CraftyKel*

Hi All, It's been a while since I used the official app on android, having switched to Locus last year, however, with the update I am thinking about switching back to the official app again (where mobile signal is good, official app still has no function for offline maps as far as I can see). However, one feature I seem to remember liking about the official app was that if you put co-ordinate in the personal cache note box on a cache page, the app would automatically add any co-ords you put in the box as a waypoint. This was awesome for putting solved puzzle co-ords in and having them there ready for out in the field. But I can't see that feature anymore or even anyway of viewing the personal cache note in the app. Am I confused and thinking of another app? Or has that functionality been removed from the official app? Thanks, Russ

I also seem to have messages not arrive and often have to send multiple times before they get through. One guy I was messaging eventually got it and was able to reply to my email address and it turns out quite a lot of messages don't seem to make it through for him as well, even though our own copies did get through.

I hid my first few hides with my phone alone and never had a problem, there are steps you can take to increase the accuracy of your co-ordinates even if you are using a phone. Averaging, measuring on different days/times, etc. Actually, you should probably be doing that even with a 'proper' GPS handset My accuracy is now better than many GPS handsets as I now use a bluetooth GPS receiver as my new phone is worse than my old one for it's built-in GPS lol. Battery life is not a problem as the receiver has it's own battery and I have a spare battery for my phone. I've never had any problem with being out of range of cell towers and don't know what you're referring to here? I have a PQ on my phone as backup for when I'm out of data range. If I can't connect to download caches I load up the PQ and cache offline (and have offline maps too). The only limitation I haven't overcome with my phone is durability. I believe there are phone cases that will waterproof, etc...but from what I've heard (I've not actually looked) they can cost as much as a GPS handset so are not worth buying. One advantage of using a phone over a GPS handset that I benefited from yesterday was that during a meet new caches were published and I was able to download them in the field In short, there's pros and cons for both, but both are valid methods of finding and hiding, you just have to learn your own equipment's limitations and use it effectively, be it phone or GPS handset.

Argh! My Missus intentionally does it that way and insists it's the right way! It drives me nuts! lol

You got a good point there. Oh okay, i'll be sure to use other apps first. I haven't thought about a bluetooth GPS receiver. I wonder if it works without internet. I guess it depends on the app you use. Personally I use Locus (there is a free version of this) and it can import PQ's to cache offline. The bluetooth gps receiver works just like your phone's internal GPS and doesn't need internet itself.

Is the new one an Android as well? If it is, just log in to the Google Play Store on the new phone and download it again....I have had it installed on 3 phones this way. Just use the same google account details on your new phone as your old phone.

I didn't miss your points, I understand what you are saying, and as a cache owner as well I also enjoy reading logs and knowing that people are enjoying the caches. And that DNF/NM logs are very helpful too indicating possible problems. And I also prefer that members find my caches as they are more likely to respect and replace the cache properly after finding. But I also understand some people will find them without logging online...Are they required to log online? Isn't this is just a listing site? A valid find is just signing the paper log as I understand it? And that is required to log online, but logging online itself isn't required? I'd imagine people who do cache this way without logging online are a very small minority and have very little impact though and I can't see how it's counter-productive. They replaced the cache properly and did nothing wrong from what I can tell from your post. It sounds like they behaved better and with more respect for the cache than some members do! (The ones that get to me are the ones who log finds online but don't log DNF's because they think it's some kind of failure instead of helping cache owners see there's a potential problem, doh! But that's a whole other can 'of worms )

I know someone who has forgotten his account details and can't log in, so essentially he is doing the same thing, just caching for the fun of it and signing the paper log with no logging on-line. It's not all about the numbers/smileys I know these particular guys said they haven't registered anywhere, but remember also this isn't the only listing site, you don't have to join geocaching.com to go geocaching.

You don't necesarily need a new phone/GPS if it does turn out to be that. You could do what I did and buy a bluetooth GPS receiver for your phone to use instead of it's internal GPS, I've not had it long but so far it's awesome! I got lucky and paid £5, but they seem to be about £20 normally on a well-known auction site But, try another app or two first, there are others with free trials/versions and see if the results are the same before splashing any cash

I bought my Ace 2 a couple of months ago because it was mid-range, reasonably priced and used GLONASS....but it was worse than my old LG GT540, I ended up buying a bluetooth GPS receiver which is awesome so far! So not all Samsungs are great, I love the phone itself, it's just it's GPS ain't so good

No hard feelings, I understand how text can be mis-conceived, I tend to over-compensate and use too many smileys to make it clear I'm not serious/moaning Where I live (Eastern England) there is very little in the way of steep terrain, this area is generally very flat. We do have a fair bit of woodland though and initial impressions are good. Whether in the open or in woods the indicated accuracy seems to stay under 2m (6ft). But I've only been out a couple of times and have not exhaustively tested it yet, not really enough to draw a solid conclusion. However, it appears leaps and bounds ahead of my phone's GPS and we are finding caches much easier and quicker than before(of course that depends as well on the hiders' accuracy, but so far so good)

