how to obtain GPS coordinates?

I have some land in SW Oklahoma and would like to know if there is a way I
can enter the legal land description (township map type description) and
obtain the coordinates which can be used with GPS in order to locate the
corners of the property? Is there a website which allows this? Is this a
function of the GPS unit? Thanks for any info.

Savers by Ceg wrote:
I doubt that the actual coordinates are recorded in land description
documents, but rather relative coordinated from a fixed point. The easy
way would be to go there and walk the property, recording the
coordinates at each corner, and draw yourself a map of the property. If
the area is fenced, this should be fairly easy, if not, then locating
the surveyors stakes might be quite a challenge.

Is it possible for me to go to the tax office or some other office and get
the coordinates from their section maps? Or do I have to hire a surveyor?

Savers by Ceg wrote:

Hiring a surveyor can get you an opinion as much as easily seen and
agreed upon property lines. If you do that, make sure the surveyor
understands what you expect to receive and agrees to deliver that.

The starting point for the area the property is in is usually defined by
a system called Township/Range/Section or the Public Land Survey (PLS)
system. Here is a place that may help you understand that system:

http://www.igage.com/PLSTool.htm

You can look at the collar info on a USGS paper topo map to determine
the Township and Range. The same info can be found on the free USGS
downloads if the collars have not been trimmed off.

Reading the description for one specific property can be a little arcane
but its works okay. For example, if you have a more or less square or
rectangular property, or adjoined squares and rectangles, all with
straight lines, and there are two or more clearly defined reference
points (pins, markers, etc., sometimes called monuments) you have a good
starting point. Once the all distance measurements are right, the
property lines are right.

You can set a GPS in one place and let it average the location for days
and it will still have an error of 10 or 20 feet or more. So if you
start projecting lines from that point, that error can quickly be
compounded.

Are there monuments on the corners of the property? And is there line
of sight from corner to corner? If there is and I wanted to place
markers or a fence, I'd buy an inexpensive transit and use that to place
marks along the lines. Not having line of sight from one marker to the
next is where it starts getting complicated.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

My neighbor just did a survey of his property, and one common corner (with
my property) has a monument at the corner. Since we both agree on that, I
asked and received a copy of his survey, The coordinates of that monument
are given in coordinates based on the NY State Plane system. After some
calculator use, these have been transformed into Lat, Long and UTM for use
with my GPSs. His survey also gives the angles of property lines (thank
goodness they are long straight lines) to other points, so posting the line
should be relatively easy. I think a RETAIL GPS can be of use in follwoing
a known property line. However, I would not depend on one, given the error
budget, to lay a propert line out in the first place.