Even Simpler Geocaching?

[trijntje]

wellllll, ok. I've been seeing that one is "supposed to" enter a cache's waypoint into one's GPS and then follow the arrow to the goal. My 9 year old son and I have been doing it in a much more bonehead sort of way - I've been printing out the cahce page and we just walk around with our GPS till we land at the coordinates and then start looking. Should I be embarrassed at our lack of prowess? Is it a lot easier to do it the other way? I download points from GPS to computer all the time (for work) but confess to never having gone the other way.

 

advice from the masses? am I not having as much FUN as I could?

 

 

trijntje

[+BlueDeuce]

If you're having fun there's no reason to change.

[+Thot]

Is it a lot easier to do it the other way?

A lot! I once watched a friend do it the way you are and it was one of the most painful experiences of recent years. Try entering the waypoint in your unit (this article will explain how http://factsfacts.com/geocaching/EnteringW...intManually.htm ). Then this page tells you how I use the GPSr to go to the cache http://factsfacts.com/FindingCache.htm

[+OzGuff]

Most GPS units have the ability to manually enter latitude and longitude so that the GPS will then "point" in the correct direction AND give you a distance reading. I remember our first cache search watching the distance measurement get smaller and smaller! (Of course, the cache was NOT located under our feet at the point the GPS read "0.00 feet"!)

 

Check the manual! And continue to have fun!!

 

Edited to add: Or what Thot thaid!

Edited July 6, 2005 by OzGuff

[drew]

Is it a lot easier to do it the other way?

advice from the masses? am I not having as much FUN as I could?

 

 

trijntje

 

I agree with BLUEDEUCE about doing it whatever way is fun for you. But since you did ask for input, I must say that if I were trekking thru the woods and had to concentrate on two sets of numbers on my GPSr and constantly compare them to the coordinates on a printed map, I would certainly find that less easy than just following the pointer. I'll bet doing that in a car would be very distracting and dangerous. Why not just give it a try and decide for yourself?!

[+IVxIV]

If you're having fun with your current method, then mission accomplished!

 

But definitely try entering a coordinate manually into the GPSr and tell it to "goto" that location at least once, so you become accustomed to how that is done. It might just double your fun lol.

 

Also when if parking the car. Before venturing into the woods in quest of a cache, be sure to "mark" the location of your car first! Then once you're done spinning around the woods and have (hopefully!) found the cache you can then tell the GPS to "goto" your car.

 

It is good for you to start from the grass routes & work your way up. Some people here nary touch their GPSr's manually .. They "powerload" 500 caches automatically into the GPS (& PDA) from their computers, then have their GPS "autoroute" them to the cache. I believe they're now working on the final piece of manual frustration, the "auto logging" of their find back to geocaching.com. The next logical step would be for them to hire someone else to do the whole task entirely

[+Markwell]

I know a cacher that does it just the way you do.

 

Me, personally, I like the GPS to tell me that I'm 120 feet from the cache at a bearing of 145°. That's a lot more meaningful to me then telling me that I'm standing at N 41° 39.040 W 088° 15.328 and I need to be at N 41° 39.024 W 088° 15.313 before I start looking.

[+DaveA]

people that can find a cache just comparing lat/lon numbers are waaaaay smarter than me.

 

I require the arrow to point the way. Numbers, bleh, pictures and graphics are the way to go.

 

Your 9 year old uses the numbers you say? Get that one into a school for the gifted.

[+beopots]

..... The next logical step would be for them to hire someone else to do the whole task entirely 

I'll do it. How much does it pay?

Edited July 6, 2005 by beopots

[RandLD]

I've been printing out the cahce page and we just walk around with our GPS till we land at the coordinates and then start looking. ... Is it a lot easier to do it the other way? I download points from GPS to computer all the time (for work) but confess to never having gone the other way.

Been there, done that. Started a similar post about it. I was very frustrated trying to match numbers until I found out I could actually manually enter the coordinates. (With me it was ignorance, not choice ...)

 

I've personally found it so much easier to use the arrow than matching the coordinates. Of course, the true test will be when we head back to Greenville and re-attempt our only DNF using the new method, to see if we have any better luck. (Of course, by the time we make it up there, we'll have quite a few more caches under our belt, so that may not be a true test ...) Give it a shot and see what you think.

 

Of course, as others have said, if you're having fun the other way, then keep it up. It's up to you.

[+Rick618]

Some of us grabbed the gps and headed out without much of clue as to how the thing really worked.

I found my first several caches just heading to the lat or long and then heading towards the other till the numbers matched the coords. It was like a light bulb coming on when I figured out the part of moving the cursor around till IT was at the right spot, saving that mark, then using the goto feature, mucho easier. I suppose I could actually read the manual that I downloaded, but this trial by fire learning is so much more fun.

....now, this downloading waypoint thing that you speak of.....hmmm

[trijntje]

Gee whiz, so much help and advice... I kinda like it here!

 

In all honesty, I started the way I did *because* I wanted to teach my son that if we're at NXX XX.XXX and want to be at NXX XX.XXX+.05 then we need to go further north. Believe it or not, I also have been making us struggle with no magnetic compass so that he starts to learn about keeping track of which way is which by local landmarks. We always fix ourselves with one cardinal compass direction as we head in (i.e. knowing which way is north) and then try to keep track of things as we go, using the sun and shadows and passing time if we have to (he's already learned we have to be moving for the GPS to give us a compass reading). He's gotten the jist of the number game, though, and sometimes we both lose track of which way is west (it feels like an Abbot and Costello skit in the woods, sometimes), :-) so I'm ready to move on to the next level of ease. I'll try the various download tools you all have suggested, and will just type some waypoints in manually if I have to.

 

Thanks so much!!

 

trijntje

[kamer cachers]

New to geocaching and we too have been using the slow method of printing a page and then trying to match coordinates. Imaging my surprise when I found this forum and read about manually loading waypoint into the GPS. I did not know you could do this. I've read the manual on my eXplorist 200 from Magellan and can't find anything about manual loading. Any tips?

[+Skyman]

I've read the manual on my eXplorist 200 from Magellan and can't find anything about manual loading. Any tips?

Page 6, you can mark your position then edit.

[+Skyman]

Page 27 is a little better, hope this helps?

Edited July 7, 2005 by Skyman