found 500 lookout towers in ca with lat/ long need help

I just uploaded a file for CA towers, mostly radio and TV, but some lookout towers.

A poi file with towers you can go up in, like fire spotting or ranger towers, would be great! There's a ton of them in Arizona alone...

yes i have been thinking about it for awile .i wonder how it is done. i no ther is about 50 in ca. any idea hoe to do it

http://www.firelookout.org/

http://www.lat-long.com/Search.cfm?q=&State=CA&County=&Featu...

http://www.lat-long.com/ListLocations-1-California-Tower.htm...

is the link the poi

i found 500 lookout towers .in ca dose anyone no how to put them on the gps and the site for everyone

found the towers ideas hoe to put them in the gps new to this for shure

Goto "getting started" link on this page.....

...or to create a new POI file, try here

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6664

how do you put them on the gps as a custom poi .using csv or gpi or gpx ,dose not put it in the extra menu.
i used the loader, made a file on the desktop put the files in the folder for ex 39.2456,124.6789,tower 1
it pics it up but puts it in the garmin folder as poi then go to extra in menu and its not there

how do you put them on the gps as a custom poi .using csv or gpi or gpx ,dose not put it in the extra menu.
i used the loader, made a file on the desktop put the files in the folder for ex 39.2456,124.6789,tower 1
it pics it up but puts it in the garmin folder as poi then go to extra in menu and its not there

Look at your coordinates they appear to be in the wrong order and don't see the minus.Do you have them in another format instead of decimal degrees?

Column 1=Longitude,Column 2= Latitude,Column 3 =Name Column 4 =addittional information

Thanks for the links....

that was just an exam. how do you take 500 lookout towers and put them in your custom poi /

If you have the excel sheet correct and saved as a csv file.You run poiloader and select the folder you have the files in when you get to browse.You will get message so many pois loaded.See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 for custom pois.See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25743 for excel.

i have been on a site that i found hear it gave me step by step ,i was not looking past the desktop for the folder if that makes any since.i tested it works good got all the info in the right place.qa after i do all the work can i put this file on the poi factory site as a custom poi for others

Yes you can.Sure some other members would be interested in it.Just go to http://www.poi-factory.com/node/add and select poi file and upload it.Miss Poi will run it on a program she haves to check for any errors.Usually in a couple of days or less she will post it for you.

3 hrs latter and still at it, by the way thanks for your help new at this. but everything was working good .i made one more test using towers locals.i put it in like this -120.3849,39.3537,sierra buttes,elv.9000.i did most test this way all was well,but now when i use the gps it takes me 24mi off.same if i use my hm local.and more test same results no madder what lat/long.im using notepad in xp.what do you think

This list
http://www.peakbagging.com/Peak%20Lists/CA_Lookout1.html
is in degrees, minutes, seconds and you need to convert to decimal degrees.

thats the site im using. ,what is convert to decimal degrees

Decimal degrees means the degrees and then the decimal equivalent of the minutes and seconds in degrees. There are 60 minutes in a degree and 3600 seconds (60 seconds in a minute x 60 minutes in a degree). Therefore, the decimal degree is the degree + (minutes / 60) + (seconds / 3600).

Or, you can do the calculation on-line at: http://www.beg.utexas.edu/GIS/tools/DMS_DD.htm

numnum, note also that the way you would read the table values for Sierra Butte (393537 1203849) is as follows:

Latitude: 39 degrees 35 minutes 37 seconds
Longitude: -120 degrees 38 minutes 49 seconds

Note that for each coordinate, reading from right to left, the right most two digits are seconds, the next pair of digits are minutes, and the remaining digits are degrees.

are you saying on top of having to type all 1ooo lat / long,i also have to somehow convert all of them first.

did the conver. now im 38mi off it came out like this
121.2477,39.5280

From what you posted you are mising the minus sign in front of the 121.2477 should be -121.2477.

