Measuring target distance with GPS

[cornshank]

At 4000 yards thats not too bad

 

[LaHunter]

Using GPS the error does not increase with range. It is only the sum of the two possible errors of measuring the end and beginning points. So with 21 feet possible error at either end the total possible error is only 42 feet no mater how long the line. And could be well below that. Of course a line 50 feet long would have a possible error of 42 feet. Not real good.....LOL

have you ever used a gps much? Even the good hand held units can be more than 21 feet off.

 

[LaHunter]

At 4000 yards thats not too bad...at least for a first shot.

At 4000 yards I bet that bullet is falling from the sky like a rock. An error of just a few yards will make a difference. It's not about the ranging error %. At longer range the flight path of your bullet is a pretty extreme arc.

 

[jimisbell]

I was using the error proposed by a previous poster on this thread. But, yes I have, in blue water sailing and often after miles of sailing I would come right onto the buoy I was looking for. My wife was always amazed and thought I was a genius. I explained that the genius was the guy that invented the GPS.

 

[cornshank]

I was using the error proposed by a previous poster on this thread. But, yes I have, in blue water sailing and often after miles of sailing I would come right onto the buoy I was looking for. My wife was always amazed and thought I was a genius. I explained that the genius was the guy that invented the GPS.

Hey ,put some buoys out there in the desert, that probably make good targets to .

 

[wolffo]

mil it ?

 

[TxDerek]

If you want a dual purpose option, buy a Dji Drone. You can get all sorts of different options that are extremely capable of flying out that far and they give yiu accurate distances from the point they take off from to where they are hovering. I used mine this year at ko2m to get footage and it worked awesome. Not only does it tell you lateral distance, but it give you height above take off position. So as long as you can do simple formulas of finding the Hypotenuse of a triangle, it's super accurate.

 

[jareese]

You say you don't want to use maps - this is what MarkandSam after work use. You mark your start, go to your end and set end, it tells you the distance.

 

[Roughrice]

I use a free app called "Measure Map" for measuring my farm fields for spot treatment.
You can also measure straight line paths by marking location and walk or drive until your wanted distance is reached.
That's how I did my range up to one mile in 100 yard increments.
Checked with good laser range finder and were within a couple of yards of my app distance.
Worked great and easy as hell!!

 

[chav0_12]

I don't think your question was ever answered about how to mark your spots. Don't mark your target and then get try to get a number. Mark your initial shooting position, then walk with that set as your waypoint until it says 4K yards. It might not be as accurate as you hope but it might not be that far off either. I'd probably go with the multiple ranging techniques but the difficulty with that will be ensuring that they're all in a 100% straight line from one end to the other, or else you'll be a little off all the way back.

 

[Lee Deming]

I would second the OnX system. It is extremely easy to use-if I can use it anyone can. You could check on their website or send them an email asking how accurate their system is. I use their app on my phone all of the time for shooting, hunting, fishing, hiking and they are a great company.

 

[HammerBullets]

Does google earth allow you to stand at the target and place a "pin" there and then do the same at the firing line, and then measure the distance?

Correct as long as you have Google Earth App on Phone.

 

[wolffo]

I have had two older garmin handheld units, both were horrible with batteries and had problems in cold temperatures due to batteries as well, I have never been a fan of electronic gadgets

but I will admit, I have recently used an older leica 900 range finder in combination with the Hornady ballistics app, and a properly chronoed rifle with handloads……to GREAT success

the Hornady app even has a feature to calculate the angle of fire

 

[INVICTUS]

I am setting up a range for up to 4,000 yards. I want to use a simple GPS for measurements. Not sure which ones will work. BUT....I DON'T NEED MAPS!! All I need is the ability to mark both ends of the path and have it calculate the distance. Assuming level ground. Even without the calculator I could use pencil and paper to calculate it if the unit would give me the GPS positions. It seems that most small handheld units are geared to using maps and land marks, not just raw GPS.

But there may be some out of the box solutions as well.
1) is there a program for tracking that will use my phone to find a tagged object and give me the distance to that object?
2) Since my phone does have GPS information that is accessible to the police, how can I access that information?
3) maybe time the bullet from firing line to target? That would be hard without very accurate instruments.
Any other ways other than a 3 mile tape measure?

I use a Garmin Map 60. However, be prepared to put some time and effort into the setup. It is rarely straight forward.