So did you put him off? As he was quite tentative to begin with. No, all was good. He was reassured by the no digging/breaking ground rule and that the site wouldn't be altered/damaged in anyway and verbally gave me permission to go ahead ....It was verbal though, I just have to try to get it in writing now or it's a no-go anyway

while that may have been true a couple of years ago, today smart phone GPS is very accurate. It depends on the application that the cacher is using. Just using a turn-by-turn direction app is going to give general location, but using GPS Status & Toolbox https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2 this app also pairs with the c:geo app to give you "radar" navigation on a cache you are searching for. There is also a GPS averager that I have used, but I don't think that app is any more accurate that GPS Status. btw, have have hidden 24 caches using my Samsung on the Android OS and only have had to adjust a couple due to initial inaccurate readings. (mostly due to heavy tree coverage) I agree that the blanket statement that 'phones tend to be inaccurate' is rather out-dated, however, 'some phones tend to be inaccurate' is valid. It depends a lot on the model of phone being used. Some are good (my old one was), but some are lousy (my new one is so I bought a bluetooth GPS receiver for it instead)

I had a meeting yesterday to discuss placing a trail of caches in a local country park. The guy was quite tentative about it until I pointed out that we have rules that prohibit us from breaking the ground or digging or drilling into trees or otherwise damaging the area. To me, it's meaning, intention and value is obvious, I don't understand why people have to look for loopholes and play with semantics to get around the rules that are there to protect and reassure land-owners and in turn benefit us hiders. Just my point of view, I understand other viewpoints given even if I don't agree with them

LOL, don't panic, I don't think anyone has been banned for using it, from what I understand it's a technicality to do with the way that app uses this site, plenty of people do use it, it's just not official. Sorry if I scared you If it's inaccurate for all caches, I guess it could be the app, but most likely it sounds to me like it's your phone's GPS that's inaccurate. Have you tried other apps and had better results?

http://follow-the-arrow.co.uk/resources/magic.html That's the link you are looking for I think. It doesn't show land ownership as far as I know, but does show SSSI's, etc

The short answer, is go ask on their forums, that app isn't official, endorsed or supported here. I believe using it possibly also breaks the TOS of the site? But...another possibility is that you are searching for something other than a traditional cache and the co-ordinates could just be a place-holder and you have to work out/discover the real co-ordinates by visiting other sites or solving a puzzle? Is it a multi-cache or unknown/mystery cache you are having trouble with? Or it could just be that the co-ordinates that the cache hider are off....or simply that you just aren't seeing the cache. How do you know for sure the co-ords are wrong?

There is a 'kid friendly' attribute you can add to a cache listing. I use it on my kid oriented caches.

It was fixed temporarily yesterday but they had to roll-back. Today it appears fixed again. Fingers crossed it sticks I only found out about the OS maps, etc plugin because of this thread coming back due to the problems, so I am actually grateful for the hiccup, it made me discover a gem

Yes, it is a separate listing site run by Garmin. I like some aspects of it but it has nowhere near the amount of caches listed there that we have here. There's lots of other listing sites out there, but this one has such a foothold I can't see any others getting a look in.

Thanks mate, very interesting reading

Easy, tiger I wasn't criticizing what you said or picking parts, you appeared to have more knoweledge than me in previous posts so I was posting my observations and hoping you would reply and fill me in on bits I may be missing...this is the 'getting started' forum after all, it's not 'geocaching topics' which can be a bit more ferocious Anyways... I know that the accuracy doesn't just depend on my device, but also that of the hider, but if we all get the best we can with our devices then it leads to less deviation. Even if we all had 4-6ft accuracy there is still potential for 8-12ft discrapancy between then hider and finder, I agree, we don't all want to be spot-on, you're right, it would get boring being led to the exact spot I was more curious about my 'perceived accuracy' as I've seen it called, my device is telling me 1.1m or whatever, but many seem to imply that this perhaps isn't quite all it's cracked up to be. But, this topic has derailed somewhat (Sorry JenniferS1) and I think perhaps I should leave it there and research some more and perhaps follow up in the GPS & Tech forum. Cheers, Russ

I've been following this thread with interest, but didn't see this ending coming! Nice one Magna! And just to echo what the previous poster said, get a temporary cache page set up (but not publsihed until it's ready) for it quickly Dog to 'reserve' the location

I just recorded a 12 minute track with my GPS receiver sat on my window sill, recording every second. Total distance travelled was 4.3ft, it wasn't jumping around at all. I would post the track up, but I don't know how I can do that without showing where I live and that would be a bad thing. I'm no pro, obviously, and am trying to learn more about GPS so am interested in others' experience, but at first glance this doesn't match up with what you're saying. The bluetooth GPS receiver (my new phone's built in GPS wasn't great) I am using does have dGPS (WAAS/EGNOS), as far as I can tell it's an extra signal that corrects for time differences and interference in GPS signals. Perhaps that is why I'm getting better results than you would expect? Or perhaps I am reading something wrong, I couldn't say for sure.

Radius is automatically the default on PQ's I think. On the PQ page, go to the 'Origin' box and select Home Location or Postcode, just underneath that is a box to set the radius