Posted: 12/24/2008 4:50:09 AM EDT
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Ok, here is the deal I need maps. I am completly familiar and proficent with the military grid system...i used it for many years and navigated all over the world with them.
My question is, what do you guys use? Do you guys do LAT and LONG or do you use the Military system? If you do Military system where can you get the maps of the US? If you do LAT and LONG, do they have a protractor for that system? Where can you get good LAT LONG maps? What is the SF standard? I have a GPS from when i was in the Army set for the military grid system, but i only ever really used it to pinpoint my location and then worked off maps and compass(I was a UH60 Crewchief and this worked so much quicker then resection if we were downed in unknown territory) Thanks for the info. |
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Try this.
I use it at work and it has the ability to switch between MGRS and degrees/minutes, degrees/minutes/seconds, etc... Its easy to print to any scale you want, ie.: 1:50,000 and with the Professional package you can print on a large format printer, if you have access to one. You can even print in either 2D or 3D views. I actually prefer TOPO!'s map display better but it lacks the MGRS and 2D/3D options that DeLorme has. |
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USGS Map Locator.
You can order hard copies of USGS topo maps, or download them for free as PDFs. |
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Quoted:
Ok, here is the deal I need maps. I am completly familiar and proficent with the military grid system...i used it for many years and navigated all over the world with them. My question is, what do you guys use? I prefer to work in UTM. This is what MGRS is based on –– they just replace several of the leading coordinate numbers with letters (I suppose for brevity). However as you mentioned, MGRS maps aren't common and with so many resources using UTM there's no need for MGRS in the civvy world. UTM is included on all USGS 7.5' Topo quads. It's also directly compatible with military clear "protractors." The scaling systems are the same, so as long as you match the scale, they'll measure everything in KM just like MGRS. In fact many compasses that show metric 1:24,000 scales can be directly used for plotting on USGS 7.5' Topo's. One major benefit of UTM/MGRS is that they're based on metric squares. That means the numbers of a grid coordinate are actual meters/kilometers. Also, there's only 1 way of expressing UTM coordinates and never any need to convert between decimal degrees, degrees & decimal minutes, and degrees/minutes/seconds. If you do LAT and LONG, do they have a protractor for that system? I bought one of the Brunton GPS compasses and it came with a clear plastic scale for lat/long, but other than that you'll probably have to check with nautical supply stores. I have some good nautical charting tools that all use Lat/Long. Where can you get good LAT LONG maps?
All USGS quads still have tics on the edges where you can draw in your own lat/long grid if you REALLY want to. But really, just use UTM. What is the SF standard?
Can't speak for SF, but all the serious land nav folks I've run across are proficient with UTM. Lat/long is usually the system used in novice applications, like an Automobile GPS. In the professional world, lat/long is used by aviators and seamen. This is just my experience, YMMV. |