Locations/maps/coordinates

[IceFrog]

I have just been visiting this geodiving site with all the GPS numbers.

I really like the concept and the page is very well put together except for a few points.

1. (now this may be my fault) When I enter the numbers of a few wrecks that I do know the location of, they turn out to be very far off. Are all the locations wrong?

2. In the description there is no information as to the area the wrecks are located in, ie. nearest city, island, etc. I need to know a more specific location other than if it is in a river or a lake in Ontario.

3. (Again this may be my fault) But I cant seem to find anywhere what format the GPS numbers are given in. Each description should list the format so I can enter it properly in my GPS.

Does anyone know of any listings that are more acurate?

Thanks

Juggernaut,

Thank you for the comments. As per your questions:

1. All coordinates are provided through various sources and comments/corrections are available for each location (postable by registered users). You may also be using the wrong format in your GPS (see point 3). If you are in fact using the wrong format, the coordinates would be WAY OFF and would seem incorrect. Which ones did you check. I have a personal library of coordinates that I have personally visited.

2. There actually is a field to put nearest city in. As people post locations they have the option to fill this infomation in. If they do not, we usually go through and manually look on a map to determine. We are however adding a new field which will be "body of water" that will provide info on which lake, river, bay etc. the dive is in.

3. All coordinates are listed in WGS 84 in 3 different formats (by user choice - you need to register and change your profile to change the formats). You can get pure decimal notation, Degree decimal format, or degrees minutes and seconds (this infomation is in the FAQs on why the numbers look funny). The database stores EACH coordinate in a standard format and converts the format to your requirements (to any of the above 3) and also provides the Universal Address from NAC Geographics. See www.nacgeo.com for more information on this.

I hope you find the site useful and that my responses addressed any concerns you have on the data we provide. We look forward to any additional comments you or anyone else may have.

Regards,

 

[Submerged 2 Deep]

1. All coordinates are provided through various sources and comments/corrections are available for each location (postable by registered users). You may also be using the wrong format in your GPS (see point 3). If you are in fact using the wrong format, the coordinates would be WAY OFF and would seem incorrect. Which ones did you check. I have a personal library of coordinates that I have personally visited.

I have personaly visited a number of these locations just from using the coordinates listed on the site. We took a friend's boat out late last year and were pretty close to all of the sites we dove. (I'll have to check out my dive log to confirm which they were). The GPS coordinates listed got us to within about 30 feet of the site (pretty good in my opinion) as we got to see each wreck.

Juggernaut: On your comment on the nearest city, there is a mapping feature in the bottom left of the screen that will show you the site on a map.

I personaly have found the GeoDiving.com web site quite interesting. I had no idea that this technology could be used this way to help us divers. Kudos to IceFrog for bringing this to the diving community.

 

[Groundhog246]

If I recall correctly it's set up in degrees, minutes, tenths of minutes (ie 44 34.50) as opposed to degrees minutes seconds (44 34 30) (btw, both these are the same position). Older charts used the latter, current CHS charts (if they've been updated, most metric charts have been) use the first. I've been led astray by not looking closely enough at a new chart.

I used the Lat/Long from the site to successfully find and dive the Marquette & the Lottie Wolf last season.

 

[Juggernaut]

Overall I really like Geodiving I think it is a great idea and very well layed out. I am glad that Ice Frog has decided to add a "body of water" heading.

Using the map icon is ok, once you are on a specific wrecks page. Knowing what body of water the ship is in before selecting it will be much more easy and quicker.

The one wreck in particular that I think may be located wrong is the Carolina Rose. Using the coordinates from Geodiving "N45 14.535 W081 34.572" it is located firmly on shore.

The same thing happens with the Morrisson in Barrie using Geodivings numbers "N44 22.747 W079041.391" again planted firmly on shore.

If anyone can see what I am possibly doing wrong or if those coordinates are in fact incorrect please let me know.

Thanks

 

[Juggernaut]

I also found the same with the Niagara II
"N45 15.039 W081 36.179"

On shore next to the Carolina Rose.

 

[IceFrog]

Overall I really like Geodiving I think it is a great idea and very well layed out. I am glad that Ice Frog has decided to add a "body of water" heading.

Using the map icon is ok, once you are on a specific wrecks page. Knowing what body of water the ship is in before selecting it will be much more easy and quicker.

The one wreck in particular that I think may be located wrong is the Carolina Rose. Using the coordinates from Geodiving "N45 14.535 W081 34.572" it is located firmly on shore.

The same thing happens with the Morrisson in Barrie using Geodivings numbers "N44 22.747 W079041.391" again planted firmly on shore.

If anyone can see what I am possibly doing wrong or if those coordinates are in fact incorrect please let me know.

Thanks

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I can't comment on the Caroline Rose, but the J.C. morrison has a correction posted for the actual site. On the Rose however, I looked at Mapquest's map, and it shows clearly that it's about 200 metres into Driftwood Cove. I will compare it on other maps that I have at my disposal and also will query my colleagues on the correct coordinates for the site and compare with what's posted (unless any of you have current coordinates that you're willing to post)

Many thanks.

Regards,

 

[Juggernaut]

I must be doing something wrong then.

On the screen of my GPS it shows the Carolina Rose on shore a long way from the water.

"N45 14.535 W081 34.572"

what is this set up? degrees, minutes, seconds or degrees, minutes, tenths of minutes

Also has anyone verified the Niagara II location?
"N45 15.039 W081 36.179"
This also comes up on shore on my GPS screen.

Help!!?

 

[Groundhog246]

"N45 14.535 W081 34.572"

what is this set up? degrees, minutes, seconds or degrees, minutes, tenths of minutes

Using the format above, it would be degree's, minutes, tenths. Have you tried taking a reading from your GPS and plotting on a chart?

 

[simcoediver]

Your numbers for the Carol Rose are right on, So I can only assume that the problem lies in your GPS setup. First off you do have WAAS right? Because you could be way off if you don,t. Next you need to go into setup mode in your GPS, then go into coord system or coord setup, then click on primary mode,it will ask if you want LAT/LONG or a whole bunch of others ,stay with LAT/LONG...now tell it you want ..........DEG/MIN MMM . Now you should be set up correctly to hit any wreck bang on if the given numbers are correct for that wreck location. I have never had any problems finding wrecks with my trusty little Magellan Sportrack.Hope this helps!

 

[Groundhog246]

You not only need lat/long, deg min.mmm, you need to be set to the correct horiz datum. For Canadian charts its mostly nad27 or nad83. For US (NOAA) charts it's nad83 (http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/hsd/specs/CHAPTER2.pdf). WAAS makes a difference, but generally rather small. I use an older Magellan without WAAS and have had no large errors.

To those having trouble, I don't know the Carol Rose, but I used the Geodiving postions to locate and dive the Marquette and the Lottie Wolfe last year. The position for both was right on. On my Magellan, it only has 2 decimal places so I had to round the last number, for example W081 34.572 would be entered as W 081 34.57