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Navigating To A Cache


RandLD

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Couldn't find anything similar posted anywhere yet (Markwell it if it is ...) but I thought I might share my experiences with some of the other newbies, to save them the same headache we went through:

 

Finding a cache is much easier if you enter a waypoint and navigate to it, rather tha run around trying to simply match the latitude and longitude coordinates. And, yes, on the GPSr's I've seen, even if you can't download a waypoint, you can manually enter it.

 

Duh, right? Well, that was news to me. Let me tell you how our first few expeditions went:

 

We printed out the sheet for the cache, looked at the map to get us close to the right area, and then started wandering around the area with our GPS, trying to match the coordinates. "Let's see, we're a little low on the north but right on the west, so let's go north. DOH. Now we're a little off on the longitude, too. Let's see, that means we need to go, ... south east, maybe? Let's try it. There's the sun, so that's west-ish. I think that way is southeast. (You have to start walking before the compass shows the direction of travel.) ... OK. Finally. We're at the spot." Then we start looking around for the cache.

 

Now let me share how our later expeditions have gone:

 

We printed out the sheet for the cache and entered the waypoint into our GPSr (had to do it manually, but still entered the waypoint.) Then we looked at the map to get us close to the right area. "OK. It says it's off this direction ... OK, good. Now it's just back to the left a bit. OK. Here we are!" And then we start looking around.

 

Much, much simpler, and a good bit quicker, too. (Even including the time it took to manually enter the coords.) Had I known about this, our first DNF might not have been a DNF.

 

Reading on the forums, I heard about navigating to a waypoint, but I didn't think my unit was capable of doing that since I couldn't download the waypoints. (In our defense, we got the GPS unit from a friend and he didn't have the instruction manual for it, but after 2 minutes on-line, I was able to find a copy of it and download it. Guess what was listed prominently on the Table of Contents? "Manually Entering Waypoints". DOH!)

 

So ... if there's anybody else out there like me, maybe this will help you. If I'm the only one, at least I've figured this out now.

 

Happy caching!

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For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, manually entering a waypoint is easy, but not obvious. On most GPSr's you simple "mark" your current location as a waypoint. Then scroll to the coordinates that were just entered and edit them to the coordinates that you want to enter. You can also edit the waypoint name and symbol if you'd like. Press "save" or "OK" and you are set to go.

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There are a lot of things that are not very easy to intuitively figure out on many units. For example, one time I was out on a caching trip and I ran across a cache where you had to project several waypoints to find the final. "No problem," I thought. I had done it just fooling around when I had first got my unit.

 

Well, memory isn't always all it's cracked up to be. I sat there in the parking lot for fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to do it. I finally had to give up and abandon even starting the search. Later, after reading the manual, I re-remembered how to do it. It was easy, but not intuitive.

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Funny, I just learned how to find the cache not using the arrow! I knew how to manually enter then if I didn't download then before we left. But didn't realize you could hunt for them by trying to match up the coords. Hubby was doing it one time and he had to show me. Funny how I had to show him how to manually enter the coords. We're a great pair!

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on my gps(magellan 200) I just push the "go to" button and it will give me the option the select a "point of Interest"(waypoint) and from there it will tell me how far I am from the point and which direction I need to go. from there I scroll between the compass and the map. I didn't really have to read the manual except to reset the data because when I bought it it was an open box return and was previously used. The date and time were off by a day and 7 hours. I didn't even have to reenter my waypoint :P

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Later, after reading the manual, I re-remembered how to do it.  It was easy, but not intuitive.

I haven't found a single damned thing that's intuitive about GPSrs.

 

Well, maybe that the battery is sure to run out when you need it most.

Edited by Thot
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The original poster (OP) describes how I found caches #8-12 when I was using a borrowed unit with no manual. Then when I finally received a unit for my birthday (five months after starting to geocache), I still had to learn how to enter waypoints manually, like RK said it is not intuitive.

 

Lately, I've also been using a magnetic compass along with my little yellow eTrex. Once I get the "Arriving at Destination" indication on the unit, I pull out my compass, scroll to the bearing and take the bearing on my compass. This gets me much closer to the hiding spot than just the eTrex alone. I have found caches that way that others have DNF'd the same day. :lol:

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After I get the arriving at destination notice I switch to the navigation screen. When you get close and start moving slow the arrow can become erratic. On the navigation page I watch the distance to cache get smaller, than I move around until the coordinates match. I get really close even under tree cover.

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Sometimes I use the "matching coordinates" method if I can't find GZ with the pointer thingy. I recently got a Magellan Sportrak Map and one of the NAV screens shows you how many feet you are off L or R in addition to the distance to the cache. I guess this is essentially the same as matching coords, just a different graphic display, but I have found it very useful on some caches. More than once I have shuffled right or left like I was doing a line dance in the forest until I was standing on the cache...

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I recently got a Magellan Sportrak Map and one of the NAV screens shows you how many feet you are off L or R in addition to the distance to the cache. I guess this is essentially the same as matching coords, just a different graphic display, but I have found it very useful on some caches. More than once I have shuffled right or left like I was doing a line dance in the forest until I was standing on the cache...

That's exactly my method.

 

You can put the distance on any screen. I put it on the Map screen. I use the map with the center arrow pointing in the direction I'm moving and when I get so close the arrow lies on top of the cache symbol I do the distance dance you describe.

 

Here's the full writeup on my method http://factsfacts.com/FindingCache.htm

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Also another thing to remember are some units require their compass to be calibrated. My first hunt on my own with my Garmin Rino 130 I figured out how to enter waypoints but did not calibrate the compass. Spent at least 30 minutes extra walking in circles looking at my route travelled to figure out which way to go.

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