Finding the Coordinates of an iDEN Site

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Last Updated: 30-Oct-2004

If you own an iDEN phone that supports GPS, such as the i530, i730, or i830, you can find the actual longitude and latitude of the site the phone is presently parked on. But how do you convert longitude and latitude into an actual location if you don't happen to have a copy of Microsoft Street & Trips or Microsoft MapPoint? Easy, just go the following input form at MapQuest:

http://www.mapquest.co.uk/cgi-bin/ia_find?link=btwn/twn-map_latlong_degrees_form

Using the DECIMAL VALUES section at the bottom of this page you can type in the coordinates you'll find on your phone, and MapQuest will display its precise location. You can then use the zoom tool to zoom in to the location at a local street level.

Okay, so how do you go about finding these coordinates with your phone? Begin by going to the Trace Mode menu. You get there by typing the following 4 keys in quick succession:

#, *, Menu, Cursor Right

In this menu, scroll down to GPS and press Okay. This will display a secondary menu, from which you should select Location. The fields you are interested in are labeled:

C lat:
C lon:

Note that when entering longitude that in the west the values are negative. So if your screen told you the following:

C lat: N 43.61415
C lon: W 79.61758

Then you would enter the following values into the MapQuest page (or into MapPoint):

43.61415
-79.61758

This information comes directly from the cell site, and does not require that you have a lock on the GPS satellites. That means the information is available anytime you have a signal.

To refresh the information displayed on that page, press the Back soft key, and then select the Location menu item again.

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