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mcrow

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Posts posted by mcrow

  1. IDK, if the basic membership is supposed to be an introductory version it makes sense to only show very easy caches. I remember being a newbie and trying to find nanos, I was very difficult with no experience. I have heard of people quitting because they start out looking just for nanos or more difficult hides. Almost seems like newbies are better off steered toward caches no smaller than "small" and low difficulty.

     

    Reall, $30 a year for premium isn't expensive. What other hobby can you have that only costs $30 a year?

  2.  

    So...what's the longest slump you've had between caching?

     

    From my gsak stats:

     

    Most consecutive days without a find: 2,698, from 03/25/2002 to 08/12/2009

     

    And if I recall a similar thread correctly, I do NOT hold the record!

    lol....I'm at 2929.

     

    Got poison ivy really bad, had the skin literally peel off my legs. So, took a long time to recover and build up the guts to go out again.

  3. Seems to me you can do what you want with them. You can keep them for collecting purposes. You can activate them and see where they go. You can trade them with other geocachers, give them out as gifts to geocaching friends. Sell them..ect.

  4. I use an iPhone 7 Plus, with the Cachly app, for most of my caching. I find it to be 'good enough' 99% of the time. Big problem for me is after a couple hours of caching my battery is close to dead. I thought about buying a battery case for my phone (and I still might) but instead chose to put that money towards a Garmin Oregon 700. I've taken the Garmin out with me a few times now and I see a new caching workflow forming for me: Use iPhone for all quick urban caching. For longer caching trips, or for caching in the woods, use iPhone for car navigation (like the poster above) and then use the Garmin to navigate to the cache. In all cases, I prefer to log caches via the phone rather than try to use the Geocaching app on the Garmin. The Garmin hasn't been a "game change" for me but it's been a nice, although expensive, addition to the toolbox.

     

    Yeah, main advantages are battery life, durability and better signal in remote areas. When I lived in the Twin Cities I really had no use for a GPSr had there been smartphones at that time. There are thousands of caches in the Twin Cities and you'd never be anywhere without cell reception. Now I live in a rural area where many caches are not in places with reliable cell signal so I prefer the GPSr.

  5. I don't think we need to attack the OP. I don't like to see anyone leave the hobby. I personally don't see how his points were valid reasons to drop Geocaching but to each their own.

     

    I'm fully aware that there are free apps out there that may be better but I pay for and use the Geoacaching app. Most of these other apps basically steal data that premium members pay for. Premium members are the ones paying for any upgrades and day to day costs that GS pays for. Sure, GS has been lagging in some areas but I support them all the same with my premium membership. I respect that not everyone has the money to pay $30 for a membership, but there are still tons of caches available for basic members.

     

    Also, IDK about other areas but there are quite a few very good caches around here available on the basic membership. However, if GS is going to generate revenue and stay in business they have to give people a reason to pay for the product. If they give everyone all the goodies for nothing what would pay for GS's costs? Also, I believe the owners are entitled to a profit.

     

    Could the app be better? No doubt about that. Is it as bad as people make it sound? No.

     

    Granted, I prefer to use a GPSr but I still cache frequently with my phone because it's always in my pocket. I find that app pretty easy to use, I don't have issues finding caches, the phone gets me to GZ and I'm good.

  6. There's always someone who wants everything for free.

     

    Petrol is about the most expensive part of geocaching. I tried getting my car to be filled up for free, but they insisted I pay. Grumble grumble.

     

    I'd take the bus but then I'd spend more in a week than a premium membership does for a whole year!

     

    What is the world coming to?!?!

    When I lived in the Twin Cities Metro area there were literally thousands of caches within a reasonable bike ride.

  7. IDK, as far as hobbies go Geocaching is pretty cheap.

     

    Don't need a GPSr, Don't need a phone, Don't need a premium membership. The basic game is free. I know in my area there are over 200 caches you can get on basic for free and if I go out another 10-15 I can add another 200.

     

    Even if you add in some equipment and premium it's still cheap.

     

    You can get a basic GPSr for under $50 if you buy an older used unit that works fine. Most cellphones will run the app fine so if you have one already, you're good to go.

     

    Premium is $30.00 per year.

     

    There are not many hobbies you can invest under $100 in and have $30 yearly expense to be involved in it.

     

    I do get that even $30 a year is a lot depending on what you make and how many people you have in your family but you could all share an account.

     

    I can tell you that some of my other hobbies (metal detecting) it's fairly cheap.

  8. There is certainly no NEED to buy a GPSr.

     

    A GPSr is generally going to perform better. GPSr's generally have a better antenna for the GPS chip, the digital compass is generally better because it reacts faster than the one on the app. GPSr is going to do better most of the time under cover.

     

    While the above may be true it isn't such a huge difference that it should warrant buying a GPSr for everyone. The performance for phones is very good in areas with a cell signal because they use the cell towers+GPS, they tend to be better than GPSr in dense urban areas like downtown areas where there are a lot of large buildings. With a premium membership a phone can download caches and use them offline so you can use them in areas without a cell signal, but the accuracy isn't as good, but probably good enough to find a cache.

