Well thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you found it helpful. I put a lot of time into organizing this presentation, so it’s nice you appreciate it. 👍
Excellent! I mean excellent brain food combining "geeky", why it works with practical, "it's works." Your breakdown made the buildup to understand both reading and plotting UTM clear and simple. Thank you.
I enjoyed the video -- it's been a pleasure watching the CRO club's content on this channel, you guys are producing some decent stuff. In the Army, they teach a mnemonic device to help new guys remember how to read UTM. They beat the phrase "Read Right Up" into their heads a bit to help them remember to quickly focus on the lower left corner of a grid square, then go right, then go up, exactly in that order. It's one of the first terms they learn, and I never forgot it (and I wasn't in the Army, LOL). Anyway, on the off chance you didn't already know that, I thought it might come in handy with youngsters and other newbies in your club. And thanks again!
Hi Mike, That is an excellent tip for remembering the order of UTM coordinates. Another one that some people find helpful is "first go down the hall, then up the stairs." Similar idea, read the easting first horizontally, and then the northing second, going vertically or upstairs.
Very well presented! Thank you for taking the time to put this together. Saved me having to explain it over again and much faster than winging it. Great job!
Very professionally done. Clear and concise presentation. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. Great tip for putting the tape and markings on the edges of a baseplate compass
Nice video! As a side note, the UTM system was actually designed by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium for the German Wehrmacht in 1942 and was adabted in 1947 by the US Army.
Thank you for making this video. going to be experimenting with UTM soon. My Garmin has UTM so I'm going to switch over to it. Up until a week ago I had no idea what UTM was. Thank you for clearly explaining what it is and how to use it.
Umer, Hey, glad you like that one. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever do this, but I figured it out on my own, so I will take a little bit of credit. =^) Anytime you have a map with a printed to scale bar on it, you can use this track, miles or kilometers, your choice.
The best explanation on UA-cam. I have a question about input of UTM coordinates into Garmin device. Easting is one digit less (6) than Northing (7). So do I have to put 0 before Easting? Thank you
Thank you for the great video. I am taking an archaeology lab class and am learning this right now. The instructor did a great job explaining this and this just adds to what she said. Thanks again.
This was great! Everything was familiar to me thanks to Finnish military training and my backcountry hobbies, but I watched the whole video anyways with full enjoyment. Very clear and precise instructions! I might use this as a starting point to teach my sister and her husband how to use a gps device with maps. I use millimeter scale on my compass and divide 1 mm into two halves. That way I can get approximately 25 or 50 meter accuracy, depending on whether I use a 1:50 000 or 1:100 000 map. Helps locating open wilderness huts etc... Thanks for the video! I subscribed to your channel
Terve Mikko! Yes, most people from Scandinavia are probably already pretty skilled at this. I'm glad you were already go to doing it, but feel free to use it if you can help teach someone else. That is excellent that you can get 25 or 50 m accuracy, that should certainly be good enough to find your tent in the finish wilderness. Most of the time for me in the western United States, finding my location to plus or -100 meters is usually close enough.
Hey Road Dog, we certainly hope it never comes to that, but having a basic knowledge of coordinate systems can be important if you spend a lot of time in the back country.
Hey Tom, thanks for the good words. The UTM system is really better for land navigation. (Pilots and sailors generally still use lat/long , because they work better over longer distances as there are not 60 separate zones like for UTM. )
2:22 - The international date line isn’t straight up and down, as the map and narration would indicate. This isn’t important knowledge for most of the planet, but for the areas it affects, it’s profoundly important.
hi Daniel, I appreciate your comment. Lots of navigation vids are needlessly complicated, I tried to make something clear and simple. Have fun in the woods!
Bruce, thanks for the kind words. UTM initially sounds a little confusing, but once you get the hang of it it's pretty straightforward. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
+Vijay SP hi Vijay, thank you for the kind words. I watched many videos on UA-cam that tried to cover this topic, and I thought that not very many of them did a good job, so I tried to clarify things as much as possible. I'm glad you found it helpful, happy navigating!
