GPS Waypoint Designations?

Q. What is the thinking behind your GPS Waypoint designations like c213-s. c213-1 and c213-2.

All the GPS Waypoints I have seen elsewhere seem to use a series of letters that relate to the location on the map - though I must admit I find these really confusing and difficult to find once I've entered them into my (Garmin) Geko.

Ted Wilder, Lancaster

A. . All the GPS Waypoints on go4awalk.com use a designation that matches the walk - and represents a combination of the walk number and the position of the Waypoint round the walk i.e Walk c213 Helvellyn from Glenridding has Waypoints c213-1, c213-2, c213-3 and so on. (the first Waypoint - c213-S represents the Start and finish of the walk).

This means all the GPS Waypoints for a particular walk appear on the same screen on your GPS - and this can be a real help.

Not only does it make selecting the next GPS Waypoint to 'GOTO' very quick and easy (important if you are cold and tired) it also means you can quickly and easily create a 'route' for the walk (see Making a GPS Waypoint Route)

This system of GPS Waypoint designation has many advantages over the (more common) series of letters that attempt to describe the location of the Waypoint - like 'GLRDCP'** for Glenridding Car Park, 'STREDG' for Striding Edge or 'HELVYN' for the summit trig point on Helvellyn.

With go4awalk.com you simply navigate to your GPS Waypoints beginning with the first letter of your walk - i.e. 'c' for walks beginning with 'c' (like 'c213 Helvellyn via Striding Edge').

Then set your GPS to 'GOTO' each GPS Waypoint in turn as you walk round the route (Starting with 'c213-1', then 'c213-2', then 'c213-3') or create a route if your GPS supports this facility (see Making a GPS Waypoint Route) with no need to tediously navigate back and forwards through the alphabet to find your next waypoint (or crucially - miss an important one).

If you need to know where you are you can easily work out the grid reference* from the GPS Waypoint and find your location on your Ordnance Survey map*. This is because all the GPS Waypoints in go4awalk.com for England, Scotland and Wales use the 'British Grid' Position Format and the 'ord srvy GB' Map Datum. This datum matches the Ordnance Survey Grid Reference system used on all Ordnance Survey Maps.

For example, the GPS Waypoint for Trig Point on the top of Helvellyn is NY 34168 15148 - so the Grid Reference is NY 342 151 - i.e. knock off the last two digits from the northing (the 34168) and the easting (the 15148) and simply round them up or down.

Hope this helps

Mike (Editor)

*Walking in the UK Hills and Mountains without a suitable map and compass is not recommended. See GPS - The Myths an Truths Part 1 and GPS - The Myths an Truths Part 2 for more information.

**Many GPS Devices only allow each Waypoint to have a 6 digit name - so longer names are not always possible.

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