Getting Geocodes in Remote Areas

 

We are doing a mapping project in a remote area with no street addresses. Does anyone know how we can get the latitude and longitude coordinates of a specific location where we are standing? Thanks!!!

GPS?

Do you own a relatively new GPS? Most have a way of reporting latitude and longitude, some with a high degree of accuracy.

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John from PA

How accurate do you need to

How accurate do you need to be? One of the newer GPS units will display the coordinates with approximately 1 meter of accuracy. That's close enough for most purposes but not for surveying. That is generally good enough if you are laying out a trail or siting an antenna, but a legal description requires a certified surveyor.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

Where am I

panama wrote:

We are doing a mapping project in a remote area with no street addresses. Does anyone know how we can get the latitude and longitude coordinates of a specific location where we are standing? Thanks!!!

"Where am I?" is a feature available on some automotive devices. This feature displays the geographical coordinates and elevation for your current location. It also displays the nearest address and intersection as well as nearby fuel stations, hospitals, and police stations. You may also save your current location as a favorite from the "Where am I?" screen.

To access the "Where am I?" feature, touch View Map or Drive, then touch the vehicle icon on the map screen.

Just a follow up on finding coordinates. Your post got my curiosity up.Found this video for coordinates on a Android phone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OUffdBhE54 .I have a Samsung phone version 10.0 and it works a little different then the video. Just pull up Google Maps and hold your finger on your location on the map. Click on the dropped pin location at the bottom of the screen and it will show the coordinates. Also has option to save.

Both methods look good. Kind of like using the GPS Where am I . You can add a new category to your favorites and put all the coordinates with a name for each one in the new category. Battery life a problem if you have lots of locations requiring you to remove device from the vehicle power supply.

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Garmin Mobile XT

Panama, if your device is the Garmin Mobile XT app on your cellphone, hopefully it can display lat/lon like the dedicated Along the Road GPS devices can. Ditto if you have other GPS devices. wink

Thanks!!!

Thanks for the replies. I don't have Garmin XT Mobile on the phone anymore. It is an older app I had about 10 years ago. Now it is obsolete. I need to get a new Garmin unit, but primarily use my phone or travel in areas where I know where to go. Any suggestions for a decent low cost GPS unit?

Garmin GPSMAP 66

panama wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I don't have Garmin XT Mobile on the phone anymore. It is an older app I had about 10 years ago. Now it is obsolete. I need to get a new Garmin unit, but primarily use my phone or travel in areas where I know where to go. Any suggestions for a decent low cost GPS unit?

The Garmin GPSMAP 66 series receiver is consistently rated one of the most accurate handhelds on the market. Not cheap but factory refurbished or used units on eBay can keep the cost down.

Thanks!

I will look at that model.

Maybe rent

panama wrote:

I will look at that model.

You might want to consider renting a unit. One company that specializes in rentals can be found at https://www.lowergear.com/rent-navigation-gear. My last trip out west I rented a unit for a month for less than $40.

They also sell used gear; click used along the header.

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John from PA

Waypoint averaging.

Most Garmin handheld units have a feature called waypoint averaging which if used correctly can give pretty good accuracy on determining coordinates. It does take some time and patience to use the averaging feature. See this article: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=ElPCBUQqlL2m5U6tSxMLU7

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Waypoint Averaging

I had a buddy, back in the old days, would set his unit on a stump and leave it for 30 minutes or so to get a good fix. It was a rudimentary unit, the screen only showed waypoints. But it was pretty accurate. You could come right back to that stump with very little error.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267