#12: [25-Apr-15]

#11: [07-Apr-13]

#9: [19-Feb-12]

#8: [19-Jun-11]

#7: [04-May-11]

#6: [22-Jan-11]

#5: [24-Aug-08]

#4: [27-Jul-07]

#3: [22-Jun-07]

#2: [03-Aug-04]

#1: [18-Jun-00]

09-Jun-2012 --

Whenever I go abroad, I keep in mind to check out a degree confluence if the circumstances allow. This is one of such visits, and the second one I visited in the United States.

In an interesting turn of events that I will not elaborate, I got to go on a business trip to Madison, WI. The hotel that I was staying was about midway point between two of the Wisconsin confluences - 43N 89W and 43N 90W. Due to the limited time window, I chose to visit the more accessible 43N 89W.

The hotel and the confluence both lie close to the US Route 12. So I got on the highway, drove east for about 25 miles, then arrived at Alpine Village next to Lake Ripley. This is when I pulled out my iPhone augmented with an external GPS.

Unlike my previous visits, I no longer carry a dedicated GPS unit with me due to its age and bulkiness. Instead, I have a quarter-sized external high-accuracy GPS module called Bad Elf that is connected to an iOS device. It gets the GPS coordinates independently, and when it's in use, it overrides the iPhone's internal GPS.

Following the readings, I was able to come to the spot where the screen showed an exact 43N 89W. Apparently, it's right next to the garden ornament in front of the house, which corroborates visits #3, #4, #8, and #9. Better yet, I was getting a WAAS lock and the accuracy was 4 meters, so this was pretty much beyond the doubt the exact place of the confluence.

While I was sweeping around the area, though, the owner of the house came out and asked what I was doing on his private property. I showed him my iPhone and told him that I was doing a brief GPS survey and that I would be leaving in short order. So after I got my main shot (east), as well as the other directions (north, west, and south), I got on my way.