Newbie With A Total Newbie Question

[mely]

Today me and my son went off for our first real attempt at geocaching. We had 8 caches we wanted to look for. The weather ranged from not quite raining to needing a raft.

 

We have a new eXplorist 500. The accuracy would range between 20 feet and 60 feet. Is that normal?

 

At some points it would say I was right at the coordinates and then suddenly it would say I was 10 feet away. I would walk 10 feet and it would say I was at the spot and then it would change.

 

I only found 5/8 that I was looking for and had a bad run in with rusty barbed wire. I have a hot date with a tetanus shot in the morning. I'm pretty frusterated with this whole thing right now.

 

Is this normal or are these things usually more accurate? Are the clouds and trees causing the problems or is this to be expected?

[+Miragee]

Sounds like a fairly normal day of Geocaching . . .

 

Seriously, the GPSr is only going to be accurate to within 30 feet or so under the best of conditions and relative to the other person's GPSr who placed the cache.

 

The navigation arrow is only going to stay pointed directly in the direction of the cache when you are moving, so if you can look up when you are about 50 feet away and see if there are any rock piles, or tree stumps, or hollow logs, those might be the likely spots to look once you get closer.

 

The best thing to do in the beginning is to search for large or regular-sized caches that are rated less than a '2' for difficulty. Those are usually under an "artificial pile of rocks" or "artificial pile of sticks." After you find a few of those, you'll figure out the idiosyncracies of your GPSr.

[mely]

thanks i figure it's a learning curve. today I learned that it's as important to look where you are walking as it is to look at your gps

[+Fergus]

Sounds normal to me.

[+AuntieWeasel]

thanks i figure it's a learning curve. today I learned that it's as important to look where you are walking as it is to look at your gps

Cool! You got a scar on your first day out!

 

You done good. Your receiver is performing about average. For the last little bit of the search, it's not really about the satellites any more. It's more like "spot the thing that looks funny." Or else, "if I were a small tupperware container..."

 

It's harder than it sounds, isn't it?

[Deego]

Dont expect the cache to be at your feet when the GPS says 0ft, how much fun would that be ?

[+Kit Fox]

 

At some points it would say I was right at the coordinates and then suddenly it would say I was 10 feet away. I would walk 10 feet and it would say I was at the spot and then it would change.

 

The best piece of advice I can offer you, is to stop "chasing" your GPS, when you get within 20 feet. I have looked for caches with GPS chasers, and they always trust their GPS, rather than there instinct. This allows me to find the cache first, in almost all instances.

 

When you get close, ignore the GPS, and start looking for the cache, in likely spots. I used to make this very mistake, because the cacher who taught me had this habit. When I went caching with a few more experienced cachers, they all pointed out my mistake.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

You only had rain? We've been stooped by rain, sleet, snow, every stream and river we've ever been near, leaves, dense trees, and my favorite of all...dense leaf covered trees near a creek in a mix of sleet & snow & rain! Just looked at your stats 5 caches with two travel bugs on your first try sounds pretty good to me!

Edited January 13, 2006 by fox-and-the-hound

[+Moose Mob]

Like Kit Fox said, there is no need to chase the GPS. It is not a precision instrument and being off 20 feet is typically accepted.

 

Remember... YOU are the search engine!

[kcart]

Dont expect the cache to be at your feet when the GPS says 0ft, how much fun would that be ?

Although I have had it happen. It's very fun!

 

©¿©¬

[+TeamVilla5]

So how come I feel so guilty when a searcher says, "I had problems with all your coords today?" *I* know there's a margin of error for the GPSr & I'm sure (with his experience) *HE* knows there's a margin of error for the GPSr, but when you pay $250-300 for "top of the line," it feels like the thing ought to cook your breakfast if you asked it to!

 

Happy Caching!

Lori V.

TeamVilla5

[+Prairie Dog]

Clouds and tree cover will make for poor satellite reception. I'm a big wuss and I don't geocache in the rain.

When the GPS says I'm within 50 feet of a waypoint I begin walking VERY slowly and give the unit a chance to catch up and average out my position. I'm using a Magellan and for the most part have had very good results with it.

The GPS is only a reference device. YOU must look for the cache and watch where you're going at the same time. Sorry about the barbed wire fence. Glad it wasn't the 'ol twig and berries.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Ditto the 'stop chasing your GPS' advice when within 20, even 50, feet and look for places where things might likely be hidden! An amazing number of geocachers seem to think alike in this respect, and if you look at an area with "where would I hide it" in mind you'll often find it without the GPS!