Thanks again you make it very simple to understand. I really like the ZEN idea, being a math nerd it really is easy to make a short program for my HP 35s. I like your comments in the real world. I've seen so many ideas that no experienced person could use in ordinary circumstances. Ted S
Hi Ted, I'm glad you liked the presentation. Yes, if you have even a basic memory of high school geometry, the XY coordinate system should be pretty straightforward. Also, the whole base 10 metric system makes things a lot easier as well. And, yes, real world examples are important! Many navigation videos just tell you how to do something without ever explaining why you might actually want to learn the skill.
Another great video from CROC! Anyway, how did you decide the value of 400m when easting at Mount Adams? Did you multiply it, knowing that 1 grid is 20 cm square, so I guess it was 4 cm actually when we measuring it...
I appreciate the content, but thought I should point out that most cell phones(at least when I last checked) do not have true GPS capability. They are dependent on signal from cell towers to estimate position. Some use a hybrid system, and others rely solely on built in GPS receivers. I suggest that if anyone is going to rely on a cell phone for location information, they should research the GPS type of that phone before doing so.
All modern smart phones have a dedicated GPS chip. You can prove this to yourself by putting your phone in airplane mode and turning on your GPS app. It finds your position perfectly. No cell towers are needed for this. When you are in town, the software uses a combination of the GPS, cell Towers, and Wi-Fi to determine your position but cell towers and Wi-Fi are not required.
Hi Blackdog, That's an excellent question, sorry that I did not address that more clearly in the video. A lot of the standard USGS 7.5 Minute maps do not have a drawn grid, maybe just tick marks on the margins. My favorite map source for several years has been Caltopo. Go to that website, zoom in on the area you're interested in, select a map base layer from the upper right corner, then click Print. Select a moderate scale, I suggest 1:25,000, and then under "Grid Lines", check the box next to "UTM". In a few seconds the software should generate a nice looking PDF map of the area, and a good scale, with a nice one kilometer you UTM grid on the map. Print that out and you're ready to start practicing. And best of all, it is completely free!
I got the utm mailer app, thanks for the suggestion. While the app will find my location without cell coverage, will it properly send its location message?
Hi Ben, If you do not have cell phone coverage, sending the location message will not be possible. (The GPS chip in your phone connects directly with the satellite and does not require cell phone coverage to work.)
Are there good digital topo maps that work will with with the Gaya GPS app? Specifically for the central and northern Yukon - the Werneke mountains and the Peel River watershed area?
+Robert Gerety Hi Robert, thanks for asking about Gaia GPS. It is a terrific bit of software, and a great GPS app for your smart phone. Yes, there are good digital maps for northern Canada. Gaia uses a lot of open source maps, such as open cycle and open hiking, which have worldwide coverage. I suggest emailing Gaia directly with your question, they certainly have more expertise on their app than I do. I have a video that covers the core functions of Gaia, see it here: ua-cam.com/video/oi4aUEQj7vU/v-deo.html
Is a consequence of the Universe Transverse Mercator coordinate system that for any zone there isn't actually any land at coordinate (0 E, 0 N)? I ask because the grid at ua-cam.com/video/qstBRB8Og18/v-deo.html looks like the the yellow part is land and there is no yellow and only white on the grid at the point (0 E, 0 N).
Hi Jon, Correct you are, it's no cost three dollars. Thanks for pointing that out. This video is now 2 1/2 years old, It was free when I made it. However, that modest amount goes to support the Swedish software developer, and I still think it's a pretty good deal. If you are lost and want to clearly know your location, you'd probably be willing to pay a lot more than that!
Hey trooper, this might be a better question for the guy in GPS video, but I'll give it a shot here. :-) Depending on whether you have a regular Gaia subscription or Gaia pro, I think different types of satellite imagery are available. On my app, the map layer called "satellite base map" is fuzzy almost to the point of being unusable If you zoom in more than about a 500 foot scale (Look at the scale bar in the lower right corner of your screen). However, if I load instead "satellite with labels" (Copyright mapbox and open street map) that one shows a lot more detail when I zoom in close. If you have it in your app, try "Satellite with labels", it might work better for you.
