#Map to pinpoint locations how to
#Map to pinpoint locations free

You need to buy maps once inside the app and can then plan, follow and record routes on these maps, find out your location, altitude, and benefit from loads of other useful features. Viewranger is one of the best fully-featured navigation apps out there. Press the camera button to take a photo and move the skyline on the app to match the peaks that you see (see below). Peak Scanner Simply hold it up and, using augmented reality, it will tell you what peaks are around you. Brilliant for when practicing navigation, so you can check yourself against a paper map.

#Map to pinpoint locations free

Gridpoint GB is a beautifully simple and free app which shows you exactly where you are in a map grid, along with the grid reference. Image: Tristan Gooleyĭisclaimer: don't rely solely on your mobile phone: always bring a map, compass and the skills to use them.

#Map to pinpoint locations how to

In under a minute you can now find north and estimate your latitude.'įind out how to find east and west using stars on Tristan's website: An outstretched fist makes an angle of close to 10 degrees for most people. This can be measured accurately using a sextant, but an estimate can be made using an outstretched fist. Wherever you are in the northern hemisphere, the North Star will be the same angle above the horizon as your latitude. Having found the North Star, there is something about its height above the horizon that is well worth knowing. The reason the North Star is so crucial is that it sits directly over the North Pole, so it indicates true north. Something that people forget is that whenever you are trying to find true north, you are actually trying to find the direction of the North Pole from wherever you are. The Plough rotates about the North Star, however its relationship with it never changes so it will always dependably point the way to it. The North Star will always be five times the distance between these two pointers in the direction that they point. Next you find the ‘pointer’ stars - the two stars in the 'saucepan' that a liquid would run off if you tipped it up. The easiest method to find it is by locating the constellation known as the ‘Plough’ (or 'the saucepan'!) There is one important star that does not appear to move: the North Star. Unfortunately, a few minutes later that star would have moved. Renowned 'Natural Navigator' Tristan Gooley says: 'If you called a friend who was a few thousand miles away, and asked them to name the star that was directly over their head, you could then find that star in the night sky and the point on the horizon directly below that would be their exact direction from you at that moment. 1 Find north and estimate your latitude using the stars Can you find north and estimate your latitude using the stars? Do you know how to find your location in order to explain it to the Mountain Rescue in an emergency? Do you know how to take a grid reference and a bearing? What communication device could you take with you when going into the hills alone, in case of an emergency outside phone reception? There's something for everyone in this skills article.