BCT15 GPS coordinates

[donaldchapman]

I am working on getting all the sites for the StarNet system in Houston in to my scanner.

I have finally figured out how to get the correct format in to the scanner (through the keypad) and it works perfectly! So I input all the data (24 sites) then read the scanner in to UASD (for a backup). Now when I look at the coordinates they are way off.

Does anybody know of a way to get this data in the right format so it just works?

Thanks in advance!
don

 

[UPMan]

What did you put into the scanner?
What is UASD showing?

 

[donaldchapman]

I enter 29.77185 N and 095.35954 W. for the Downtown site and a 20M radius. I can drive around and verified that it indeed works quite well.

When I read the scanner it displays 29.5342 and 95.17343. I then enter 29771.85 and -95359.54 in to the UASD software and send it back to the scanner and then it changes it again to some other coordinates like 02.95634 N and 00.0000.

I am just looking for a consistent way to enter all this information in to the UASD software, have to program the scanner, and turn on and off the sires like they do when I hand program it.

I am getting very accustomed to programming the scanner by hand now, but I prefer to just make changes and upload.

Thanks in advance!
don

 

[UPMan]

I should also have asked you to put the coordinates in "plain formatting" (i.e. DD MM SS.ss) This is also the format you use when direct entering into the scanner, so I am unsure of what you mean by entering 29.77185....where are you entering that?

 

[donaldchapman]

I just type it in like that in to the scanner DD MM SS.ss is 29.77185 hit enter and 095.xxxx

 

[UPMan]

No, DD MM SS.ss into the scanner would be something like 29 77 18.05 (which is why I wanted to see the coordinate in plain text).

 

[UPMan]

Ah, sorry, I assumed you were using the default Pos format (DD MM SS.ss) and not the DD.dddddd format.

UASD uses DDMMSS.ss format, not DD.dddddd. So, if you enter in the scanner in DD.dddddd UASD is going to show a different format for the same coordinates.

29771.85 and -95359.54 are not valid DDMMSS.ss values (well, it would be 02° 97' 71.85", 09° 53' 59.54" and since I am going to assume you are in the US, those would be quite a bit wrong).

I think you want to enter 294618.66 and -952134.34 in UASD (29° 46' 18.66", -95° 21' 34.34").

Nifty converter at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

 

[donaldchapman]

Thank you for the information, I think the problem is as you say. It seems that the scanner can toggle between both formats and I am out of phase with the toggle. I will try setting the scanner to the DDMMSS.ss format and then reenter a few and see if it will remember the correct numbers.

>I think you want to enter 294618.66 and -952134.34 in UASD (29° 46' 18.66", -95° 21' 34.34").

I think I tried entering it like this, but if the scanner is expecting the other format, that may be where the problem is. Thanks, I will give it a try.

 

[donaldchapman]

Okay, I figured it out, all it took was a day off to properly troubleshoot it.

The problem was that the scanner was configured for a different format (I dont remember which). One I got them all on DMS (GPS, scanner) everything started working.

Thanks again for all the help.

don