Waheed, the northern refers to your distance in meters away from the equator. So, for everyone that is more than 1000 km north or south of the equator, this number will always be seven digits. The easting is six digits because it resets in each one of the 60 UTM zones, and therefore can never go over 1 million. Hope that's helpful!
Kenny, The UTM system covers the entire world except the polar regions, so yes, this coordinate system covers just about anywhere you will probably ever want to go. Keep in mind that there are 60 different UTM zones that cover the world, and you need to know which one of those you are in. Here's a way to quickly see the UTM coordinates of any place in the world. Go to caltopo.com. Click Config, and set coordinate system to UTM. Set the map base layer (top right corner) to google maps. Now, Zoom in to anywhere in the world, and you'll see the coordinates of the cursor in the upper right corner.
I also found out the utm has to be to scale of the map so the map I'm learning with the scale is 1:126,720 so I had to get a utm to scale to find my location with my gps not to learn triangle my position not gonna be easy but my etrex 30 will not let me down just got to practice
Kenny, I think you are talking about using what's known as a map "romer", or a way to plot a UTM coordinate from your GPS onto your map. Yes, the scale of your romer needs to match the scale of your map. Rather than carrying a map romer, here is another easy little compass hack to do that does the same thing. 1 - Put I narrow strip of athletic tape along the top and right side of your compass baseplate. 2 - Copy the 100 meter increments from the scale bar onto both pieces of tape, using a fine tip sharpie pen 3 - Now, if you put the top right corner of your compass space play it on to a point on the map, you should be able to instantly see the easting and northing and 100 m increments. I cover this starting in about 9:00 on the UTM video. Good luck!
ya it gives you a more accurate reading on which grid (square) I'm new to the map thing I'm reading through wilderness navigation 3rd edition I rely on my gps to much (etrex 30) if I ever drop it (screwed) rocks and electronics don't mix it will take a good hard hit but let's not and go home all the time I have 2 utm's (plastic squares) for different scales I need to get a topo map for the lower half of California learning from a relief map for now I can find my position I'm getting the hang of it when I start triangulation the gps will correct me thank you
Kenny, Search youtube for Caltopo. It's a great free topo map software that lets you print free topo maps for anywhere in the world, with the best map coverage of the United States. That will certainly give you maps for the lower half of California.
hi karen, I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos, thanks for the helpful comment. To answer your question, the "V" defines the "latitude band" that you are in. I cover this on my video starting at 5:30, have a look there. Basically, it tells you if your coordinate is in the northern or the southern hemisphere. Most recreational users already know this, so it's generally OK to ignore the latitude band and just use zone, Easting and Northing. Your same easting and northing coordinates in the southern hemisphere would have a latitude band of I think "E", which would put you in the ocean somewhere between Africa and Antarctica. Brrrrrrrrr! (PS - And if Google earth satellite view is correct, you are on a small dead end street, next to the E14 motorway, across from the ski resort.)
Columbia River Orienteering Club HaHa!! That’s right and it is -16 Celsius right now! Ok, thanks for your reply! I’m really finding your videos super helpful and also really interesting, so thank you!
