Guest forester Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I have received a Skywatcher telescope with a SynScan Go To unit for Xmas and am having problem inputting data. Google maps and many other places on the internet give my co-ordinates as Latitude 50.85N and Longitude 1.78W (the decimal points following these figures may very slightly). I have tried many times to input this data into the handset but it will not accept it. I have now noticed that the compass on my iPhone gives my co-ordinates as 50.51N and 1.47W which the handset will accept. The weather being poor since Xmas I have not yet been able to try out the telescope anyway. Is anyone able to advise please as to why the handset will not accept the first set of data and/or advise as to the accuracy of my iPhone data which doles appear to have different data to any other source. Many thanks Forester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) Hi Arthur and welcome to EMS Synscan handsets don't take decimal long/lat coords - they need to be converted to (or looked up as) degrees, mins, and secs. Also beware of the date format - Synscan likes to see US fomat i.e. mmddyy. Hope that helps and enjoy the forum. Edited January 8, 2016 by Brantuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glider Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 What Brantuk says above. It may be coincidence that if you enter 50 51 and 1 47 that is a valid degree and minute in deg:min:sec format. 50 85 and 1 78 aren't. You can't have 85 or 78 minutes. 50.85 = 50 degree, 51 minutes (0.85 x 60), 0 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stash Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Perhaps this will help http://www.directionsmag.com/site/latlong-converter/ and there are others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest forester Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Many thanks for your replies which have been very helpful. It is now obvious that there cannot be more than 60 seconds in a degree and that my iPhone coordinates information is correct. Thankfully a solution before I pulled out ALL my hair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi Arthur, glad you are getting there. Good luck with your scope, and the weather ? And may I add... As a newcomer to the site, you may want to consider making a post in the Welcome section (Home / general / welcome), it is a good way to to say hi to us all and for us to say hi and welcome back ?. You will be made to feel very welcome on this friendly and helpful site. ? Just take a look at a few of the other posts in that section and you will see what I mean ? Looking forward to hearing more from you, cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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