What Is a Waypoint on a GPS?
Global Positioning System information comes from a constellation of satellites.
GPS waypoints are coordinates associated with points of interest. Those points can be places of general interest or locations associated with something that has special meaning to you. In the pre-GPS days you might depend on coordinates expressed as a street address. Waypoint coordinates are formatted in a way that means something to your GPS navigation device.
The Global Positioning System
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. The primary element of the GPS is a set of satellites that send out radio signals, with each signal reporting the time it was sent from the satellite. By comparing the time signals your device receives from each of four (or more) satellites, your device calculates how far you are from each satellite. There's only one place on the Earth where those distances will all meet up, so your device can report exactly where it's located. If you're located at a place of importance to you, you can have your device store the coordinates of your current location as a waypoint.GPS Coordinates
When your GPS device collects those radio signals, it formats them in a way it understands. Most devices will give you options for presenting the location information in several different formats. By convention, waypoints will be formatted in latitude and longitude. Instead of degrees, minutes, and seconds — as is traditionally shown on maps — GPS waypoints are typically given in degrees and fractions of degrees, or degrees, minutes and fractions of minutes.
Different GPS Waypoint Coordinates
Standard longitude and latitude coordinates are given in degrees, minutes and seconds. Coordinates in degrees, minutes and fractions of minutes are just a different way of formatting the same information. So 35 degrees, 56 minutes, 32 seconds is the same as 35 degrees, 56.53 minutes, and that's the same as 35.9422 degrees. Most GPS devices will let you enter the coordinates in any form that's convenient for you. When you see more digits, like 35.942243, it still corresponds to latitude or longitude, just with more accuracy than the standard degree/minute/second format.
"Landmark" GPS Waypoints
Several websites offer lists of GPS waypoints corresponding to famous landmarks. When you enter those coordinates into your GPS device, you will get directions to the landmark of interest.
Your Personal GPS Waypoints
Your GPS device will also allow you to record the coordinates of any place you've visited. You can record locations of a nice restaurant you've discovered, your summer cabin on the lake or the last gas station before heading off-road. You can then send those coordinates to friends or use them yourself to revisit the places of interest.
0 comments:
Post a Comment