Unfortunately, as much as this 'channel' thinks of itself, it is NOT as 'accurate' or concise as it thinks it is. Regionally or locally, the quadrant letter isn't that important. Oh yeah, btw, that letter IS called the quadrant (each zone is divided into 20 quadrants, labelled C-X northerly, excluding the letters I and O, each being 8° of latitude, except quadrant X which is 12°). And in the UTM Coordinate system, there are TWO locations (as the channel metioned in its reply) that cover the coordinate 33 403520 7031961 (excluding the quadrant letter); 33V 403520 7031961 and 33J 403520 7031961 (85 miles west of the Nabian coast). So, the quadrant letter isn't valuable if you're communicating to someone on the same map, within the same region or who KNOWS you mean quadrant V. But if you're communcating to someone (like in a distress call) that HAS NO IDEA you 'mean' a northern quadrant..the letter is VERY IMPORTANT! And NO ONE should be teaching the UTM system and discounting the quadrant letter. It could become a BAD habit to exclude and 'devalue' the quadrant letter. 'Good form' and protocol includes the communication of the zone/quadrant/easting/northing. Just as the Lat/Lon system requires a N/S and E/W with its coordinates. One might think I'm being overly picky, and I might be, but when TEACHING it is never a good idea to 'devalue' ANY factor of a 'system'. YOU don't have to use the zone or the quadrant if you dont' wish to (communicating with others who are IN the same area, without zone/quadrant is faster). But, its not a good idea to make that a habit if you EVER have to communicate with someone 'outside' of your local/regional area. We would NEVER communicate a Lat/Lon as 45° 12.45' 128° 34.6' simply because someone 'should' know WHERE on the earth we 'mean' we are. Nor should we communicate a UTM coordinate with a zone but NOT the quadrant. IF someone needs to know what zone we're communicating...they probably need the quadrant as well (if they don't know what zone they don't know what quadrant...but they could work it out by the Northing...but should they HAVE TO?)
+charpackage Right on char, I completely agree you. If you like Caltopo, I highly suggest that you subscribe to that website with a $20 annual donation/subscription. Doing so will show the developer that lots of people appreciate his work.
+johngo6283 I'm already a subscriber! I'm glad you mention it in a comment because I was thinking instead of saying "Caltopo is free" you could mention paying/donating to keep it alive. As a developer (of some free software myself), I always support makers of free software I use. This stuff doesn't grow on trees. Thanks!
+charpackage great, I'm sure Matt at Caltopo appreciates your support. When I made this video last spring, I am pretty sure he had not yet implemented his subscription program. I think I will add some annotation to this video to encourage people to support him. Thanks for the reminder to support developers who are doing great work!
What a lucid, intelligent, organized professional presentation! Damn! Bring it, whoever you are. Really enjoyed it, and actually learned a lot.
Well thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you found it helpful. I put a lot of time into organizing this presentation, so it’s nice you appreciate it. 👍
Great video! UTM coordinates are much clearer to me now! Thanks for simplifying an abstract concept!
Excellent explanation of what UTM is and how to use it. Many thanks for putting this together.
Best well documented presentation I have discovered thus far. I am going to your web site next. Thank you so much.
Took great notes. And now have an understanding that is useable. Thank you.
Great video. I liked the compass hack very much. 👍
Great explanation! Best I have seen! Well done! I get it now 😅
Great job, utilized this for educating my sons boyscout troop about search and rescue and the difference between Lat/Lon and UTM
Matt, Glad you enjoyed the video, especially for helping the younger generation.
Excellent! I mean excellent brain food combining "geeky", why it works with practical, "it's works." Your breakdown made the buildup to understand both reading and plotting UTM clear and simple. Thank you.
Great video! Thank you very much. I'm trying to brush up on my LAND NAV skills now that spring has sprung.
I enjoyed the video -- it's been a pleasure watching the CRO club's content on this channel, you guys are producing some decent stuff. In the Army, they teach a mnemonic device to help new guys remember how to read UTM. They beat the phrase "Read Right Up" into their heads a bit to help them remember to quickly focus on the lower left corner of a grid square, then go right, then go up, exactly in that order. It's one of the first terms they learn, and I never forgot it (and I wasn't in the Army, LOL). Anyway, on the off chance you didn't already know that, I thought it might come in handy with youngsters and other newbies in your club. And thanks again!
Hi Mike, That is an excellent tip for remembering the order of UTM coordinates. Another one that some people find helpful is "first go down the hall, then up the stairs." Similar idea, read the easting first horizontally, and then the northing second, going vertically or upstairs.
Very helpful video. Thank you!
Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you liked it. 👍
Very well presented! Thank you for taking the time to put this together. Saved me having to explain it over again and much faster than winging it. Great job!
Fu, Good to hear you found this helpful. I was frustrated with all the other UTM videos I saw so decided to make my own.
Thank you very much. Your video is an exceedingly useful resource for someone like myself trying to understand the fundamental concept of UTM.
Thank you. This is great.
Great tutorial. One of the best I've found. Thanks for posting
Marty, I appreciate the support, glad you liked it.
Thanks for answering many questions I had about using UTM
Amazing presentation
Thank you! Great video to help me clarify a few things
This has to be the best video out there when it comes to understanding the UTM system. Good job!
Very professionally done. Clear and concise presentation. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. Great tip for putting the tape and markings on the edges of a baseplate compass
Heyo Tim, Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you liked that compass tip; that's handy isn't it?
Nice video! As a side note, the UTM system was actually designed by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium for the German Wehrmacht in 1942 and was adabted in 1947 by the US Army.
Thank you for making this video. going to be experimenting with UTM soon. My Garmin has UTM so I'm going to switch over to it. Up until a week ago I had no idea what UTM was. Thank you for clearly explaining what it is and how to use it.
Terrific summary, thank you for putting this together
Great info! Thanks.
Awesome explanation, very clear and informative. Thank you!
Super helpful! Thank you.
That tape idea is brilliant. Thanks!
Umer, Hey, glad you like that one. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever do this, but I figured it out on my own, so I will take a little bit of credit. =^)
Anytime you have a map with a printed to scale bar on it, you can use this track, miles or kilometers, your choice.
This was a great video.
The best explanation on UA-cam. I have a question about input of UTM coordinates into Garmin device. Easting is one digit less (6) than Northing (7). So do I have to put 0 before Easting? Thank you
Yes, you can try putting zero in front of the easting if your software wants to see seven digits.
Very clear and helpful - thank you!
Good video you taught me things about my map I've never used
Thank you for the great video. I am taking an archaeology lab class and am learning this right now. The instructor did a great job explaining this and this just adds to what she said. Thanks again.
Tim, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hearing similar information from two different sources is a great way to learn.
This was great! Everything was familiar to me thanks to Finnish military training and my backcountry hobbies, but I watched the whole video anyways with full enjoyment. Very clear and precise instructions! I might use this as a starting point to teach my sister and her husband how to use a gps device with maps.
I use millimeter scale on my compass and divide 1 mm into two halves. That way I can get approximately 25 or 50 meter accuracy, depending on whether I use a 1:50 000 or 1:100 000 map. Helps locating open wilderness huts etc...
Thanks for the video! I subscribed to your channel
Terve Mikko! Yes, most people from Scandinavia are probably already pretty skilled at this. I'm glad you were already go to doing it, but feel free to use it if you can help teach someone else. That is excellent that you can get 25 or 50 m accuracy, that should certainly be good enough to find your tent in the finish wilderness. Most of the time for me in the western United States, finding my location to plus or -100 meters is usually close enough.
Nice job! 👍
Great vid... very useful, and I’ve saved it to my favorites. Thanks again!
Hey Scott, thanks for the good wishes. Glad It was useful.
Thanks, it'll probably save my life!
Hey Road Dog, we certainly hope it never comes to that, but having a basic knowledge of coordinate systems can be important if you spend a lot of time in the back country.
Outstanding presentation. You might have swayed an old "anchor clanker" over to UTM.
Hey Tom, thanks for the good words. The UTM system is really better for land navigation. (Pilots and sailors generally still use lat/long , because they work better over longer distances as there are not 60 separate zones like for UTM. )
2:22 - The international date line isn’t straight up and down, as the map and narration would indicate. This isn’t important knowledge for most of the planet, but for the areas it affects, it’s profoundly important.
Excellent Thanks!
That was a great video, thank you!
hi Daniel, I appreciate your comment. Lots of navigation vids are needlessly complicated, I tried to make something clear and simple. Have fun in the woods!
Great tutorial.