     

    I think the best reason to get a GPSr is for the durability and if you also like hiking/hunting/fishing. I really don't want to drop my $800 phone in a puddle and ruin it or drop it on a rock and crack the screen. Also, most GPSrs are waterproof so rain is no issue. Like I said above overall accuracy is better, particularly under cover and the compass is better.

     

    The issue with comparing performance is each GPSr and phone is different. There are relatively few GPSrs out right now compared to years ago but there are thousands of phones, all of which have difference GPS chips, software and hardware. There are phones that probably perform very close to a GPSr and others that are complete garbage.

     

    Personally, I use both. I use my phone to navigate to a cache in the car and my GPSr to navigate from car to cache. Sometimes if I think something is weird I'll pull out the phone to confirm things.

     

    Like I said, no NEED for a GPSr but I think the GPSr is definitely better suited for caches deeper in the woods or off the beaten path where the elements can not be great for a phone. There are some performance benefits for a GPSr but really, once you get good at geocaching the little bit extra performance isn't that big.

  9. My go to in more urban areas is to put my cellphone to my ear and walk around until people move on, even make fake conversations if they're close enough to hear. Other places, just making it look like you're picking up trash seems to work.

  10. Could be anything. Do you have the link to it? Most archieved caches can still be viewed.

     

    Chances are that you listed a cache that broke a rule of some sort.

  11.  

    Why is it that when I am asked for an opinion involving smartphones and I happen to mention a real GPS - I get jumped on for giving as honest an opinion as possible??

     

    Might be that the OP asked about caching with a phone in the rain and you spout off about using a GPSr which isn't what the OP asked for.

     

    Also, comparing using a phone for a gps to using a grabage bag for a rain coat is sort of a put down. Not only a put down but a poor analogy.

     

    Or it could be that everytime someone mentions using a phone you talk about your "I carry my ruggedized, water resistant GPS unit".

     

    Clearly you think using a phone is inferior and will derail a thread to state it.

    Or... I could be just offering my helpful opinions and personal experiences. Whatever you chose to believe I guess.

    Helpful would have been giving a suggestion on how to better weatherproof their phone, not suggesting buying a GPSr when that's not the question.

  12.  

    Why is it that when I am asked for an opinion involving smartphones and I happen to mention a real GPS - I get jumped on for giving as honest an opinion as possible??

     

    Might be that the OP asked about caching with a phone in the rain and you spout off about using a GPSr which isn't what the OP asked for.

     

    Also, comparing using a phone for a gps to using a grabage bag for a rain coat is sort of a put down. Not only a put down but a poor analogy.

     

    Or it could be that everytime someone mentions using a phone you talk about your "I carry my ruggedized, water resistant GPS unit".

     

    Clearly you think using a phone is inferior and will derail a thread to state it.

  13. It's easy to say there are plenty of inexpensive GPSr's out there, but did you ever stop to think that maybe some people just can't afford one or just don't want one?

    And, a cheap GPS will not give you the paperless functionality of the cheapest smartphone.

    I wouldn't mind betting you can get a second hand smartphone (Android or WinMo especially) or a Pocket PC capable of running caching software and memory maps for less money than a GPS such as the Oregon.

    So the non GPS option may just be the cheaper one.

     

    Our Etrex Legend cost around £150 which is not a small sum and yet for full day caching trips taking in multis and wherigos we would be lost without the added functionality of the ppc.

     

    Yes, in the US you can get an Optimus V from Virgin Mobile for around $119, new. For $25 per month you get unlimited data,texting and internet plus 300 minutes. I'd imagine you could get a used phone for that or less. So far I'm pretty impressed with the caching capabilities of the Optimus V. Most of the time it's spot on.

  14. As far as I know iPhon 3 and 4G both have GPS capability. I don't own an iphone, but I know on my android phone I have to activate the GPS. Some apps activate it automatically.

     

    I would see if you need to turn on the GPS function or not. Explaining how to use a GPSr or an App over forums is pretty difficult. I would have your hubby or someone who knows how the app works show you in person.

  15. I won a Venture. It's good unit and has a USB cord. I think the Venture is the better GPS of the two and think that the ability to use a USB cord is a plus.

     

    Is it worth the upgrade? Hard to tell.

     

    Venture has a slightly larger screen that is color. The Venture also has a basemap that is pretty good and does area calculation. You can add maps to venture, but not the eTrex H.

     

    So if all of the above makes it worth the money to you, then it's a good deal.

  16. Well, that's different from "You need a good signal to get an accurated GPS reading."

    Yes, that's why I said what you said was true. I was just adding to your comment not using this as an arguement against your previous comment.

    And it depends on what you think makes a smartphone app cool. I've been using PDAs and smartphones for >10 years, and I find them very useful for many things even without an internet connection. One complaint I have with a number of Android apps is that they require an internet connection and have no provision for offline use.

    I've been using an Android phone for a while. I think geocaching function is good but I find accuracy to be poor with a bad connection. I still take my phone with whenn using a traditional GPSr because I take my notes on it, pictures, video, and I have cache info stored on it. So, signal or not, it's useful. I'm just pointing out that with the phone that I have that the apps tend need a good signal to be most accurate and to use all of the functions. However, a regular GPSr can use all functions, all of the time minus a few places where a GPS signal can't get too.

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