Joyce Fetteroll

Anyone have a GPS system in their car? I was going to do this offlist
but realized it might be an intriguing problem for families to figure
out how to do it.

In a story I'm writing, the character has seen a UFO drop down beyond
the trees. (Not exactly what happens in the story but way easier to
explain than what does ;-) It could have fallen miles from her. She's
standing in front of a house and wants to tell someone over the phone
the angle it is from the house. If she had a compass she could say it
on a line that's on an angle of 65 degrees from the house. (Or
however it's expressed.) She doesn't have a compass, but she does
have a friend with a GPS in her car. The person she calls is going to
use Google maps to find the territory to search in and then
physically search outward from the house along that line for the UFO.

I've only briefly seen a GPS in a car so I don't really know what
kind of information you can get from them. I was picturing angling
the car to point in the direction the UFO went down, but don't know
if that's necessary.

So what would she be able to pass on over the phone to help the
person start searching for the UFO?

Joyce

Shannon Rizzo

The gps could have a map feature; mine does but I don't know if all gps
systems do. I would think so. With my GPS, for example, you can drag the
map with your finger as you would a google map with a mouse. So, her friend
could project the path for her as you described.

Shannon


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Silvia Barrett

I have one that DH got me for xmas last year. You can get the coordinates
for a location you�re at if you ask for them. Does that help?



Silvia

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Joyce Fetteroll
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 11:21 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] GPS systems



Anyone have a GPS system in their car? I was going to do this offlist
but realized it might be an intriguing problem for families to figure
out how to do it.

In a story I'm writing, the character has seen a UFO drop down beyond
the trees. (Not exactly what happens in the story but way easier to
explain than what does ;-) It could have fallen miles from her. She's
standing in front of a house and wants to tell someone over the phone
the angle it is from the house. If she had a compass she could say it
on a line that's on an angle of 65 degrees from the house. (Or
however it's expressed.) She doesn't have a compass, but she does
have a friend with a GPS in her car. The person she calls is going to
use Google maps to find the territory to search in and then
physically search outward from the house along that line for the UFO.

I've only briefly seen a GPS in a car so I don't really know what
kind of information you can get from them. I was picturing angling
the car to point in the direction the UFO went down, but don't know
if that's necessary.

So what would she be able to pass on over the phone to help the
person start searching for the UFO?

Joyce





No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.6/1086 - Release Date: 10/22/2007
7:57 PM


No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.6/1086 - Release Date: 10/22/2007
7:57 PM



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Robyn L. Coburn

<<<<> Anyone have a GPS system in their car? I was going to do this offlist
> but realized it might be an intriguing problem for families to figure
> out how to do it.>>>

I have sent this email on to James, since he knows lots about GPS (I hope)
and he has one in his car.

Robyn L. Coburn

Joyce Fetteroll

On Oct 23, 2007, at 4:14 PM, Silvia Barrett wrote:

> I have one that DH got me for xmas last year. You can get the
> coordinates
> for a location you�re at if you ask for them. Does that help?

Nope, that's just a point which she can get from the address. She
needs a line. And two points define a line. She doesn't know where on
that line the second point is but she can see the angle of the line.
But she needs some piece of data so someone else can recreate the
line on a map. (She can't speak to him directly. She needs to leave
it in a message.)

It's a real life (well it could be!) geometry application. :-)

Joyce

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joyce Fetteroll

On Oct 23, 2007, at 11:47 AM, Shannon Rizzo wrote:

> The gps could have a map feature; mine does but I don't know if all
> gps
> systems do. I would think so. With my GPS, for example, you can
> drag the
> map with your finger as you would a google map with a mouse. So,
> her friend
> could project the path for her as you described.

The cool thing about fiction is you can give them whatever GPS system
you want ;-)

So she could find the angle on the map of the GPS. Then she drag and
zoom in to find another point on the line. Can the GPS system give
her the coordinates of that point?

Joyce



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]