Thanks for the excellent video. It was informative and easy to follow. I have become a subscriber.
Bruce, thanks for the kind words. UTM initially sounds a little confusing, but once you get the hang of it it's pretty straightforward. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Nice!
Thanks 😊
Thank you very much for a clear presentation.
+Vijay SP hi Vijay, thank you for the kind words. I watched many videos on UA-cam that tried to cover this topic, and I thought that not very many of them did a good job, so I tried to clarify things as much as possible. I'm glad you found it helpful, happy navigating!
Thanks again you make it very simple to understand. I really like the ZEN idea, being a math nerd it really is easy to make a short program for my HP 35s. I like your comments in the real world. I've seen so many ideas that no experienced person could use in ordinary circumstances.
Ted S
Hi Ted, I'm glad you liked the presentation. Yes, if you have even a basic memory of high school geometry, the XY coordinate system should be pretty straightforward. Also, the whole base 10 metric system makes things a lot easier as well. And, yes, real world examples are important! Many navigation videos just tell you how to do something without ever explaining why you might actually want to learn the skill.
I think you will find you have your Northings and Eastings back to front.
Another great video from CROC! Anyway, how did you decide the value of 400m when easting at Mount Adams? Did you multiply it, knowing that 1 grid is 20 cm square, so I guess it was 4 cm actually when we measuring it...
Is Grid North preferred over True North for UTM and all land nav based on USGS maps?
Thanks, i need that info for artillery project :))
Also i like Locus Map , very useful app
As long as they're pointed at the other guys . . .
:D It's just for game.. There is example: pastuh.github.io/hllfields/
I appreciate the content, but thought I should point out that most cell phones(at least when I last checked) do not have true GPS capability. They are dependent on signal from cell towers to estimate position. Some use a hybrid system, and others rely solely on built in GPS receivers. I suggest that if anyone is going to rely on a cell phone for location information, they should research the GPS type of that phone before doing so.
All modern smart phones have a dedicated GPS chip. You can prove this to yourself by putting your phone in airplane mode and turning on your GPS app. It finds your position perfectly. No cell towers are needed for this. When you are in town, the software uses a combination of the GPS, cell Towers, and Wi-Fi to determine your position but cell towers and Wi-Fi are not required.
Only works on a flatearth map. The spinning Globe curvature formula is not included
Hi neighbor. Where do you get maps with the UTM coordinates? I need to practice and all my maps have no coordinates at all. Thanks.
Hi Blackdog, That's an excellent question, sorry that I did not address that more clearly in the video. A lot of the standard USGS 7.5 Minute maps do not have a drawn grid, maybe just tick marks on the margins.
My favorite map source for several years has been Caltopo.
Go to that website, zoom in on the area you're interested in, select a map base layer from the upper right corner, then click Print. Select a moderate scale, I suggest 1:25,000, and then under "Grid Lines", check the box next to "UTM". In a few seconds the software should generate a nice looking PDF map of the area, and a good scale, with a nice one kilometer you UTM grid on the map. Print that out and you're ready to start practicing.
And best of all, it is completely free!
Check out 11:45 of the video for a mention of Caltopo and making free maps with a UTM grid.
I got the utm mailer app, thanks for the suggestion. While the app will find my location without cell coverage, will it properly send its location message?
Hi Ben, If you do not have cell phone coverage, sending the location message will not be possible. (The GPS chip in your phone connects directly with the satellite and does not require cell phone coverage to work.)
Are there good digital topo maps that work will with with the Gaya GPS app? Specifically for the central and northern Yukon - the Werneke mountains and the Peel River watershed area?
+Robert Gerety Hi Robert, thanks for asking about Gaia GPS. It is a terrific bit of software, and a great GPS app for your smart phone. Yes, there are good digital maps for northern Canada. Gaia uses a lot of open source maps, such as open cycle and open hiking, which have worldwide coverage.
I suggest emailing Gaia directly with your question, they certainly have more expertise on their app than I do.