But if the figures being converted are from:

Longitude: -120 degrees 38 minutes 49 seconds

then the calculation is incorrect as well. Almost 120 and two thirds degrees won't convert to a decimal almost 121.25. For me, I calculate a negative 120.6469 degrees.

i no of a small store.-120.59.933,39.25.419 gps tells me this. i wrote it down when i was there. using the converter provided (the link above)i put in these # just as shown. converts to -121.2425,39.5330555555...
they put me 15 mi off. reconvert back ,the #should be the same if not close but there not.some locations get close. but you never no. if its the 555555...causeing the error ,i tried 39.534,39.5331 ... very little dif

numnum you are doing something wrong with your inputs to the link http://www.beg.utexas.edu/GIS/tools/DMS_DD.htm

No way should the whole number part of the coordinate increase after conversion - that is if you start with say 120 degrees and some minutes and seconds the conversion to decimal degrees would be 120.xxxxx, never 121.xxxxx

I put in the following sierra buttes coordinates in deg min sec and got the indicated results:

Latitude: 39 degrees 35 minutes 37 seconds = 39.59361 degrees

Longitude: -120 degrees 38 minutes 49 seconds = -120.64694 degrees

I get the same thing using this converter http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html .

numnum try this converter may find it to be easier to use.

Using the coordinates 39.59361,-120.646944
above it shows like this on Google Maps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=...

Put same coordinates in Google Earth and can see the tower for that area at 39.593583,-120.646804

yes for that i did get the same as you but could not prove it on the map. so using a local i no . it dose not pan out . see with what you get when using the store examp.

thanks everyone

Why don't you download Google Earth so you can see on map the coordinates .If you download go to tools,options and under Show Lat/Long mark decimal degrees.You will be able to move the cursor around on the screen and at bottom of the screen the coordinates will show. http://earth.google.com/intl/en/download-earth.html

Note when using coordinates for search in Google Earth or Maps it has to be latitude,longitude.Opposite your csv file.

I don’t understand the coordinates of your store example (-120.59.933,39.25.419)

If that is supposed to be deg.min.sec then the last number of each coordinate (933 and 419) does not make sense to me. That is the seconds and should not be more that 59.xxxx seconds.

im on dile up thats why i chose the store local .whent there got lat /long. no matter what i do if i enter 120.59.933 in fields i convert to 121.2425

the gps, where am i, gave me those # when i went there.and went back to double check

I think maybe your GPSr is set to degrees.decimalminutes

Try putting in 120 degrees and 59.933 minutes into the converter and see what you get.

BTW what is your GPSr

numnum you may want to change your format for coordinates on your gps.
Touch where to,coordinates,at bottom of screen select format and put mark in h ddd.ddddd .Next time you go to that store listed above use the Where Am I and write down the coordinates or select save location at bottom of screen and it will save in your favorites.

ok first things first, tried other converter on other site. the 120.59.933 is not aloud you may want to have a look it has something to do with rounding out the last 3 digits.ok did that ,now im only .08 away from the store.the first converter dose not round off.the thing is ,round up or down.how would you no.could this be why sometimes the gps is a 1/2 block off.now as far as the format on gps it says h ddd mm.mmm i have not yet tried changing it .i thought the format was for data input only,not file input.will change now and go get coordinates.
ok/ back hear are the results .the numbers at the store local are, format #1 39. 25.406//-120.59.969 format #2 39.42343/ -120.99953. ran my test , perfect puts me within 2ft.changed format in gps results perfect i would expect that.so now back to converting,using the 2nd web site fcc. 39.25.406 cannot be entered
that way it needs to be more like this 39.25.40 converts to 39.427778 but if i play with it and make it 39.25.24 it converts to 39.423333 witch is closer. -120.59.969 cannot be entered that way more like this 120.59.59 it dose not alow any closer.converts to 120.999722. ok/ using the new conversion # i ran the test both formates it now puts me .03 mi from the store.ok so not to bad but why not perfect .if i am going to convert 1000 lat/long for this prodject . any ideas of a faster way . also how can i trust the converter .for me there is still some confusion over the first one.and still not 100% its not me. also should i use csv or gpx read some on gpx but not shure got side tracked on this . would like to hear all ideas before i start. thanks

I've never heard of towers.
Jen

lookout towers for fire more than 500 in ca alone ranging from 9000ft in elv.+ to lower elv.

Numnum what is the link to the other converter.

