Quote (Kuren @ Aug. 19 2005,4:16) |
after some research, it seems like Grid Lines are usually done in the UTM system, not Lat/Long |
Yes, the UTM coordinate system is much easier to use out in the field because it is a decimal system, and it's easier to do the math in your head when eyeballing a position on the printed map.
I finally got around to throwing together an app that produces a 9x9 UTM grid centered around a user provided point, spaced 1000 meters apart, and labeled in the units of hundreds. I wrote it for my own use to produce a grid for 1:24000 scale maps for hiking. It is not generalized and will only produce a grid to that dimension. It produces a pretty good looking printed map if the 2500 x 1875 export size is used, and the fonts are at least 20pt (it looks pretty bad on screen, but the printed map looks good).
Knowing your location in the wilderness is an important and potentially life threatening thing. The writer of this app takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the output. The user must verify the accuracy of the grids before heading out and depending on it for determining a location.
If you can accept that, feel free to try it out. It's a 16 bit Windows console program that requires manually entering the UTM coordinates and parameters (sorry 'bout that).
http://home.comcast.net/~steve_newcomb/gridutm.exeSteve
Tucson, AZ