Map coordinate sheet help

[BushTucker]

Hi

Does anyone know of a free off the web coordinate sheet off the web or where ever, its the little grid that when placed on a map it shows the correct position inside the grid box to 1:25 000 scale?

Thanks

Don

 

[spamel]

Do you not have a silva compass? They normally have a roamer on them for different scales. They are cheap and offer a number of uses so I'd get one if I were you.

 

[SimonM]

Soldier of Fortune (Chester) sell the item you describe £2.99, its called a "Protractor / Romer".

No link to seller but have used them for years with confidence.

http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/security/select.asp

Must say tho... I have had one for years (it was a freebie with a magazine I think) but have NEVER used it, get a good Silva type compass as Spamel says - far more useful!

Simon

EDIT:
Have just checked the link and it goes to their home page only! So here is their part number search for that.

NAV035

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Best to bye one, if you print one off the net the scale may be wrong.

 

[BushTucker]

I do indeed have a small Silva compass with the rule down the edges, it was more the square overlay I was after.

 

[Mirius]

You may want one of the larger Silva's then. You don't need a grid - that only makes it harder because you need to count the squares. With a roamer, you put the point (corner) on your object (or technically low left of it) then read off the numbers on the sides of the roamer where they cross the grid lines.

 

[Aragorn]

there are some on ebay now for 2.79 inc p&p if you really want one, just type in silva romer in the search bar

 

[Stew]

You can make your own from a plain piece of paper easily enough. Using the scale at the bottom, mark 10 dashes on the top edge at the very right and 10 dashes on the right hand edge right at the very top.

That's all the plastic versions are anyway and something I've done with scouts a few times.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

I cover my maps in film, then can use OHP pens to mark features and grid refs etc.
Using the compass edge is best practice.

Nick

 

[BushTucker]

Ok, I will probably just stick with that, thanks all for your help and comments.

Don

 

[bikething]

I've always just 'eyeballed' it ...

I've got a roamer scale on the edge of my silva compass that does 1:25000, 1:50000 and 1:63360 ...

i'd post a photo to show it in use but photobucket seems to be up the chute!

 

[Mirius]

The only thing that always bugged me about the 1:25000 romer on the silva is that the corner is rounded which means you end up guessing exactly where the missing point should have been

 

[bikething]

The only thing that always bugged me about the 1:25000 romer on the silva is that the corner is rounded which means you end up guessing exactly where the missing point should have been

It's square on mine

besides, if you read/eyeball to half of a 1/10th division you're down to a 50m area - how accurate do you need to go? especially when you are generally heading for a feature of some sort, not a point in the middle of a flat field..

 

[Jodie]

I am off googling this thing as I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about

EDIT: aha - http://www.penroseoutdoors.co.uk/acatalog/Silva_Romer.html

 

[bikething]

right, photobucket's back up...

in the above picture I'm taking a reference on the car park at the top right corner of the compass..

the first (horizontal) 10th division is read off the top of the compass where the left hand of the grid square crosses, in this case it's '8'

The second (vertical) division is read down the righthand side of the compass where it crosses the bottom edge of the grid square, in this case just past '5'

so the 6 figure reference would be 668 805.

if you wanted to be more accurate, you could go 8 figure : 6680 8053 which would get you down to a 10 metre square ..

HTH
Steve

 

[bikething]

I am off googling this thing as I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about

EDIT: aha - http://www.penroseoutdoors.co.uk/acatalog/Silva_Romer.html

I've got one of those somewhere..... but i've never used it 'in the field' as it were.

 

[Jodie]

Good heavens is that what real maps look like? I've only ever seen A-Z type things and
find them scary enough (on which side of the road is the railway station I've just walked
out of and should I go left or right?) and there's even more informaiton in that one to
process. I give up

Taxi for Jodie. Quite literally

Having said that, that positioning device is v. nifty.

 

[spamel]

Jodie, it is very simple. All it is is a picture of the ground laid flat. Go to Get a Map, and then bring up a map of the area you live in and is familiar and you'll be able to look and see features you are familiar with. Sguiggly lines all over the place are contour lines which show height on a flat piece of paper. Different coloured lines show different roads, dotted lines show public footpaths and bridleways and the like. Blue is normally a water feature of some sort. Green areas are normally wooded areas and the type of trees is shown by the little trees printed on the map. Seriously, have a look, you may find it quite interesting and not so daunting. I believe that OS have put an online mapreading course up as well.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

It's a 1;25k OS map. I use that scale for mountains, has twice as much info as a 1;50k.

Nick

 

[SimonM]

I believe that OS have put an online mapreading course up as well.

Here you go, links to leaflets in PDF format:-

Map reading made easy:-
http://www.sutton.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyr...9012-D0ACFECB7F92/0/map_reading_made_easy.pdf

Advanced map reading mad easy:-
http://www.sutton.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/03806A9B-659A-4C96-B2E5-5144D50A6A14/0/adv_map_reading.pdf


The next one is aimed at younger people,
Map reading made easy peasy:-
http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/PagesHomeworkHelp/docs/easypeasy.pdf

All are published by OS and are free to distribute. I use the last one in school and the kids really take to it.

Hope that helps.

Simon