[Iphone 4 GPS is rubish]

what about requiring Gps type with the geocatch location ?

That way people know what placed the catch.This is my first post

so sorry about the idea if its rediculous.

[Iphone 4 GPS is rubish]

Get ready for this folks: I need to do this to begin the process of eliminating the iphone as a recommended GPS device on Groundspeak's website. If this doesn't happen soon, Geocaching as we know it will come to a crossroads of whether it's doing more harm than good. Have I peeked your interest yet?

 

The iPhone of all vintages, used as a GPS, is a misearble failure. I cache in the Pacific Northwest of the US which is mostly forested on the western side of the Cascades. I started taking statistics over the last 3 months finding 800 caches released over the same period over a 60 mile radius. What I've been finding are these important issues:

 

1) More cachers then ever are placing containers with less than 10 finds.

2) Most of these new cachers are using the iPhone to find caches. The average distance of error is 185'.

3) I do iPhone rescues in the field all the time. People are off on less than social trails, usually bushwacking and not ever close to the prize. I inform them that the best GPS is a hand-held, water-proof, shock resistant, dedicated GPS, etc, etc. It's bad enough to see trees, vegetation, trails, logs, stumps get hammered by those carrying an iPhone but what's WORSE by degrees is wannabe cachers PLACING geocaches using the iPhone. Now you have the worst of scenerios. Bad coordinates and all geocachers handling any GPS, even those with considerable experience, cannot possibly make the find.

4) Everything that Groundspeak was founded on, all the instructionsl slide shows, all the material developed in the first few years, the books written, ....... to do a good job placing and finding caches has been waived by placing the iPhone on the [GPS] screen.

5) If Geocaching goes down, the major manufacturers of GPS's will loose 60-70% of their hand held GPS business. So, this is a business decision. Shut down the iPhone GPS app recommendation now or it's going to get ugly.

6) How ugly .... let me expand on this. I've witnessed iPhone hides where the coodinates are far enough off that it's clearly on private property. You want to see nasty confrontations of homeowners, business people, civil servants, stewarts of the land, just stay tuned.

7) Law enforcement is no longer saying "carry on" when they find geocachers, day or night, disturbing the peace, or illegally on private or on public lands after hours. More evidence is now being posted in logs.

8) One last detail, the iphone is NOT field reliable. It's not water resistant no matter the style or purpored claims of protection of cases. You can't expect to get any accuracy when it's tucked away in your pocket as you're climbing, fording creeks, in a rainforest and the list is endless.

 

Things Groundspeak could do to better:

 

1) Every new cacher must have a Beta Tester, an experienced cacher to take readings for verification. Actually, this should be done regardless of experience whenever and wherever challenging terrain caches are placed.

2) New cachers should seek out and the approvers provided a field on the [Online Placement Form] the Goocaching name of the "advocate" or "mentor" for the first 5 hides. An approver needs only 5 seconds to check this out. The time saved over the life of a cache would be huge.

3) The [Online Placement Form] should have a checkbox or an attribute that a cache was placed using an iPhone or other device prone to providing inaccurate readings.

 

I'm passionate about this sport that I love so much. I want it to survive another 10 years so I can take my grandson on treks to find treasures. Maybe, those will end up being incredible views, finding works of art, historical places, and just the exercise as the highlights. Mark this date, 8/25/2010. In a couple of years or so our "precious" may have melted away in the fires of Mt. Doom.

 

Part 1 complete.

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