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Droid Maps UTM Format

PittCaleb

Well-Known Member
Nov 6, 2009
129
3
Looking for an answer to prove to a friend that the Droid is ever useful...

He's going to a state fair and unfortunately, the idiots at this state fair have only published the location on their web site in UTM format. I've used this GeoCaching before, so I'm familiar with it and all handheld GPS units will accept that as data.

But will the Droid? I tested entering the coordinates in a dozen different ways without success. Not a high priority, but any GPS geeks out there want to help me figure out how to force the Droid to route to UTM coordinates, I'd be very grateful.

http://www.hsfair.org/generalinfo.htm#GPS

Cheers,
PittCaleb
 
I tried translating the coordinates from the first link in the second link and continually get taken to a jeepreviews.com page with nothing - so your link ain't helping in this situation, jalann.

@PittCaleb - did you look at that entire page? At the very top is a mini map, and if you click it you get an interactive map from MapQuest - with the complete address of "392 Kearsarge Ave, Contoocook, NH 03229-3103"

Taht should help with Google Maps....
 
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I know how to translate the coordinates, the question was is there a way for the droid to deal with it natively. You can enter 'regular' datum into the maos app and it will locate the place. Strangely, the mapquest link works from the desktop, but not from the droid browser.

This was an 'exercise' question - can we format the UTM coords in such a way the th emaps/search on the droid qould locate the place. It does work in desktop browser, not in droid browser to maps.google.com interestingly.

Pittcaleb
 
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I know how to translate the coordinates, the question was is there a way for the droid to deal with it natively. You can enter 'regular' datum into the maos app and it will locate the place. Strangely, the mapquest link works from the desktop, but not from the droid browser.

This was an 'exercise' question - can we format the UTM coords in such a way the th emaps/search on the droid qould locate the place. It does work in desktop browser, not in droid browser to maps.google.com interestingly.

Pittcaleb

Ahh, OK, you were asking the question to see if it could be done, not asking b/c you didn't know how to get there.

Unfortunately, I have a geocaching app (c:geo) on my phone, so it may not be the best way to test - however, I did some searching online and found this Google Groups discussion: Use UTM coordinates in Google Maps / Google Earth - How Do I | Google Groups

it took me some searching, but I finally got hte search term correct - and here is the result.

First, I found this: Formulas For Converting Latitude and Longitude to UTM | GIS Blog

Then, further searching and modifying of the terms got me this: UTM to Lat Lon Conversion v1.1.1 Application for Android | Travel

Finally, searching the Market for UTM found tons of results, and at least one paid app converts UTM to lonlat *and* maps it on Google Maps.

Coordinate Converter is .99 British Pounds, and converts UTM to lonlat and displays on Google Maps (according to the app's description).

Hope this all helps.
 
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Thanks @johnlgalt for the research and the potential solutions. I was dismayed that the state fair web site didn't state the zone - (New Hampshire Zone is not sufficient, Zone 19 North is however). Only a government agency would use such a format, no civilians so and only obnoxious puzzle caches require a working knowledge of UTM. Thanks for your help in the mater.

My friend is a long-time Palm user and I'm trying to break him of using his palm and Droid - the more I can show him what his Droid can do, the quicker he'll finally put his Palm away for good.

PittCaleb
 
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I know this was just an exercise, so this doesn't help to answer your question. I just happened to go to our state fair this last weekend and used google maps on my computer to find where it was, logged into "my maps", placed a marker, saved it to "state fair" map that I had created, then navigated to it. It took less than a minute to create a map.

Again, I know this doesn't answer any questions regarding the OP, but I thought it might be helpful for someone who reads this. For people who don't know how to use "my maps", it is really useful to create maps on your computer, then pull them up on your droid to navigate to them later.
 
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Thanks @johnlgalt for the research and the potential solutions. I was dismayed that the state fair web site didn't state the zone - (New Hampshire Zone is not sufficient, Zone 19 North is however). Only a government agency would use such a format, no civilians so and only obnoxious puzzle caches require a working knowledge of UTM. Thanks for your help in the mater.

My friend is a long-time Palm user and I'm trying to break him of using his palm and Droid - the more I can show him what his Droid can do, the quicker he'll finally put his Palm away for good.

PittCaleb

No problem - I'm the kind of person that likes to know things, too, even if I don't plan on using it now....

For what it is worth, there may soon be an easier way to do this - but yeah, the folks at the state fair leaving out the Zone when using UTM coords was pretty .. stupid, no other word for it.

If you want him to ditch his Palm, then send him over to this thread - http://androidforums.com/droid-how-tips/20635-former-palm-users-transition-droid-guide.html - that will help him with the transition.

I know this was just an exercise, so this doesn't help to answer your question. I just happened to go to our state fair this last weekend and used google maps on my computer to find where it was, logged into "my maps", placed a marker, saved it to "state fair" map that I had created, then navigated to it. It took less than a minute to create a map.

Again, I know this doesn't answer any questions regarding the OP, but I thought it might be helpful for someone who reads this. For people who don't know how to use "my maps", it is really useful to create maps on your computer, then pull them up on your droid to navigate to them later.

Still a good idea, IMO - thanks!

Great suggestion TJ - just yesterday I located the trail head for a rail trail on Google Maps, starred the location and then used Nav, Starred Items and navigated straight to it that way.

Caleb

Almost forgot about starring items. I've been using my maps so much. Starring an item in many cases is even faster than what I suggested.

Thanks Caleb

Yeah, I tend to forget about starring things myself...

I do use the My Maps editor for Android app, though....
 
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