 

Unlike some radio signals GPS satellite signals are highly directional (they travel from the sattelite to earth in a straight line and each has a "footprint" area of the earth's surface it covers) - for the most part if you can't see the overhead or horizen where each satellite is 'hovering', you can't receive its signal.

 

Tree cover certainly degrades accuracy, but most folks think of tree cover as what's directly overhead - the satellites are often on the horizen and even if you are in a pavillion with a roof but have a clear view of the horizen up to say 45-degrees you'll have signal!

 

The best thing I have learned is the art of triangulation.

 

From say 60' from the cache walk slowly, keeping the gps pointed straight ahead as the arrow points.

 

At 40' stop and look ahead of you and pick a landmark 50' ahead of you.

 

Imagine a line between you and your landmark.

 

Now turn 90-degrees left, walk 60 to 80' and repeat the process (your arrow should be pointing to the right - turn and face the arrow direction.

 

Imagine a line from where you are now standing to the landmark you chose.

 

The imagined line you first chose and the line from you to the landmark will intersect, forming a triangle, and the cache will be close to that intersection!

 

This works well in parking lots and canyons where the cache is close to a vertical obstruction.

 

Building and canyon walls reflect signals and you will never get an accurate reading up close to such an obstruction.

 

Even in big cities you can get a signal at a four-way intersection so the GPS can get signals from above and the four compass points!

 

Good luck,

Ed

[+Poidawg]

I was just at an REI forum on GPS receivers and National Geographic. The person giving information said that there is a little microwave antenna in the unit. And since water is dense, anything having to do with water, including ourselves, trees, rocks, and anything with density will effect the units ability to read the satellite.

He suggested carrying the unit in your hand flat to the ground so the antenna gets the best reception, not on a lanyard, not in your pocket or with your hand covering the face or top of the unit. And as the other repliers said, once you get to the immediate area, stop looking at the GPSr, and use your eyes.

My first cache was right next to a solid rock wall 50 feet high and a dense cover of trees. Making for lots of frustration. Someone told me to make certain I had at least 6 good signals from the satellites, any less makes finding the cache harder.

Good luck, keep asking those great questions we have always asked. ANd if there is an REI near you or a Community College, there may be a class someone is offering.

[Team Misguided]

at some points it would say I was right at the coordinates and then suddenly it would say I was 10 feet away. I would walk 10 feet and it would say I was at the spot and then it would change.

 

Welcome to caching in the Great NorthWET!!!

 

In the winter it's clouds & rain/snow that affect your accuracy, summer it's the leaves on the trees. In the Spring and Fall it's both!!

 

We usually follow our gps until we get within 25-50 feet or so then put it away. From there you just have to stop and say to yourself, "If I was a cache where would I be hiding?" If you don't find the cache right away keep looking and check your gps every now and then to make sure you are still in the right area.

[+switchdoc]

Another trick I have found helpful, similar to the triangulation mentioned earlier.

 

If I get to the area and I'm off 20 feet or so, or I'm getting conflicting readings and just can't find the cache, I strike off about 50 feet in a random direction and then head back.

 

I'll note where the gps takes me to, then strike off 50 feet in another direction and try again.

 

Rinse and repeat until you've narrowed it down to a definite area.

 

Usually this will give me a good idea of where I need to be.

[mely]

thanks for all your replies. I got my tetanus shot today and I probably needed it anyways. I'm thinking all the leaves might have made it harder to see plus it was getting dark. You're right about being able to kind of sense where it would be, after a few of them we could kind of tell where to look - especially after finding several hid by the same people.

 

I guess next time I should figure out a way to download the hints and descriptions too - my printer doesnt work so I am just going with what I download into my gps. I haven't figured out how to get the hints to download yet but I'm sure I will soon enough...

 

OH and if you are reading this - Hi Jane!

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

First off, 5 finds on your first day is super! (Our first day we went with someone else with their GPS and found 2, our 1st time with our own GPS we also found 2).

 

Funny mention about the GPS coming right up to the cache, on 15 "container" finds so far that has actually happened twice! But what they say about no longer using the GPS and looking around once you're within 20-50 feet is true.

 

I disagree with some posts here regarding rain, while I've seemed to have less satellites and a less reliable lock in foggy/cloudy/rainy weather, I've rarely had no reception in these situations unless: A) In a building-rich urban area like Manhattan, "B") lots and lots of tree cover, C) batteries were low, D) In the car with the windshield wiper on; apparently the windshield wipers moving can somewhat block reception the way your body, buildings or lots of leafy trees can.

 

I was curious about all this myself and started a recent forum you might want to check out on the matter:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=119771

Edited January 15, 2006 by hairymon