So, it's National Coming Out Day.

[gridlore]

The day when we reveal our orientation for the world to marvel at. Well, here goes.

Seated, facing north, occasionally facing east to watch the TV.

I feel so liberated.

Comments

Re: It's on.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

LOL :-)

Both.

Re: It's on.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Polar: 10N 592048 4135440

MGRS: 10SEG9204735439

Land Nav was my life at one point.

Re: It's on.

[netquiddler.livejournal.com]

Erm, translate?

Re: It's on.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Those are two different ways of showing my location on the globe. Both are based off the usual latitude/longitude, but are used for different reasons. The first is a polar coordinate, which is really obscure and most used for targeting ICBMs back in the pre-GPS days. The second is the military grid reference system, and shows the map segment and eight-digit grid location on the map where you'd find Offhand Manor.

Re: It's on.

[netquiddler.livejournal.com]

Okay, in case I ever get asked for that, how would you convert these?

N 39° 35' 29.5578", W 75° 4' 7.6398"

Re: It's on.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Well, there are two methods.

1. Join the Army and enlist to be either an infantryman or artillery forward observer. USAF Forward Air Controller would also work. Take endless land nav courses that alternate between airless classrooms taught by professional droners and exciting night navigation problems that require you to take sightings on hilltops three miles away in pitch darkness.

2. Or, you could just go here:

http://www.earthpoint.us/Convert.aspx

I understand that these days troops have a gadget that uses GPS and pulls up coordinates in whatever format they need. Back in my day, we had six map sections, a protractor, and a pencil!

Re: It's on.

[netquiddler.livejournal.com]

I'll assume then that my right numbers are these.

Polar: 43S 505907mE 4382426mN
MGRS: 43SED0590782426