UTM anyone?

[Couchybar]

My gps base map could be more accurate. The benchmarks are fine but most
anything else on the map is suspect. It is mostly unused during a hike but is pulled
out for some critical route finding decisions. I still need and use the paper map and
magnetic compass. On a difficult bushwhack with low visibility when simultaneously
nearing both my cut off time and objective orienting myself accurately is key to
decisions. My recent look into UTM suggests it to be the quickest and most
foolproof way of doing this. It also seems to make route finding and navigation more
intuitive.
Can anyone please comment on this ?.

 

[Papa Bear]

Two comments (neither of which will answer your query):

1) All Canadian topo maps (NTS maps as they are called) have the UTM 1000m grid overlaid on the map. This is great for quickly finding things and since UTM is intrinsically decimal, it beats the hell out of deg:min:sec.

2) Here's a UTM conversion tool that will convert from Lat/Long to UTM and vice versa. I use it in advance when I'm working on locating things on a map. It will also convert between Datums (Data?) which you should not have to do unless you have an old map. But if you use a GPS you should understand what a Datum is.

My bottom line answer is UTM is easier to use but most US maps make it hard to realize that ease.

One thing to watch out for however: UTM (easting) numbers increase as you go East, longitude increases as you go West (in the western hemisphere). Make sure you remember that in a whiteout.

Pb

 

[JOD]

gps converter

Here is a compass with UTM scales. You should be able to convert the paper coordinates to the GPS and vice versa with this tool.Brunton 8096 Eclipse GPS Compass

 

[spider solo]

UTM ?

Ahh..the beauty of it is I haven't the slightest idea of what your talking about....
or
the sadness of it is I haven't the slightest idea what your talking about....

 

[Ridgerunner]

UTM

stands for Universal transverse mercator. To make a flat map of a round sphere requires some noodling around with the coordinates. Look here for some info.

 

[sardog1]

EDIT: Wild Rose gpsMaps is one place to start learning about the UTM coordinate system. It includes info on how to mark up USGS topo sheets to make it easier to use in the field. An even better site is Map Tools -- Using the UTM/MGRS Coordinate System .

More and more, it's just pilots and mariners that continue to rely on lat/lon. Ground-pounding folks (both hikers and SAR responders like me) are rapidly discovering the merits of the UTM system for navigation. (No, I am not French. But I am on a one-person campaign to throw off the yoke of our former British overlords and their archaic "imperial" measuring systems. )

 

[Couchybar]

Thanks folks for the links and the calculators, very educational and sure beats doing
the conversion by hand

Papa Bear I did not know that about Canadian maps. My TOPO software can overlay grid lines on the map. Will
probably use the standard 1000m separation with 1609m separation on rare
occasions. The mini maps of projected trouble spots will have 100m separation. The
TOPO software uses NAD27 and always prints the corresponding grid. It was
instructive for me to overlay WGS84 to see the error introduced by mismatching
datums. I might just print both grids (DATUMS) in different colors on the same map.

Thanks Jod for the link to the 8096. I had completely forgotten about that model.
Unlike my 8099 that uses a separate index card this compass has the UTM roamer scales right
on the base plate. Simple to use and a definite plus with gloves and cold hands.

 

[Jay H]

I have the 8096, the UTM grid overlay tool on the compass itself is nice but it's not as nice as a $5 stand alone UTM overlay if you have to do some major plotting or if you are an orienteerer... The 8096 would work for occasional plots though, assuming you don't let your GPS do the work..

Jay