Ed ke6bnl Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Just got a new to me meriplat used. I found that there are several caches nearby my home. There is one a few miles away and I want to take a try at it tomarrow. I don't have the fogggest idea what I am doing. I initialized the gpsr and I put in the coordinates for the cache. and I even know that it is near a French restaurant near by. I have not as yet put in mapsend direct but from the base may I plan on getting near the cafe and then I would use the compas and the goto for the coordinate and start following the compas and distance reading, Am I close in my thinking thanks Ed Quote Link to comment
+Mile Runner Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Yup! youve got the right idea just look for a place hiding place that looks unnatural, a normal sain individual would never look, or a place you would hide something if you didn’t want people to find it who where not looking for it. yeah that’s pretty much the sport. Quote Link to comment
+AuntieWeasel Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 I don't have the fogggest idea what I am doing. Hooray! Then you're doing it exactly right! I really don't think there's any cure but to go out, stumble around and find a couple. I read the forums for a week before my GPSr came in the mail, and I don't know that I was much the wiser. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+Kai Team Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 I plan on getting near the cafe and then I would use the compas and the goto for the coordinate and start following the compas and distance reading, Am I close in my thinking thanks Ed The goto and following the navigation needle (screen that looks like a compass) will work until you're about 50 feet from the cache. If you continue to try to follow the compass right to the cache, you may end up doing the "drunken bee dance". This is because your GPS receiver cannot tell which direction you're facing unless you're moving relative to the satellites. As you get closer to the cache, you naturally slow down or stop moving, and the navigation needle may randomly point this way or that (unless you have an electronic compass built in to your unit and you have it turned on). If you don't have an electronic compass in your unit, the best bet is to pay attention to bearing (the way the needle points) and distance when you're about 50 feet from the cache and still moving at a brisk walk. Look ahead in the direction the arrow is pointing in to get a sense of the area where the cache is hidden, then forget the GPSr and start looking in likely hiding places. Good luck and enjoy! Quote Link to comment
+ZingerHead Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 One suggestion, to avoid frustration, is to stick to "traditional" hides with a "regular" sized container. And stick to difficulty levels of 1 or 2 to begin with. A "3" difficulty "micro" sized cache is designed to be hard to find even for an experienced cacher. Have fun! Quote Link to comment
+kenricva Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 The first find is definitely a rush!! To age myself a bit (I'm 50), I was doing orienteering back in 1976 when I was in Army ROTC. That was about the only part of my ROTC training that I truly enjoyed. We would be given a compass, a map, and a pencil and locations of the flags that were stuck out in the woods. It was a real challenge and a rush when you spotted your first flag at the bottom of a hill or stuck in a clump of trees next to a creek. I found my first cache last Friday in the woods next to a cemetery. I did like an earlier poster said, I got my direction and bearing and then started walking in that direction. I just happened to slow down and look to my left when I spotted a cannister, taped up with camo green tape sitting in a stump about waist high. I checked it out and it was the cache, even though my GPS was still telling me to walk another 30 feet. The GPS gets you in the vicinity, especially if it's a wooded area. The rest is up to you to look for what might be a hiding place, usually a pile of cut wood, a stump, a pile of rocks or something like that. I go out on my lunch hour and try to find one near my office. I give myself 20-30 minutes to find it. I look at a Google map to get a general idea where the cache is. Then I head out to that area. I grab my GPS and when I get within 150 feet, I park the car and hoof it in the direction of the cache. If I don't find it the first time, I save it for another day. It's fun. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Quote Link to comment
Ed ke6bnl Posted November 29, 2005 Author Share Posted November 29, 2005 Well I want to thank all of you for your help and am averaging 50% found the 1st one with no problem and the second one I could not find anywhere so I will post my result it was fun and will definately do it again. There are probably many new tricks to learn to do it better and I will keep trying thanks again Ed ke6bl Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Well I want to thank all of you for your help and am averaging 50% found the 1st one with no problem and the second one I could not find anywhere so I will post my result it was fun and will definately do it again. There are probably many new tricks to learn to do it better and I will keep trying thanks again Ed ke6bl When you get real good at it like I am your average will shoot all the way up to 60 or 70 percent. Quote Link to comment
Steak N Eggs Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 And since your a HAM, you could incorporate that intothis hobby also. I have, and the woman can keep track of me when I am on the go. Or a friend whom lives1.5 hours away, he geo caches too and we keep track of him also. How do ask?? Why APRS of course....... Quote Link to comment
+CYBret Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I recently put together a guide to finding your first cache. You can find it HERE. Hope it helps. Bret Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Just got a new to me meriplat used. I found that there are several caches nearby my home. There is one a few miles away and I want to take a try at it tomarrow.I don't have the fogggest idea what I am doing. I initialized the gpsr and I put in the coordinates for the cache. and I even know that it is near a French restaurant near by. I have not as yet put in mapsend direct but from the base may I plan on getting near the cafe and then I would use the compas and the goto for the coordinate and start following the compas and distance reading, Am I close in my thinking thanks Ed I don't have the fogggest idea what I am doing. Ha if you did you would sell your GPS before you get taken over by the force of the cache Quote Link to comment
Ed ke6bnl Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 I recently put together a guide to finding your first cache. You can find it HERE. Hope it helps. Bret thanks for the great site answers a lot of questions and great place to have found earlier on but was still was very helpful Ed ke6bnl Quote Link to comment
+tands Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 You can find it HERE. The link goes straight to it! I thought I was gonna get to find something... - T of TandS Quote Link to comment
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