GeoDiving.com - The exact way to dive interesting places

GeoDiving.com FAQs
What is GeoDiving.com about?
	GeoDiving.com is a collection of GPS coordinates of diving related sites around the world. Sites can consist of actual dive locations, dive shops, dive clubs, hotels, motels and many others. These sites are added, reviewed and explored by members. The mission of this site is to become the largest listing of GPS based diving related sites on the internet.

What is GPS and what makes it so special?
	GPS is Global Positioning system, which is a free location service provided by the US Military. Using an inexpensive receiver you can find out your location anywhere on the planet. The system operates by transmitting timing signals from 24 orbiting satellites which allows small handheld receivers to obtain accuracy of 5-100 metres. You can read a tutorial on exactly how GPS works and some of it's possible future applications here: http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.html

If I own a GPS can't "big brother" track my every movement?
	No, A GPS receiver can only receive satellite signals from the satellites orbiting our planet. Unless you have a GPS receiver coupled with a transmitter, no one but you will know where you are. Some examples of units with a transmitter are as follows: Onstar - In vehicle navigation system Garmin Rino - Two way walkie-talkies with integrated GPS Various GPS Equipped Cell Phones With these units, anyone with the ability to monitor the transmission going out can monitor your position.

What is NAC or Universal Address?
	NAC (Natural Area Code) or Universal Address is a new geodetic system designed by a Toronto, Ontario Based company that has introduced a highly efficient code to unify the representations of geographic coordinates, areas, street addresses, postal codes and property identifiers of the entire world, and make the information from all maps, GPS receivers and location based services and products directly connected, highly efficient and universal. A Typical GPS Coordinate is usually quite long while the same coordinate expressed as in Natural Area Code format is much shorter. For Example the following 2 coordinates represent the same location on earth. GPS: N 44 13.544 W 76 25.043 NAC: 8LXNW QC3TS More information can be found here: http://www.nacgeo.com/nacsite/

Do I have to Register to use the site?
	No, you do not need to register to use this site. Registration is optional, but highly recommended. Registration offers the following benefits: Ability to assign a home Coordinate that the system bases all distance calculations from (guests are calculated from Chicago IL) No decreased accuracy of locations from the database. Ability to post messages and replies in the forum Posting and rating of comments for dive locations. E-mail notifications for new locations posted to the database There is no cost to regsister.

Why does the format of the GPS coordinates look funny?
	We store our GPS coordinates into our database using pure decimal formats (eg. 45.34521). By default to all guests the format is converted and displayed in partial decimal format (N 45 23.2832). By registering, you are able to choose the format you like for all coordinates. We currently support the following formats: Full Decimal - N 43.88666 W 78.67147 Minute Decimal - N 43 53.200 - W 78 40.288 Degrees Minutes Seconds - N 43 53' 11.980" - W 78 40' 17.290" Although all the above locations physically point to the same point on the earth, they are not interchangeable. Therefore you need to ensure that your GPS receiver is set to the correct format.