MamaKatS

Thank you, I sure will! Much appreciated! Many Magellan GPSrs default to "Decimal Degrees", which is different from the format used by Geocaching.com & Garmin. The coordinates on a cache page are "Degrees, Decimal Minutes". It can be kinda confusing. But you definitely can't just plug in some extra "zeroes" or whatever. You must convert the coordinates into a format that your GPSr wants. You can go here to perform some conversions, and see where it is on the map (so you know you're in the ballpark): http://boulter.com/gps/ Here I copied coordinates from a cache page of a cache you found (Are you from Georgia? Cool!): N 34° 06.162 W 084° 46.005 I pasted them into the "Enter Coordinates" box on the Boulter site and converted them into "Decimal Degrees" for a Magellan GPSr: Latitude: 34.1027 Longitude: -84.76675 Note that there is a minus sign in there, too. Those are the coords you enter into the Magellan. Well, I think they are . Give it a shot.

So, I have been out of the loop on Geocaching for a few years and am getting back into it. I have my trusty Magellan hand-held GPS, which of course i know how to use pretty well. My problem is in actually getting to the general GPS location via my car's GPS (my car GPS is a fancy-shmancy Garmin). I try to put in the coordinates to get to the general location of geocache, but the car GPS has more spaces for numbers than the GPS coordinates posted have. for example, the geocaching coordinates will be something like, "W12.345" and my car gps has spaces for "W12.3456" - and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to just throw in an extra zero or what, or if that would totally throw it off. I know this is a dumb question with probably (hopefully) a very simple answer, LOL...but I'm severely directionally challenged even on the best of days so.. Thanks in advance, y'all!

Thanks!!!! That did the trick!!!!!!!

I just got a new laptop (since my desktop was dead). I downloaded the magellan communicator thingy to my laptop..restarted it...double checked to make sure the program was, in fact, downloaded...BUT whenver I try to download a geocache to my explorist,it tells me that the program is not found...and did I want to install it now? Even tho it's already installed. GRRR..... help??? Any ideas???? I'm computer stupid in regards to technical stuff.

Ah, if only I didn't have rush frantically to the kids' daycare immediately after work... there are a ZILLION caches between my office and home (a span of 40 miles... welcome to the Sucky Commute Club, and thanx for your service!)

Welcome to the addiction!!!! it has enormously impacted my life, as well. I now have something to do on weekends with the kids (I have four; the two littlest ones are my main caching buddies) and am outside every chance I get. With my monster commute and family demands, I don't get out as much as I'd like... but every chance we can sneak it in... away we go! Definitely start a blog, and carry a camera/camera phone with you everywhere you go. You will see some amazing, unique, or just plain pretty sights while you are wandering...and you'll want to have pics for sure. A blog/photojournal is a very fun thing to do on many levels! Feel free to check out mine, as well: http://geocachingadventures.wordpress.com/ It IS an obsession, but a good one. Enjoy!

Awesome, thanks - I'll check that out tonight. 'preciate it!

Are they accurate enough that way? Or to be on the safe side, should I try it several times and see what it comes up with most often?

I have a magellan explorist GC which has been fabulous for finding caches. Sometime soon, I'd like to hide a cache (have great area in mind, all that fun stuff). My question is about determining the coordinates for the cache - what's the best way to do that using the xplorist? I alwasys mark my car as a waypoint when I cache, so I'm familiar with how to do that, but want to make sure I'm doing things the most accurate way. Any advice, tips, suggestions from fellow explorist users would be most appreciated.

Parents are people too... they just might surprise you.

Hmmm... you could spin it more towards the outdoor/hiking/challenge aspect of it maybe? Maybe make it a little competitive - whoever finds the most gets "whatever" LOL. My husband thinks its extraordinarily geeky and dumb, but I do it all the time anyway. My little kids and one of my teens adore it. I bet your parents would be glad that you are doing something that gets you out of the house, something that is challenging, and something that is not getting you in trouble. I know if my 15 yo begged to go caching or hiking, I'd be thrilled.

Welcome! I'm here in GA too...so many awesome caching places all over the place in GA! it's highly addicting.... welcome to the obsession! Glad you are here!

I don't live in ATL but travel thru ATL for work (into buckhead). Must confess I'm intrigued by this! Not intrigued enough to set out a puzzle cache myself, but intrigued that I might consider checking it out (with a group, LOL!)

So, what locations are on your "bucket list" of places to cache???? For me, geocaching provides the PERFECT excuse to visit places I've always wanted to go but never had a real reason to. If $$ and time were not a consideration, where would you like to go caching if you could?

