COORDINATES AND THEIR FORMATS

There are two formats that coordinates can be given as:

(1) DEGREES, MINUTES & SECONDS (no points!)
e.g.
33 24 54 S
18 22 35 E

(2) DECIMAL DEGREES or DECIMAL MINUTES (with points!)
e.g.
39.456 S
15.673 E
or
35 16.27 S
24 35.76 E

Please ensure that you read your coordinates carefully from your gps or map.
 
If your gps is set as decimal degrees/minutes, it is very important that the point is given as shown on your gps reading. Do not replace the point with a space as this will give an incorrect value (e.g. 34.768 S is NOT equal to 34 768 S). Also, because SABCA works with the degrees, minutes and seconds format, we need to know where the point is if your format is in decimal format, so that we know how to convert your decimal format into the degrees, minutes and seconds format.
e.g.
 
39.456 S = 39 (0.496 x 60) S = 39 29.76 S = 39 29 (0.76 x 60) S = 39 29 45.6 S
15.673 E = 15 (0.673 x 60) E = 15 40.38 E = 15 40 (0.38 x 60) E = 15 40 22.8 E
or
35 16.27 S = 35 16 (0.27 x 60) S = 35 16 16.2 S
24 35.76 E = 24 35 (0.76 x 60) E = 24 35 45.6 E

The conversion process as shown above replaces the point with spaces in the correct way.

If your gps is set in the degrees, minutes and seconds format, you may see the following reading on your gps:
e.g.
32o15'24''S
18o35'56''E

This can be translated straight to:
32 15 24 S
18 35 56 E
(i.e. the characters in between the numbers are replaced with spaces.)