Questions tagged [navigation]
This tag is for all questions about outdoor navigation with maps, compasses or mobile devices equipped with sensors for satellite based positioning systems.
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How to find true north without compass, sun, and stars?
Is there any reliable method from nature to find north without the stars, sun, or compass?
I have read a little bit on this subject, and a lot of it seems to be controversial.
Let's say I am lost in ...
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Increase Accuracy of Magnetic Compass
How to increase the accuracy magnetic compass? Is there a good way using multiple ones?
I searched the Internet and Philip Werner suggested at Section Hiker web:
use the most current declination data ...
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Are there any examples of orienteering (off-trail) route-finding software?
Route-finding software is common nowadays. For example, you can use Google Maps to navigate from one town to another. It's even possible to use apps like Gaia GPS to plan a route between two points ...
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Free Online Text Books For Sailing
The FAA has a website to download free text books to learn all the things required to become a pilot. https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/
Is there a similar website ...
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What are the slope determination criteria in the elevation profile of Google Earth? Is it based on rise over run or rise over hypotenuse? [duplicate]
I occasionally use google earth and notice that the slope percentage is never cross 100%, if slope percentage is determined by rise over run method the 100 percent value is equal to a 45-degree slope ...
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Why is nautical navigation still exclusively taught with paper charts?
I have recently read some books and courses on nautical navigation. All of these start teaching how you use paper based navigation charts, and teach the usage of protractors and such. There is even ...
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Can you tell which way is uphill on the great plains?
The great plains are well-known for their flatness but they rise from about 200m at st Louis on the Mississippi river to almost 2000m at the "mile high city" of Denver next to the rocky ...
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Are there any affordable, dedicated (one-purpose) handheld GPS receivers with nice satellite maps?
I don't have a smartphone, or any phone, and specifically don't want to have one for many important reasons. However, I do wish that I had some sort of map where I get to see where I am currently, ...
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Can I record my route electronically when underground?
Portions of a hike I did recently involved me going through tunnels that had some twists and turns. How would these work with an app like AllTrails or another GPS tracker?
As I understand it, assisted ...
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If you have figured out one compass direction, is that always/sometimes/never enough to tell all the other three as well?
For a long time, I've been wondering for myself: if I know for sure that a certain house has this wall facing West, and I'm standing facing the wall in front of me, and I have nothing else to go by, ...
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Should I buy a GPS to calculate elevation gain/loss?
I have minimal experience but i am considering getting certified by the ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) in the far future. It says i need hikes with a minimum of 700 m elevation gain/...
- 119
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What is the local accuracy of the Garmin Oregon 750 barometric altimeter?
I want to manually create a topographical heightmap of a hillside property with the highest possible accuracy for the altitude. This will later serve as the basis for planning terraces and building ...
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What advantage does the what3words coordinate system have over other, traditional systems?
I recently came across the what3words coordinate system in an outdoor magazine. The system divides the world into squares of 3 m x 3 m. Each square is then named with a combination of three (as far as ...
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How to explain unexpected success following a bearing taken from an iPad
I live in northern British Columbia where the relevant declination values are currently
Magnetic declination: 17° 45.30' East
Grid declination (for Natural Resource Canada's NTS maps): 16° 17.04' ...
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As of 2019, why do mountaineering courses still teach how to use a paper map?
I've been looking into learning how to mountaineer and noticed that the local mountaineering society still requires a training in navigation as part of the prerequisites for most of their basic ...
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What signs can I use to navigate a cave if lost?
I'm working on a story where a character gets trapped in a cave but use his knowledge as a weatherman to navigate and escape! Are the any weather-related clues you could use to escape a cave ...
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What are the differences between prismatic, lensatic, mirrored, and optical sighting compasses?
Background
I am looking at compasses for backpacking and camping, and have come across more compass varieties than I had ever thought possible. Four terms that often come up together are "...
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Did any lighthouses provide directional navigation signals?
Rather than shining in all directions, lighthouses usually produce a directed beam of light that continuously sweeps in a circle.
This allows:
the light to be more concentrated and so appear brighter....
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Garmin inReach vs. overcast sky
Garmin says about inReach that to have a two-way satellite communication "you need to have a clear view of the sky".
And what about cloud cover?.. Say it's winter and 100% overcast with angry ...
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Navigation device with offline maps and GPX support
I have a subscription service from komoot for maps. Is there any GPS device that supports offline maps and GPX, preferably with android OS integration. Example scenario would be: Use an android based ...
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Is there an app: remind me when I get back here
The basics of what I'm after is very, very simple: Push a button, it notes your location. When you reach that point again it tells you. I've looked around and I don't find anything that seems to ...
- 2,334
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How to follow bearings while running?
I'm am amateur orienteer that does a fair chunk of races. I'm reasonably decent at navigating - using attack points, bearings, contours, catching features etc.
But I cannot follow a bearing ...
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What is a glass artificial horizon?
On Amundsen's polar expedition they had,
Of instruments and apparatus for the sledge journeys we carried two sextants, three artificial horizons, of which two were glass horizons with dark glasses, ...
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How do you know you have reached North or South Pole without GPS?
Having read about the recent foot traverse of Antarctica by Colin O'Brady I was wondering which means the polar explorers of former, pre-GPS times used to determine that they had reached the North or ...
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How do simple compass needles remain level instead of see-sawing with magnetic dip? Are they flat even near the poles?
This instagram post by Colin O'Brady (just hiked across Antarctica) shows his compass needle looking fairly level, but I can't see enough else to know if he's holding it level.
A significant fraction ...
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How is elevation gain and change measured for hiking trails?
If a trail is listed as 1500m of elevation change, what exactly does that mean?
For example, if the trail goes up 500m, then down 200m, then up 100m, then down 300m, then up 400m, is that considered ...
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What does contouring mean in the context of navigation/orienteering?
One of the techniques while navigating in the outdoors is known as contouring, what does this mean and when would it be useful?
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How to find good hiking maps for the Laugavegur trail in Iceland? [duplicate]
I will be hiking the Laugavegur trail alone and have been looking for good hiking maps (1:50 000) online. My google searches yield no good results. Where do you even begin to look?
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How accurate is the method of finding north with a watch?
There is a method of finding north with a watch described here
So you point the hour hand of your watch at the sun. Halfway between your hour hand and the noon mark is south.
How accurate is this ...
- 69.4k
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Getting lost and circling a trail in a loop?
What is the term for that phenomenon when someone in wilderness start experiencing a strange situation? When,
They aren't certain that they have lost the route
They may or may not be walking on a ...
- 31.7k