Boat Owners/GPS Users

[Stone]

If you have a GPS (and Excel on your computer), you may be interested in an Excel spreadsheet I have recently posted on my website.

The spreadsheet calculates distance and bearing to any number of GPS coordinates from a reference GPS coordinate.

The spreadsheet has no instructions, but if anyone is interested, post in this thread or send me a PM.

To download the spreadsheet, click on my URL below and follow the "Dive Documents" link.

 

[Stone]

Here's a link to a website that has an awesome utility that lets you upload/download GPS data to/from your PC.

GPS Utility

It supports Furuno, Garmin, Magellan (and possibly) MLR, Simrad and Raytheon

There is a 'Freeware' version that you can experiment with.

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

These are awesome. Anyone on the great lakes or on the ocean will appreciate this.

 

[JDostal]

My eTrex does this already.........it calculates the distance from your current position to any coordinate set you enter into it.

Or can you just put arbitrary coords into your spreadsheet and calc the distance from anywhere to anywhere, regardless of the current position?

Hm. Maybe I should just download the thing before opening my mouth

 

[DaveO]

If you register (it's free) at MapsOnUs dot com, you can set addresses to include lat/long coords when you get driving instructions. I have a portable gps in the car, and this has bailed me out of a sling on a number of occasions. (The first time it helped was enough to stifle the chortles of girlfriend-now-fiance, who was starting to wonder what kind of geek she was hanging with.)

Might be a bit tough for you guys to trailer the boat on every car trip, but if you have a portable it's worth it!

Dave O

 

[Stone]

Omicron once bubbled...
My eTrex does this already.........it calculates the distance from your current position to any coordinate set you enter into it.

As does my Furuno and (I would hope) any other GPS unit.

Or can you just put arbitrary coords into your spreadsheet and calc the distance from anywhere to anywhere, regardless of the current position?

When I started collecting dive site coordinates (from friends and the internet) I put them into an Excel file. I now have nearly 300 coordinates. Instead of parking my boat at the buoy I use for reference and writing down all the distance and bearing numbers, I found the spherical coordinate equations and plugged them into my spreadsheet . . . yipee! Instant distance and bearing numbers. This allowed me to create my distance and bearing map that I posted to my website (Map Link). I use the map to plan my dive trips so I can hit dive sites along a gas and time saving route.

Since I can pick any coordinates as a reference, I choose one of a number of bottom structures as a reference and get distance and bearing to the other nearby bottom structures. We have many sites that consist of a number of M60 tanks or clumps of culvert pipes. Some of the stuctures are close enough to swim to even if you can't see them (if you know the distance and bearing from your starting point.