I have a video that covers the core functions of Gaia, see it here: ua-cam.com/video/oi4aUEQj7vU/v-deo.html
UTM Position mailer app isn’t free. It’s 2.79, which isn’t a lot…
It was free in 2016, when this video was made. You are correct, now it's a few bucks. Still pretty worthwhile.
Is a consequence of the Universe Transverse Mercator coordinate system that for any zone there isn't actually any land at coordinate (0 E, 0 N)? I ask because the grid at ua-cam.com/video/qstBRB8Og18/v-deo.html looks like the the yellow part is land and there is no yellow and only white on the grid at the point (0 E, 0 N).
Just to let you know, the UTM Position Mailer is no longer free, at least not in Australia. It's only $2.99 though.
Hi Jon, Correct you are, it's no cost three dollars. Thanks for pointing that out. This video is now 2 1/2 years old, It was free when I made it.
However, that modest amount goes to support the Swedish software developer, and I still think it's a pretty good deal. If you are lost and want to clearly know your location, you'd probably be willing to pay a lot more than that!
hey, any thoughts on why the gaia satellite imagery is so fuzzy?
Hey trooper, this might be a better question for the guy in GPS video, but I'll give it a shot here. :-)
Depending on whether you have a regular Gaia subscription or Gaia pro, I think different types of satellite imagery are available. On my app, the map layer called "satellite base map" is fuzzy almost to the point of being unusable If you zoom in more than about a 500 foot scale (Look at the scale bar in the lower right corner of your screen). However, if I load instead "satellite with labels" (Copyright mapbox and open street map) that one shows a lot more detail when I zoom in close. If you have it in your app, try "Satellite with labels", it might work better for you.
Can anyone explain why the northing seven digits and easting six digits??????
Waheed, the northern refers to your distance in meters away from the equator. So, for everyone that is more than 1000 km north or south of the equator, this number will always be seven digits. The easting is six digits because it resets in each one of the 60 UTM zones, and therefore can never go over 1 million. Hope that's helpful!
Got it 👍
Thank you so much for your kindness
does 1 utm work for all maps ?
Kenny, The UTM system covers the entire world except the polar regions, so yes, this coordinate system covers just about anywhere you will probably ever want to go. Keep in mind that there are 60 different UTM zones that cover the world, and you need to know which one of those you are in.
Here's a way to quickly see the UTM coordinates of any place in the world.
Go to caltopo.com. Click Config, and set coordinate system to UTM. Set the map base layer (top right corner) to google maps. Now, Zoom in to anywhere in the world, and you'll see the coordinates of the cursor in the upper right corner.
I also found out the utm has to be to scale of the map so the map I'm learning with the scale is 1:126,720 so I had to get a utm to scale to find my location with my gps not to learn triangle my position not gonna be easy but my etrex 30 will not let me down just got to practice
Kenny, I think you are talking about using what's known as a map "romer", or a way to plot a UTM coordinate from your GPS onto your map. Yes, the scale of your romer needs to match the scale of your map. Rather than carrying a map romer, here is another easy little compass hack to do that does the same thing.
1 - Put I narrow strip of athletic tape along the top and right side of your compass baseplate.
2 - Copy the 100 meter increments from the scale bar onto both pieces of tape, using a fine tip sharpie pen
3 - Now, if you put the top right corner of your compass space play it on to a point on the map, you should be able to instantly see the easting and northing and 100 m increments.
I cover this starting in about 9:00 on the UTM video. Good luck!
ya it gives you a more accurate reading on which grid (square) I'm new to the map thing I'm reading through wilderness navigation 3rd edition I rely on my gps to much (etrex 30) if I ever drop it (screwed) rocks and electronics don't mix it will take a good hard hit but let's not and go home all the time I have 2 utm's (plastic squares) for different scales I need to get a topo map for the lower half of California learning from a relief map for now I can find my position I'm getting the hang of it when I start triangulation the gps will correct me thank you
Kenny, Search youtube for Caltopo. It's a great free topo map software that lets you print free topo maps for anywhere in the world, with the best map coverage of the United States. That will certainly give you maps for the lower half of California.
