"X" marks the spot - IT help needed

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Karen

Karen

Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
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Location
Shoalhaven area, NSW
Hi all,

I'd like to know if what I'd like to do is possible.

Having strong woman's intuition I'd like to "pin point" a spot on a (hard copy) map before I leave on my detecting adventure, and then somehow be able to put that into my gps car thingy so it can get me to the exact spot driving, and then walking when I get to the area.

Would this be possible? Or can any of you computer lit guys see a way of doing this? My intuition doesn't seem to work if I look at a map on the GPS and try to pinpoint a spot but I get spots with a normal map. I'd really like to try this, as my first real detector is due to arrive very soon and I'd like to go out next day and see if the spot I've chosen on the map pays off. (Once I've got an idea in my head, it's hard to get rid of it.) :D

My GPS thingy is a Garmin nuvi 1450.

Thanks!
 
Not sure about the garmin Nuvi 1450 but you should be able get the Lat/Long from say Google Earth and create a Point of interest (POI) in your device and navigate to it . I myself buy my GPS's directly from China , load my own Navigation software , in particular I use Oziexplorer and one can find maps in the internet. I have all NSW 1:250000 topographic maps circa 2008.

Cheers

Barry
 
Baz, I saw on TV a couple of guys who go fishing and exploring and they had a tablet and had maps loaded into it and were able to look at the topography of where-ever.

I'm really on the back-foot when it comes to all of this so was wondering if there is 'understandable' how-to guide that could be used so I can do this map stuff.

This is a real challenge to me.
 
SunriseBoy said:
Baz, I saw on TV a couple of guys who go fishing and exploring and they had a tablet and had maps loaded into it and were able to look at the topography of where-ever.

I'm really on the back-foot when it comes to all of this so was wondering if there is 'understandable' how-to guide that could be used so I can do this map stuff.

This is a real challenge to me.
Click to expand...

Probably using something Oziexplorer for Android plus the topographic maps I mentioned previously, I think from memory Ozi for Android is quite cheap at $25 USD.

As far as "how to do it" there is lots of info on the Oziexplorer website where versions exist for PC, Android and WindowsCE6, apart from that GIYF (google is your friend).

Regards
Barry
 
bazza2210 said:
SunriseBoy said:
Baz, I saw on TV a couple of guys who go fishing and exploring and they had a tablet and had maps loaded into it and were able to look at the topography of where-ever.

I'm really on the back-foot when it comes to all of this so was wondering if there is 'understandable' how-to guide that could be used so I can do this map stuff.

This is a real challenge to me.
Click to expand...

Probably using something Oziexplorer for Android plus the topographic maps I mentioned previously, I think from memory Ozi for Android is quite cheap at $25 USD.

As far as "how to do it" there is lots of info on the Oziexplorer website where versions exist for PC, Android and WindowsCE6, apart from that GIYF (google is your friend).

Regards
Barry
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Barry.
 
Karen,

Most paper based maps use the Grid System of coordinates, (Eastings and Northings) whereas most GPS devices, in vehicle in particular, use Geographical Coordinates (Latitude and Longitude). The trick is to convert where needed, which is possible.

Also, most Topographical maps are also marked with major Lat/Lon scales.

A handheld GPS such as my Garmin E20 is default set to Lat/Lon to position a Waypoint, but I can change the Units to Grid Coords as well.

In your original question, you don't mention what kind of paper base maps you use, so it would help to know this.

Also you can mark a waypoint on your GPS and tell it to take you there. Once nearby, I would suggest you also mark a waypoint where your car is and rename it CAR. Then you can walk to the waypoint you wanted to go to and wen it's time to go tell the GPS to take you back to the car.

My advice is use your car GPS to get you to where you have to walk. and leave it in the car. Buy a small handheld, mark the car as well as the point to go to and use that.

http://www.ga.gov.au/geodesy/datums/redfearn_geo_to_grid.jsp Try this link to see a calculator

Also I have a PDF file on map reading you might find informative. PM me with your email and I'll send it to you, I can't post PDF on here
 
SunriseBoy

20 months ago I was totally green with this stuff, so others with more experience here might correct this or add to it. Just some very very basics (in a generalised sense) ....

- Having grown up with paper maps (lets think of 'topographic' maps showing hills towns roads contours etc), most of us look to computer type mapping in the familiar way weve had from some decades back. This hard copy paper mapping is akin to one part of digital mapping the base or lower layer.

