Co-ordinate formats

**miata54** · 02-26-2008, 01:20 PM

Greetings:

I would like to take a static object (3rd party creation) and re-position it to another location. The author of the object provided instructions on changing the co-ordinates he has configured in his file, to where ever "you" would like to place the object.

His co-ordinates are listed as such in his readme file: lat="33.744567" lon="-118.174288"

When I slew to the desired position in FS9 for location of the object, this is what is at the top of the window: N21 22.04 W157 57.04

Are there two (or more) formats for listing co-ordinates in FS9? How do I convert the FS9 numbers to what the author has in his XML folder?

Thanks

Chris

**scruffyduck** · 02-26-2008, 01:43 PM

There are a lot of different formats for coordinates but the two most common are what I call Decimal and Degrees Decimal Minutes (DDM)

N21 22.04 W157 57.04 are DDM. The first letter tells us the cardinal direction (N/S or E/W) the next number is degrees and the final decimal number is decimal minutes

33.744567 -118.174288" are decimal. The sign tells us the cardinal direction for latitude N is + and S is -. For longitude E is + and W is -.

If we are talking about XML then the compiler that is used (BglComp) will accept both formats so you don't need to convert you can use

lat="N21 22.04" lon="W157 57.04"

To convert this to Decimal you would divide the minutes part by 60 and add it to the degrees part, then remove the Letter and replace it with the appropriate sign.

Hope that helps

**miata54** · 02-26-2008, 02:16 PM

Thank you, Jon.

I did enter the numbers as you suggested but the object did not show up at the specific location. Will give it another try.

Chris

**scruffyduck** · 02-26-2008, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by miata54

Thank you, Jon.

I did enter the numbers as you suggested but the object did not show up at the specific location. Will give it another try.

Chris

The other thing to make sure is that the setting you have for image complexity in the flight sim is the same or greater than the value for the object in your XML file. So if you have your sim set to NORMAL and the object value set to DENSE it will not show up. Also you need to make sure you actually have the library object and textures for it active in the Sim. If FS can't find the object then it cannot display it