Yikes... many years ago - 1991-93 - I had to live there during my most unfortunate first marriage. Nothing bad ever happened to me there (aside from the aforementioned most unfortunate first marriage), but yeah, that's extremely high on my list of places I would never, ever cache if I still lived in the state. No love lost there (on many levels - LOL!) when I moved back home to GA in 1999! The aquarium is cool and all (ever see the episode of "Undercover Boss" featuring the aquarium?? Way cool!) but.. yeah, no. Oh my, I'm sorry you had to live there for a few years! I'm imagining it's probably grown worse since then as they cut a huge amount of the police force and fire department recently...yikes. Under "things to do in Camden" it usually goes: 1. Visit aquarium 2. Walk along waterfront 3. GTFO Caching must not be on that list because I don't see any placed in the main part of the city. There are many wonderful places I WOULD go caching in NJ, as there are many beautiful locations in the state...but that's not one of them. It's really sad, because at one time decades ago, it was a booming, thriving, lovely city. I hate how its gone downhill. Poverty is such a difficult trap to escape once its got you. There are many good people in Camden who just want to live peacefully and better their neighborhood... but poverty and crime have made it extraordinarily difficult. Sorry for sliding onto a totally different topic, LOL! Pine barrens, I'd cache in... sea shore, definitely. Northern NJ mountain area, you betcha!

Yikes... many years ago - 1991-93 - I had to live there during my most unfortunate first marriage. Nothing bad ever happened to me there (aside from the aforementioned most unfortunate first marriage), but yeah, that's extremely high on my list of places I would never, ever cache if I still lived in the state. No love lost there (on many levels - LOL!) when I moved back home to GA in 1999! The aquarium is cool and all (ever see the episode of "Undercover Boss" featuring the aquarium?? Way cool!) but.. yeah, no.

I am pretty sure I heard about it several years ago from a longtime soldier friend of mine. He has mentioned geocaching a few times here & there on his blog, so I knew it existed, at least. I do specifically recall him saying how much the sport of geocaching benefitted him after he returned home from a war zone - the specific quote elude me, but the gist of it is that there was/is something about geocaching that was/is very beneficial to him on many levels, not the least of which is that its a fun thing to do, LOL! It was that comment that really has stuck in my mind the most. When I was trying to find fun family activities to do with the kids that are fun yet affordable, somehow CJ's love for Geocaching popped back into my head rather randomly. Took the teens once, and was prompty HOOKED!

Yep...that sums it up!

So far, seven in one day is my big accomplishment. I always plan way more than I can do, LOL!

...and I'm STILL eagerly awaiting the haunted series, LOL! :-) *hovering anxiously, watching for new haunted cache postings* LOL I haven't had any paranormal experiences in my caching, but there is one cemetery in Madison, GA, that has a section of at least 51 Unknown Confederate Dead and several (I quote directly) Unknown Negro Hospital Workers - that's how the tombstones read - that really, really had an impact on me. Just the immensity of the history and the sorrow of the place was overwhelming. I wrote about it HERE. I adore history and love to think of the stories of the people who once roamed historical areas, but my imagination was in high overdrive there, LOL. By the time I left, I was literally looking over my shoulder, half-expecting to see someone watching me, LOL. It was very cool...can't wait to go back!

I absolutely love this! I've saved it and printed off two...will laminate them and definitely keep them handy!!!! My car is pretty noticeable and kinda sticks out, so this will be helpful when folks see it parked somewhere odd. THANKS!

Wow! So far, I haven't had a run-in with the police yet...here's hoping we don't! Some really un-nerving situations y'all have dealt with, yikes!

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 OK, I feel better now.

I have an explorist and really enjoy it (and I'm a newbie too, very techno-challenged). I received two pieces of advice re: jumpiness when you get close to ground zero that has helped me a lot. First advice was to disable the "smart arrow" feature - you know, the way the arrow changes color to indicate if you are on track or not? I was a little scared to do this (I like my "security blanket"!) but it did seem to help. The next piece of advice given to me is one I'm still developing, because it simply takes time/experience to get the hang of searching: once you are close to ground zero... stick the GPS in your pocket and start searching with your eyes. Pick a spot and start searching in a circle outward, poking at things with your walking stick and looking up, down, all around... if you were a geocache, where would YOU hide? There have been times GPS has taken me right on top of the cache, but more often it's old-fashioned detective work, LOL. Welcome to the addiction!

I had a three-week (approx) slump in February, where between "Life" and "Weather" I couldn't cache at all. Went caching like ONCE.... and here it is, the very end of March, and I haven't been caching since. Severe thunderstorms kept me cooped up all last weekend. Thinking that this coming Sunday afternoon (possibly a quick cache or two Saturday a.m.) will be my best bet for escaping! If I'm cooped up inside much longer, I think I will offiically finish going completely insane, LOL! /End rant So...what's the longest slump you've had between caching?