I feel like an idiot asking this, but I have a guidebook for Summit County area hikes. I'm hoping to use a garmin gps (new toy) for a few of them.

Problem is the coordinates don't seem right, or I'm failing to input them correctly.

two examples are:
Spruce Creek trailhead: 409636mE 436559mN
and:
the trail y's 407149mE 4363893mN

any clue on how to input these into a gps unit?

I'm guessing switching direction around or spaces between numbers? however when I played with that, it seemed to place me in the middle of the ocean ;).

Thanks in advance.

Andrew, first, you did not state what model of Garmin GPS receiver you are trying to use. Each one is slightly different in the user interface.

You have examples here of Easting and Northing. Those are fine if your GPS receiver is set up to accept Easting and Northing as its coordinate system. Sometimes it is set up to accept Latitude/Longitude in various formats.

You have read the user manual, haven't you?

--B.G.--

I have a Garmin Dakota 20. I have read through the manual, but still need to re read as I had work calls and significant other interruptions the entire way through ;).

However when using Garmin Basecamp, it said coordinates are invalid. I wasn't sure that when I input them if I need to seperate the digits, change the order of the e/n'ing etc. I played with it for a minute, but mohawk lake isn't in Iraq, or it would be a LONG walk from the trailhead !

I don't know that specific model of Garmin, but it still sounds like your coordinate system is set up for the wrong kind of numbers. The newer Garmin models (like yours) tend to be more consistent for the user interface. I've used other models going back about 15 years.

--B.G.--

Your Garmin probably has the ability to accept both UTM and Lat/Long format entry. In your setup you should be able to specify which. In the guide book you are using it should have something in the Preface or Introduction that says something about what datum the coordinates being used are. Lastly, you can probably find a conversion methodology/tool if you do an Google search.

In it's current format, I can't even find the location with any internet search. Hence I was guessing I'm inputing data incorrectly.

you can convert those coordinates to ones that will work for your gps

http://www.earthpoint.us/Convert.aspx

those coordinates look like UTM format except they are missing the first number/letter position

Edited by cvcass on 08/15/2012 17:56:11 MDT.

Try:

Setup > Position Format

Garmin GPS receivers store their waypoints and show position in a special coordinate system that is neither Easting and Northing nor is it Lat/Long. Therefore, when the user tries to enter a waypoint in Easting and Northing, the receiver must be prepared to read and understand those coordinate numbers and then convert them into the special coordinate system. Then when you look up a waypoint in the receiver memory, it takes the special coordinate system numbers from memory and converts them into the Easting Northing or Lat/Long or whatever that you have selected to show on the display.

The problem seems to be that you have one system selected and unknown, and you are trying to enter numbers of Easting Northing.

You want to find where this selection is done in the user interface, or else it will keep coming up over and over again.

--B.G.--

Those coordinates are UTM Zone 13 Easting and Northing coordinates but your Spruce Creek Trailhead Northing coordinate is missing a final digit. It should be a 7 digit number not a 6 digit number.

The Trail Y coordinates of 407,149E and 4,363,893N convert to Lat 39.41956 and Long -106.07867

Take a look and see if your Garmin unit or the Basemap software can accept UTM coordinates. If not, Google up a UTM to Lat/Long convertor. most of colorado sits in UTM Zone 13.

Good luck.

The first set is 6 numbers. Second set 7 numbers.

Thank you all for you help. I have been researching non stop. Hopefully I find the answer soon!

I will post the solution as soon as I find it. Utm input is supported, but seems I'm missing a step or more likely the book is omitting something. Not explanation is given in the preface either.

Perhaps a call to Garmin is in the works though I doubt they will be much help

I first changed the map input preferences in basecamp to utm.

When inputing, 409636mE 4365593mN,

you type: 13 S 409636 4365593 into basecamp. If entering the set into the handheld, you enter a "0" preceding (before) so "0409636"

Thank you all again for your help though.... you definitely brought up a few things that allowed me to trouble shoot it!

Thanks for closing the loop on this and sharing your solution. I learned something tonight. I now know how to enter UTM coords into my Garmin unit (eTrex 20) and BaseCamp software.

I had the same issue when using some maps. Luckily though, UTM is very accurate.

Richard, without the zone 13 I never would have gotten it sorted out!

I have the Garmin 24k Topo set. I manually input the coordinates for a Garmin mapped trail, i'd say the route is 100 ft +/- or more different. I wanted to have both in to gauge accuracy of each. I'll post results once tested.

Once again, thank you all for the invaluable insight. I can't believe how quickly you all resolved my questions!

I'm not familiar with your gps device, and you probably already know this - but make sure you have the correct datum selected in the gps device so it matches your map.