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Maidenhead Locator

1

Does OSM include the Maidenhead locator system anywhere? It is basically a n approximation to Lat/Long: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Locator_System

If not, might it be added? It would publicise OSM to a world-wide community (radio amateurs) who have GPS gadgets & technical capability.

asked 19 Jun '15, 18:56

wickerwatter's gravatar image

wickerwatter
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accept rate: 0%


2 Answers:

6

The Maidenhead Locator system is another co-ordinate system (it is for instance available on my Garmin). OSM uses WGS84 internally, and Spherical Mercator (EPSG:3857) for slippy maps. It is perfectly possible to transform OSM data to other co-ordinate systems using tools such as ogr2ogr or osm2pgsql. However, the Maidenhead system appears to encode WGS84 lat/lon in an alphanumeric code which is not compatible with these programs.

If OSM wants strong publicity it is in non-technical communities. OSM is very strong in people with a technical background, many of us see this as possible deterrent to people without such a background joining us. I therefore doubt that there is interest in work to make OSM look more techy than it already is.

answered 20 Jun '15, 11:51

SK53's gravatar image

SK53 ♦
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accept rate: 22%

edited 23 Jun '15, 16:40

4

I don't know much about the Maidenhead system, but wikipedia tells me that it appears to be another way to write down lat/lon locations, right? When it comes to storing locations, the OSM database just uses regular latitude and longitude.

However there's nothing stopping you (or anyone) from somehow building a map that uses OSM and does something with Maidenhead locations. What exactly did you have in mind by "adding Maidenhead"?

answered 20 Jun '15, 16:37

rorym's gravatar image

rorym
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accept rate: 11%

edited 23 Jun '15, 08:12

Frederik%20Ramm's gravatar image

Frederik Ramm ♦
82.5k927201273

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