Forum Discussion
SAR_Tracker
Mar 06, 2007Explorer
Mike Mike Motorbike wrote:
This helps me to understand better.
Butt can you explain map datum and or how to recognize what
wgs-84
nad-83
nad-27
looks like.
At the risk of sounding like a geek, I'll try to explain. A datum is basically a grid on the planet. Maps are drawn according to these grids. How Garmin describes it.
Description of WGS-84 (NAD-83 is basically the same thing).
Description of NAD-27
The difference between the 2 different Datum's (WGS-84/NAD-83 and NAD-27) are a couple hundred meters in 2 directions, usually South and East (if I remember right). Unless you're trying for hyper-accuracy (like geocaching) then leaving your GPS set to WGS-84 should work fine. If you're using a pre-printed topographic map, make sure your GPS Datum is set to the same datum as the map was drawn to.
And then there's the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system......:B The metric system of Lat/Lon!
EDIT: Fixed the quote so the post read correctly. (Good info here, SAR Tracker!)
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