Big Brown Cacher

OK, Ive found a few caches in my area and enjoying it greatly. Quick question on elevation though. 1st: Does the GPSr know how to compensate for extreme elevation changes in reguards to distance? In other words, if Im climbing a really steep mountain where the actual distance is 5 miles up, but on a map in 2D it looks like 3/4 of a mile. Can the GPSr compensate for that and show that I really hiked 5 miles? 2nd question: When entering waypoints for caches, I never see elevations in the description, Do I reset the elevation to zero in all cases urban? I do see in waypoint DLs that the elevation is listed as 0.0 in the ones Ive DLed. Thanx. Me

OHHHH, Now I figured it out. Thank you very much. I was under the impression the default on my unit was the correct one. I was in d m s instead of d m m. Now that I changed it, the coordinates changed. Idid a test run to a cache that i knew the area really well and where it SHOULD be, but my unit was off by 1500-2000 ft. Now I know why. Im gonna go back out and retry now. Thanks so much. I have a few in my area that I know the location well. Ill try again and im sure itll fix the problem. Thanx everyone. Me

No, I think I figured out which to use. But I was referring to the coordinates given on the cache description page are one thing. Then on the description page there is an icon for a waypoint DL. Those coordinates are different from the ones at the top of the cache description page. Why are the ones I DL different than the ones on the descr. page? Me

Im confused. Why are all the description waypoints different from the ones included in the download? Which do I go by? Me

Thanx. I just got through doing that and found that the margin for error can be as great as 20-50 ft. Im assuming that the lack of signal from but 2 or 3 satellites is the culprit. Is it also safe to assume that the more satellite signals that are strong, the more accurate a reading youll get? I think I got the hang of it as far as the accuracy of my model. Well, Im off to hunt tomorrow. Thanx yall. Me

Nevermind, I apologize, I think I finally figured it out. Whenever I get a new gadget I wanna know everyting as quick as possible and sometimes I ask ask ask instead of read and fiddle with it until I get it. Thanx though. Me

Yeh, thats why I was confused. The thread for the cache itself had a different waypoint than the DL.Why bother to DL the waypoint when its posted in the thread? Me

Ok, maybe Im just plain stupid. I marked my current position. Now I wanna enter the waypoint for a cache. How do I do that? Maybe Im missing something in the manual, but Ive gone thru all the menus and cant seem to find where I enter a waypoint manually. Me

OK, I figured out my first question on how to DL the files and open them. What am I looking at though? Is it a reference point to the actual cache? Like perhaps a spot to park and then continue on foot? Me

OK, Ive read over quite a bit and digested the majority of the info needed to get started. BUT, There are a few things I still am fuzzy on. First: Concerning downloading waypoints. How do I do it? The file types are 2 that my computer doesnt recognize, which I anticipated after reading the short section on waypoint DLing. What do I need to do to enable me to DL the points? Second: I need a real quick crash course in Longitude and Latitude. How do I interpret the readings on my unit? In other words, If im at N 58 degrees 07' 45" W 086 degrees 48' 04" and I know the roughly the distance inmiles a point that is N 58 04' 41" W 086 45' 01", How do I translate that? I hope Im being clear enough. #rd: How do I interpret heading? What does it mean in relationship to where I am and where Im going? Other than that, I pretty much understand the rest. I guess Ill find out when I search for my first cache how much I really think I understand. Thanx. Me

I went and looked at several units on E-Bay and then went to the local outdoors place and found what yall suggested here. I purchased a Garmin Geko 201 model. I couldnt afford the Legend(wish I couldve, it was cool). My question is, How in the hell do I input a waypoint? I read the instructions, I performed every other task it can do, but I couldnt figure out how to enter the waypoints for a cache. On a side note, no where do I see a definition of 'waypoint'. Not in the booklet that comes with the unit, or on this site. Granted, common sense prevails in most cases, but it might help if they defined that term since its used so much.Anyways, Im a newb and any help would be great. thanx. Me