European Lat/Lon coordinates problem...

 

Hi All,

I used Google Earth, as well as Google maps to find an address, in Geneva Switzerland and the coordinates it gave me were:
Latitude "46.191804" and Longitude "6.154854"
(Google Earth didn't show a minus(-) at the beginning of the Longitude.

To make a long story short, I loaded those coordinates into my Nüvi 670 (equipped with European maps) and those coordinates displayed a point in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of France. I even tried adding a minus (-) to the beginning of the Longitude and got the same result.

Am I missing something here?

Hopefully the collected wisdom of the members here, will be able to tell me why these coordinates display "in the ocean" as opposed to an actual address in Switzerland.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

--
Sullivan's Law: Murphy was an optimist!

.

The longitude should be positive for locations in the Eastern Hemisphere (ie east of GMT or the Prime Meridian).

Googling these coordinates 46.191804, 6.154854 gave me this result.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=46.191804,+6.154854&sourceid=n...

Be sure that you are inputting the coordinates in the correct format. You may need to change the setting on your GPS unit or in Google Earth so that they match.

Coordinates can be expressed in several different formats.

They are most commonly Degrees Minutes Seconds (DDD MM SS), Decimal Degrees (DDD.DDDD), or Degrees Decimal Minutes (DDD MM.MMM).

The last format is the most common in current GPS models. The second one is the one we use in Custom POI files.

Here are some examples of the same coordinates expressed in different formats.

Degrees, Minutes and Seconds
DDD° MM' SS.S"
N 32° 18' 23.1" W 122° 36' 52.5"

Decimal Degrees
DDD.DDDDD°
N 32.30642° W 122.61458°

Degrees and Decimal Minutes
DDD° MM.MMM'

Lat & Long are reversed

You entered Lat and Long reversed when you entered them. Reversed, I get Ethiopia, reverse the order again and I get Avenue Dumas in Geneva.

No Minus

tailspin wrote:

. . . those coordinates displayed a point in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of France. I even tried adding a minus (-) to the beginning of the Longitude and got the same result.

A longitude of 6.154854 gives Geneva. A longitude of -6.154854 gives you a point off the coast of France. I'm guessing you somehow got a minus in your longitude on both attempts.

--
Nuvi 660 -- and not upgrading it or maps until Garmin fixes long-standing bugs/problems, and get maps to where they are much more current, AND corrected on a more timely basis when advised of mistakes.

.

Also, be aware that if the GPS unit is specifying "W" for the longitude, you need to change it to "E".

Re: you need to change it to "E"...

Motorcycle Mama wrote:

Also, be aware that if the GPS unit is specifying "W" for the longitude, you need to change it to "E".

Hi MM,

You hit it out of the park, once again...!!!

After I changed the "Longitude" value from West to East, the coordinates displayed properly.

I can't thank you enough, not only for the help you gave me, but the help you give to all the members, of the poi-factory family.

Best regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

--
Sullivan's Law: Murphy was an optimist!