Are you inputting 120.59.933 in the converters as 120 degrees 59 minutes 933 seconds or are you inputting it as 120 degrees 59.933 minutes 0.0 seconds ?

The conversion for 120 degrees 59.933 minutes 0.0 seconds is 120.99888 degrees and is the one you should be using if your gpsr was set to h ddd mm.mmm when you read the Where am I coordinates at the store.

The format you set by going to [Where to, Coordinates, Format] sets the format for Entering Coordinates and sets the same format for the display in [Tools Where Am I].

just made a new post before i got this see if its what you ment.im going to reread your post.2nd web site is in posting above someware fcc website better then first one . fills like whos on first

reed the post above i did an edit

converter site 1 works now thankyou starting to make since now but why no seconds.but i no since i got the info from the gps format 1 was the start of the problum .but as far as the towers lat/long they reed like this this is all the give me exsm. 395709/1212857 no desmels i thought this means 39 degrees 57 min. 09 sec./ 121 deg.28min 57 sec. thats how i put it in the converter

That is the correct input for the towers (as I mentioned in an earlier post) and both converters should give you the same answer for decimal degrees.

did you reed post above ,reread all your post ,sec. cannot be over 60 da i get it.thats why convertter would not take it. but what i still dont understand is you said 39.25.406/12.59.969 dose not make since to you.not to me now as well but this is the numbers the gps gave. in this format h ddd mm.mmm my others are h ddd.ddddd i no what this one dose 120.0000 .and h ddd mm ss.s none of these give me exam 39.25.40 it comes back as 39.25.406 as shown on gps why the 6 .also any ideas on the above post.csv/gpx.. thanks agine

It did not make sense to me because we had been discussing tower coordinates using DDMMSS and you were writing AND USING IN THE CONVERTER the store coordinates (39.25.406/12.59.969) as though they were DDMMSS while using numbers that would not usually be acceptable as input in the seconds box of a converter (406 and 969).

I think it would help discussions if you would adopt a more standard way of writing coordinates in the different formats.

First, if you are not using the usual symbols for degrees minutes and seconds (° ' ") then you should use the colon for separators and use a period only for a decimal point.

For example the sierra butte coordinate 39 degrees 35 minutes 37 seconds should be written 39:35:37

When you convert that coordinate to decimal degrees you would write the result thus:
39.59361 (note the period is used as a decimal point).

If 39.25.40 is meant to be in degrees minutes seconds, it should be written 39:25:40 and putting those digits in one of the converters would give 39.42778 degrees.

Try this:

Go to the Enter Coordinates screen on your GPSr
Choose h ddd mm ss.s format
Enter 35 25 40 in the three boxes on Enter Coordinates screen
Choose h ddd,ddddd format

Now you Enter coordinates screen should be showing 35.42779 degrees

Thus note that you can use your Enter Coordinates screen as a handy dandy converter.

Searched the web for something easier to do your project.Found this with the coordinates in correct format.See http://www.peakbagging.com/Fire_Lookouts_Page.html and scroll down to Google Earth file for California Fire Lookouts .It will download as a doc.gpl file.You can take this file over to Extra Poi Editor and open it up to review the list.Double clicking on any of the names on the list will take you to second page.You will be able to review more detail of each location.Plus any modifying you want to do.Also a grab tab to move coordinates.Not sure how accurate the coordinates are.You can save the file as a Garmin csv or depending on what extra details you add save as a Garmin gpx.Here is that info.You can download Extra Poi Editor at http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor . When you download the program if you get message about OCX file missing scroll down on the main page and under troubleshooting you will find the Extra Poi Editor Installer that you will need to download.

google earth is a 119hr download on dileup.and it would take hrs to load 1 page. downloaded poi editor . its say its missing a file, again dailup,now im looking for a fast way to convert.if im going to have to type all of these would like to only do it once

Click on my contact tab and send me email.I saved the file as a csv file.You can right click on it and open with notepad if you don't have excel.

The file missing on Extra Poi Editor.When you download the program if you get message about OCX file missing scroll down on the main page and under troubleshooting you will find the Extra Poi Editor Installer that you will need to download.