How To Obtain Your Coordinates.Your co-ordinates can be determined in one of the three following ways (and of the three, the first two are simpler):You do it 1. You can have a friend or relative who has a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver determine your co-ordinates. Getting your co-ordinates this way is preferred. This way we cannot be later accused of selling plaques with inaccurate coordinates. Determining your co-ordinates yourself would not reduce the cost of your plaque or T-shirt. You, or we do it 2a. Another easy and presumed accurate source for your co-ordinates is Google Earth. After you download and install the program (free as of July, 2006), all you should need to do is enter your address and wait for Google Earth to spin and bring you to some place over your house. Hold the mouse over your front door, or the spot you desire and the co-ordinates and elevation appear near the bottom of the screen. Google Earth web site 2b. Don't want to Google, or don't have anyone with a GPS to help? With careful instructions from you, we can determine your co-ordinates using DeLorme's Street Atlas on CD. Or if you own a decent CD map, you can determine your own coordinates. We do it 3. Or, if you prefer, we can hand plot your co-ordinates using 7.5 minute quadrangle maps. If you mail us an original 7.5 minute quadrangle map with the exact spot you want co-ordinates plotted, we will hand-calculate the numbers as accurately as currently possible. (The map you send us will become the property of Frog Legs, but we will reduce the cost of your plaque by $3.50.) You can get 7.5 minute quadrangles at local map stores, hiking supplies stores, state or county offices. How accurate are the co-ordinates? A very good GPS unit can give you co-ordinates that are accurate to perhaps within 15 to 30 feet. I checked my GPS-derived co-ordinates against those produced by Google Earth and they were spot on. The DeLorme map has been giving us numbers that are between 30 and 150 feet. And hand calculated co-ordinates from 7.5 minute quadrangles can be accurate to between 75 and 200 feet. Let it be said up front: Our latitude/longitude plaques are for novelty gifts only, and are limited to novelty gift concepts. They should never be used in ways that require the degree of accuracy needed to protect human or animal life, human or animal welfare, or property. Let's say you drop a friend or relative off in some remote canyon, or you feel you've found a long lost Spanish treasure trove. You can ask us to put those coordinates on a medium, but DON'T expect us to guarantee that you will be able to retrieve them. ~grin~ back to Plaque page. Go back Frog Legs |