Range Report Google earth and ranging?

[ubet]

How close is google earth when trying to range in yards with it?

I just got on it and did some ranging with it. Where I am shooting at, my dope and a gps app on my phone both confirmed 740yds. I got on google earth and its telling me 508? I dont have acces to a lrf yet, so I am stuck with the tools I have at my disposal. I shot the distance the other day and I was 22.5 moa out there, and I KNOW my dope at 550 is 13.5 moa. SO WTF is going on?

Guess I need to put something up out there and range it with my reticle too.

Anyone try using google earth for this and have they had good/bad luck with it.
Thanks

eta, got it figured out

 

[5R Milspec]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

I too have used it for the same reason,and found it to be right on for me.the reason I say this is because it reads the same at the range I shhot at.each back stop I mean reads what it is.so 100 is 100 and 200 is 200 and so on.so I think its a great tool for getting the range of a know/unknown distance.but hey what do I know when I too haven't bought a range finder yet.

 

[McLarenross]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Its been working well for me so far. You sure you are measuring in feet/yards and not one of the other weird scales they will measure in? My phone, dope, reticle, and Google Earth have been matching up so far within +- 5 yards.

 

[ubet]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Nevermind, its a lot closer now, earth doesnt have very good images right here where Im at and Ive never really used it, I figured out how to pan to get it to look like from my firing point to my target and I was off, I couldnt see the hill looking straight down. But got it to work now, still going to range it though.

 

[Ouch!!]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Yeah I have mine on a phone and its in meters. But it was within 3 meters and 6 meters with a LRF.

 

[vman]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

I used it to verify a range of around 1700 yards obtained with an LRF and it was pretty spot on.

I think there was about 8 yards difference, but seriously at that scale who knows how accurate my clicking skills on google were.

 

[Grump]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

No one here has checked out their favorite ranges using Google Earth?

Every place I look, it's been accurate. First place I tried was the local football field.

Boulder City, Desert Sportsman, Elsinore, Price, 29 Palms, Camp Pendleton (good luck getting ME onto that one!), Washoe County, the one just north of Bountiful, Bendover, and Southern Utah Shooting Sports Park (only to 200 so far there). They all check out, except one is something like 7 yards short at one distance.

I have NOT shot at all of these, but I still might get to them before I die. Most are over-the-course ranges.

Yeah, I trust Google Earth. You gotta be like a photo analyst to get the full value out of it, though.

 

[bamawrx]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Inspired, I downloaded Google Earth. It is much better now than I remember from my last experiences. I plugged in my range location and measured the range for my 1,000 shot and it was within 10 yards! Naturally, my click on the screen will have error too. Very impressed, and I found a 1,200 yard shot while I was at it. Now to see how the heavy 308 loads will print.

 

[ubet]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Ive noticed it works better if clicking on places where it is flat, not on the side of a hill like I tried, still no replacemetn for a lrf though (which I still dont have)

 

[Grump]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

On my computer, Google Earth drifts into an oblique view as I zoom closer to the ground. I'm always clicking that control to fix it.

There must be a setting to lock it to direct vertical...

 

[marduk185]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

i have gps lrf and mils and all seem to correlate to google earth on everything ive checked.

 

[Hook Creek]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

I live accross from a driving range that is 300 Yards, and using google earth its about 175 Yards. I wouldnt trust it.

 

[Lindy]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

I used Google Earth on every target berm and firing point on Rifles Only, which I knew the range for from both LRFs and GPS. That's a lot of tests. The ranges were within a yard or two of the ranges I already had every time.

Now, Rifles Only is pretty flat. You might have a problem on steep terrain, which I haven't tried, so I can't say.

 

[Grump]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cronos</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I live accross from a driving range that is 300 Yards, and using google earth its about 175 Yards. I wouldnt trust it. </div></div>
Go "shoot" some ranges with Google Earth at the nearest football field. Don't confuse end zones with the field itself.

Then go find your nearest rifle range and get some readings there. You might be surprised.

 

[Hook Creek]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Even if it did work on something else that I tried to range with Google Earth, I still wouldnt trust it. Simply because of the fact that it has failed one known distance already.

 

[alpha6164]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Can someone explain to me how you guys are using Mobile Google earth to range. I have the program on my iphone and besides searching for locations, or clicking to locate your own location i dont see a tool that allows you to select points A+B for measuring. All inputs appreciated.

 

[IsleofGough]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

Google Earth coordinates have occasionally been off anywhere from 100 ft to 1/4 mile, but are corrected pretty often. If you are comparing two points on a map, everything should be ok, but if you are comparing your coordinates on a gps to an object coordinates on a map, it may be off. (there was a long discussion of this on delorme's forums)

 

[cmh2007]

Re: Google earth and ranging?

i used it for my range i shoot at, its accurate to with in a few yards. although now im going to have to look at some football fields