That is an interesting historical account but you fail to tell us the
reasons advanced for not using Lat. Long. ie trigonometrical definitions
on
a true curved surface rather than draughtsman drawn squares on a
draughtsman drawn simulation on a flat sheet of paper
G3GVB
Seems to be some misunderstanding here. QRA, Maidenhead,GEOREF are all based
on lat/lon anyway and are true geographical referencing systems. Their
boundaries, squares etc are all derived directly from lat/lon; they're
simply attempts to make it easier to describe a lat/lon position without
using continuous strings of numbers. What you're thinking of are GRID
systems such as the OS's National Grid Reference (NGR) which are indeed
drawn on a flat sheet of paper specifically because they're a lot easier to
use on paper maps and are designed ONLY to be used on maps. Navigators do
not use NGR for navigation - as you will know if you're a sea captain.
Grids can only be used over relatively small areas such as the British Isles
because they get so much out of sync with the real world over large areas
they become unusable. That's why the USA does not use a true grid system
like NGR. Incidentally lat.lon uses SPHERICAL trig. relationships.
Walter G3JKV.
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