM.MM E
DDD,MM.MM S DDD,MM.MM W
DDD,MM.MM S DDD,MM.MM E

There is Degrees, Minutes, Seconds Notation.

DDD,MM,SS N DDD,MM,SS W
DDD,MM,SS N DDD,MM,SS E
DDD,MM,SS S DDD,MM,SS W
DDD,MM,SS S DDD,MM,SS E

There are 12 different formats each giving a different location but using the same numeric data

e.g.

45.6763 N 76.6783 W
45,67.63 N 76,67.83 E
45,67,63 N 76,67,83 W
45,67.63 N 76,67.83 W
45,67,63 S 76,67,83 W
45.6763 N 76.6783 E

Are at completely different locations.

This is why in the UK we mostly use Grid Square Referencing OSGB36, as it doesn't lead to confusion.



Edited by Am_Fear_Liath_Mor (11/05/07 01:29 PM)