Hi, these videos are great! I’m learning a ton! I downloaded the UTM position mailer and my reading is 33V 403520 7031961. What does the V stand for?
hi karen, I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos, thanks for the helpful comment.
To answer your question, the "V" defines the "latitude band" that you are in. I cover this on my video starting at 5:30, have a look there. Basically, it tells you if your coordinate is in the northern or the southern hemisphere. Most recreational users already know this, so it's generally OK to ignore the latitude band and just use zone, Easting and Northing. Your same easting and northing coordinates in the southern hemisphere would have a latitude band of I think "E", which would put you in the ocean somewhere between Africa and Antarctica. Brrrrrrrrr!
(PS - And if Google earth satellite view is correct, you are on a small dead end street, next to the E14 motorway, across from the ski resort.)
Columbia River Orienteering Club HaHa!! That’s right and it is -16 Celsius right now! Ok, thanks for your reply! I’m really finding your videos super helpful and also really interesting, so thank you!
Unfortunately, as much as this 'channel' thinks of itself, it is NOT as 'accurate' or concise as it thinks it is.
Regionally or locally, the quadrant letter isn't that important. Oh yeah, btw, that letter IS called the quadrant (each zone is divided into 20 quadrants, labelled C-X northerly, excluding the letters I and O, each being 8° of latitude, except quadrant X which is 12°). And in the UTM Coordinate system, there are TWO locations (as the channel metioned in its reply) that cover the coordinate 33 403520 7031961 (excluding the quadrant letter); 33V 403520 7031961 and 33J 403520 7031961 (85 miles west of the Nabian coast).
So, the quadrant letter isn't valuable if you're communicating to someone on the same map, within the same region or who KNOWS you mean quadrant V. But if you're communcating to someone (like in a distress call) that HAS NO IDEA you 'mean' a northern quadrant..the letter is VERY IMPORTANT!
And NO ONE should be teaching the UTM system and discounting the quadrant letter. It could become a BAD habit to exclude and 'devalue' the quadrant letter. 'Good form' and protocol includes the communication of the zone/quadrant/easting/northing. Just as the Lat/Lon system requires a N/S and E/W with its coordinates.
One might think I'm being overly picky, and I might be, but when TEACHING it is never a good idea to 'devalue' ANY factor of a 'system'.
YOU don't have to use the zone or the quadrant if you dont' wish to (communicating with others who are IN the same area, without zone/quadrant is faster). But, its not a good idea to make that a habit if you EVER have to communicate with someone 'outside' of your local/regional area.
We would NEVER communicate a Lat/Lon as 45° 12.45' 128° 34.6' simply because someone 'should' know WHERE on the earth we 'mean' we are. Nor should we communicate a UTM coordinate with a zone but NOT the quadrant. IF someone needs to know what zone we're communicating...they probably need the quadrant as well (if they don't know what zone they don't know what quadrant...but they could work it out by the Northing...but should they HAVE TO?)
caltopo.com is the best!
+charpackage Right on char, I completely agree you. If you like Caltopo, I highly suggest that you subscribe to that website with a $20 annual donation/subscription. Doing so will show the developer that lots of people appreciate his work.
+johngo6283 I'm already a subscriber! I'm glad you mention it in a comment because I was thinking instead of saying "Caltopo is free" you could mention paying/donating to keep it alive. As a developer (of some free software myself), I always support makers of free software I use. This stuff doesn't grow on trees. Thanks!
+charpackage great, I'm sure Matt at Caltopo appreciates your support. When I made this video last spring, I am pretty sure he had not yet implemented his subscription program. I think I will add some annotation to this video to encourage people to support him. Thanks for the reminder to support developers who are doing great work!
No interest in this. It’s reliant on a phone? Are you crazy? Just teach me compass. Got a URL on that?
In the same video series he did a long list of instructions for compass. They seem excellent, very clear.
Awesome video, thank you!