GPS coordinates?

[Yaworski]

Quite often in movies or TV shows, someone will be given a longitude and latitude and are told "These are the GPS coordinates . . ."

Is that done to make it sound more high tech? More military?

Why not just say, "coordinates" or "lat and long"?

 

[Jeepnik]

Once upon a time, maybe still, GPS coordinates had a built in error. It was to prevent our enemies from using our own satellites against us. The military had a very small margin of error, think Tomahawk through the window in GW I. So, GPS coordinates were just a close approximation. Close enough to still work, but still just close. On the other hand if a skilled map and compass guy adjusted for declination and properly oriented the map they can get damned close.

 

[Yaworski]

Once upon a time, maybe still, GPS coordinates had a built in error.

Yeah and that got an airliner shot down. However, the question still remains, "Why do people call 'lat and long' 'GPS coordinates'?"

 

[krw]

I remember the built in error also. May still be there?? But surveyor's use GPS now and are spot on

 

[Johnnu2]

Yeah and that got an airliner shot down. However, the question still remains, "Why do people call 'lat and long' 'GPS coordinates'?"

Well, being non-techie and a non-military Vet, I can only tell you that I would not understand a simple "lat and long". I do, however, clearly understand when someone says GPS coordinates (of course, I don't know how to utilize them, I just plug in an address to my 15+ yr old Garmin).
J.

 

[Yaworski]

Well, being non-techie and a non-military Vet, I can only tell you that I would not understand a simple "lat and long".

Really? We covered that in grade school.

 

[GypsmJim]

Movies and TV shows. What more need be said? The writers and producers don't know how to tie their shoes, much less have knowledge of anything that we all take for granted.

 

[kmoore]

We just say 44.03882 -116.93078. Where is that?

 

[Yaworski]

We just say 44.03882 -116.93078. Where is that?

1381 Tamarack St
Fruitland. Idaho.

 

[MaxMan]

Jimmy Buffet tried to explain Lattitude

 

[blume357]

Back in about '87 my wife and I started sailing and I got a small hand held GPS... I started entering my customers Lat. and Lon. location in my data base so I could 'justify' the cost of the GPS as a tax deduction..... was really silly back then.... the first GPS' s. you had to enter your location and time in before they would work....

I've always said the reason for the error factor that the consumer ones had back then was kind of funny... it was because the government did not want our enemies using our GPS system to guide a missile in to blow up a building... then they discovered that all you need is a misguided farm boy and a rental truck full of fertilizer...

 

[Sam Summey]

Once upon a time, maybe still, GPS coordinates had a built in error. It was to prevent our enemies from using our own satellites against us. The military had a very small margin of error, think Tomahawk through the window in GW I. So, GPS coordinates were just a close approximation. Close enough to still work, but still just close. On the other hand if a skilled map and compass guy adjusted for declination and properly oriented the map they can get damned close.

I remember a hunting season way off in the woods of central NC I pinned the location of my ladder stand. Returning the next day I wandered around in circles and had to wait until daylight to locate it. A week later Bill, "Slick Willie" Clinton by Executive Fiat eliminated the induced error. I returned to locate the "stand" using my Lowrance GPS, after "Slick Willies" decree, I walked, in the pitch dark, without a flashlight, right up to the stand location.

 

[el caminero]

I applied to work at a mapmaking company, the test set me up in a corner of arizona. I did my amateur best on that sheet, but they dident hire me. Said i had no sense of yuma.

 

[s4s4u]

In the early days we used GPS to mark fishing spots. It was never spot on, but close enough.

My son in law works for a company that installs drain tile in ag fields. They use GPS not only to guide the direction and location, but also to set the depth to grade. GPS has come a long way.

 

[kshaw]

Once upon a time, maybe still, GPS coordinates had a built in error. It was to prevent our enemies from using our own satellites against us. The military had a very small margin of error, think Tomahawk through the window in GW I. So, GPS coordinates were just a close approximation. Close enough to still work, but still just close. On the other hand if a skilled map and compass guy adjusted for declination and properly oriented the map they can get damned close.

I remember those days well. I started flying in the seventies and the progress in air navigation has been amazing. When I first started flying, we used the VOR stations. You tune to two of those and find yourself on a map. This was only an approximation and you had to do this repeatedly with a giant unfolded map. Next, we used LORAN. I do not believe that any of those were approved for serious navigation but could get you within a couple of hundred feet of an airport. The arrival of GPS, even with the builtin error, was a big improvement over LORAN. Today, I am using a FAA approved WAAS GPS, and paired with an autopilot, the plane can practically land itself. The GPS display shows the plane overlayed on a map and I can even see all the surrounding air traffic and weather radar on the map. It can be used for landing even in instrument conditions.

 

[vito]

I wonder if most folks would know how to enter latitude and longitude on their smart phones to find a location, rather than a street address. But for practicality, you might want to have the app "what3words" on your phone. I understand that most 911 systems if not all of them have this app and in an emergency can locate you by the three words which the app shows for your location. You are a lot less likely to type in the wrong words than to type in an incorrect digit in a latitude and longitude entry, especially under the stress of an emergency.

 

[Jeepnik]

LORAN was a pretty great improvement for boaters on the coast here. I remember the first time I used it. I set my destination for a fishing spot off Santa Catalina Island and then returned to the boat ramp in San Pedro (L A harbor). I was pretty impressed

In the scheme of things LORAN didn't last that long for recreational use but I think it made the acceptance of GPS easier as folks began to trust technology by then.

Today I wouldn't be without GPS whether on land or sea. But I still have maps and compass.

 

[kshaw]

LORAN was a pretty great improvement for boaters on the coast here. I remember the first time I used it. I set my destination for a fishing spot off Santa Catalina Island and then returned to the boat ramp in San Pedro (L A harbor). I was pretty impressed

In the scheme of things LORAN didn't last that long for recreational use but I think it made the acceptance of GPS easier as folks began to trust technology by then.

Today I wouldn't be without GPS whether on land or sea. But I still have maps and compass.

I did a lot of SCUBA in my early while living in Florida. The LORAN was vital equipment when looking for ship wrecks. The LORAN got you close and the fish finder found the wreck. I remember that the boat owner would never let us look at the LORAN because he wanted to keep location a secret.

 

[wproct]

Jimmy Buffet tried to explain Lattitude

Thanks for posting this. I am a big Jimmy Buffet fan but haven't played his cd's for awhile.

 

[wproct]

I still use a GPS all the time. Most people strictly use their cell phones.

 

[Flat Top]

Quite often in movies or TV shows, someone will be given a longitude and latitude and are told "These are the GPS coordinates . . ."

Is that done to make it sound more high tech? More military?

Why not just say, "coordinates" or "lat and long"?

G.P.S. or better still Global Positioning System. Is the present day geographical measuring system and it can be and is a rather accurate system. Unless of course you have been successful and designed, proofed and had verified a far superior method. Please let us all in on your secret.

The Television. Just the mention of the TV should send most people into the imaginary trans of the unreal worlds.

Jimmy Buffett best part of the thread.

This is the normal, ask a question, then sit back and believe you have the clever answer thread. You know what these are known as.

The offer is still open.

 

[el caminero]

I run a garmin dezl for Trucks, and its pretty good, the new model i havent bought yet gives you an overhead view of the building and lot and the path to the dock you want. Using googlemaps before that, one may be told You Have .Arrived. sometimes it will add, Now Walk The Rest Of The Way. Too often, there is a fence, hiway, or river between me and the visible target.
I have watched my blue dot follow me 1/2 mile to the west, all day.
Good i got a great sense of humour.
Employers, not so much.