- On top of this layer one can put many 'transparent layers' of icons, lines, points and or polygons. The last 3 make up what is known as vector. This is 'cause they are merely geometric - as you zoom in they are still just a point or line and STAY SHARP while viewing whereas the base layer with the generally 'opaque' topographic map starts to loose sharpness and pixelates as they have generally been what is known as 'raster' which we can think of as more like a picture and some are in a picture type format like JPEG. I think this is incorrect with some of the best digital topographic maps in that I guess they too are vector (anyone?). You can even make your own map from a JPEG by 'georeferencing' it. ie forcing co-ordinates into the JPEG.

- These layers can be switched on or off so that you do not need a cluttered map loaded with redundant data. Some layers you will notice only show when certain zoomed into scales are reached. Usually you have the ability to create your own custom layer for say a tenement boundary and load this in conjunction with you base topographic and or other layers.

- Many devices have the ability to use an internal or accessory GPS to make a layer explicitly for tracking your movements or guide you to a reference. Google Earth can do this as well as W.A.'s GeoMAP. So for example you could draw a line boundary on Google Earth. Save it to a file. Import it into GeoMAP.WA after loading a raster map. Then you can plug your GPS in and track your drive in through the tenement; aka 'moving maps'.

* It seems a lot of suppliers link their proprietary maps to devices, so certain mapping cannot be displayed on alternate devices. Fun and games for designing your shopping.
 
jon_m said:
SunriseBoy

20 months ago I was totally green with this stuff, so others with more experience here might correct this or add to it. Just some very very basics (in a generalised sense) ....

- Having grown up with paper maps (lets think of 'topographic' maps showing hills towns roads contours etc), most of us look to computer type mapping in the familiar way weve had from some decades back. This hard copy paper mapping is akin to one part of digital mapping the base or lower layer.

- On top of this layer one can put many 'transparent layers' of icons, lines, points and or polygons. The last 3 make up what is known as vector. This is 'cause they are merely geometric - as you zoom in they are still just a point or line and STAY SHARP while viewing whereas the base layer with the generally 'opaque' topographic map starts to loose sharpness and pixelates as they have generally been what is known as 'raster' which we can think of as more like a picture and some are in a picture type format like JPEG. I think this is incorrect with some of the best digital topographic maps in that I guess they too are vector (anyone?). You can even make your own map from a JPEG by 'georeferencing' it. ie forcing co-ordinates into the JPEG.

- These layers can be switched on or off so that you do not need a cluttered map loaded with redundant data. Some layers you will notice only show when certain zoomed into scales are reached. Usually you have the ability to create your own custom layer for say a tenement boundary and load this in conjunction with you base topographic and or other layers.

- Many devices have the ability to use an internal or accessory GPS to make a layer explicitly for tracking your movements or guide you to a reference. Google Earth can do this as well as W.A.'s GeoMAP. So for example you could draw a line boundary on Google Earth. Save it to a file. Import it into GeoMAP.WA after loading a raster map. Then you can plug your GPS in and track your drive in through the tenement; aka 'moving maps'.

* It seems a lot of suppliers link their proprietary maps to devices, so certain mapping cannot be displayed on alternate devices. Fun and games for designing your shopping.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up, Jon.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions. Sounds like a handheld device will be handy.

Thanks for the video jon_m. I'll have to wait to have a look as my internet reception is too low to download a video at home. But it sounds good.

Condor 22 thanks for your explanation and pm. Appreciate that. I still find it a bit confusing but maybe I'll figure it out after I invest in a handheld device.
The type of maps I use are from an old book I've had for ages called Explore Australia (BP). The maps in it are very detailed and it was published in 1990 but it's still my go-to.

Sorry Bazza, nearly left you out. Good info that I'll look into. Thanks for the post.

Just want to get a handheld that I can get good detailed maps for. Suggestions on brand or type anyone?

Thanks for the help,

Karen
 
I have a slightly different request, please. I had a file/folder on my bookmark bar - Windows 7 Google Chrome - and somehow I deleted it. I know, I know, 'you shouldn't let pensioners have computers'!

It should still be somewhere on the computer, so would anyone have an idea how to retrieve it please. It had a lot of gold hunting stuff such as sites and resources in it.
 
I don't see any browser pull down tab in Chrome. There is only the address bar and the bookmark bar.
 
Thanks for that. I've got a YouTube thing I'm going to watch and do tomorrow. So we'll see how that goes.
 
Sunrise

Google Chrome Bookmarks and Internet Explorer favourites are small shortcut files kept in a folder in the USER area of C:/ drive. If you deleted them, they should be in your recycle bin. If not, you have most likely emptied the recycle bin and they've gone forever.

There are undelete utilities that might recover them, however if you are finding it difficult at this point, I'd confuse the hell out of you going down that path.

I can probably tell you where to look, but that has changed with Windows versions, so what version of Windows are you using?
 

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