Be careful with SPOT coordinates!!!

[[email protected]]

Last Saturday when I landed out about 65 miles SE of Moriarty, I did
not have cell phone coverage. I turned on the SPOT and pushed the
help button. The location was sent as advertised to Nancy's cell
phone. Nancy and I always use coordinates in degrees, minutes, and
decimal minutes. We had never used the SPOT for an actual retrieve.
While we knew that the SPOT used degrees and decimal degrees, being
senior citizens we had forgot that fact over the winter. Fortunantly,
when I walked to the main highway, two ladies stopped who had cell
phone coverage. I was able call Nancy and give coordinates in the
format she expected. We have had a couple of bad experiences with
incorrect corridinates. It is probably a good idea to give some old
fashioned directions so that the crew can verify that the coordinates
make sense.

Bill Snead
6W

[BT]

Or build a spreadsheet that has the decimal degrees converted to minutes
decimal minutes. Print it and put it in the retrieve bag, no mental math
required in the dark of night when the help message comes.. the whole degree
does not change.
BT

> wrote in message
...
> Last Saturday when I landed out about 65 miles SE of Moriarty, I did
> not have cell phone coverage. I turned on the SPOT and pushed the
> help button. The location was sent as advertised to Nancy's cell
> phone. Nancy and I always use coordinates in degrees, minutes, and
> decimal minutes. We had never used the SPOT for an actual retrieve.
> While we knew that the SPOT used degrees and decimal degrees, being
> senior citizens we had forgot that fact over the winter. Fortunantly,
> when I walked to the main highway, two ladies stopped who had cell
> phone coverage. I was able call Nancy and give coordinates in the
> format she expected. We have had a couple of bad experiences with
> incorrect corridinates. It is probably a good idea to give some old
> fashioned directions so that the crew can verify that the coordinates
> make sense.
>
> Bill Snead
> 6W