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Google Earth Useful?


Dgwphotos

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I find it very useful, usually for finding parking areas, trails, stuff you dont see on the ground, but I dont use it to try and prefind caches, and the usefulness is limited by the resolution your area has. The smaller the urban area the less resolution because no one has bothered to upload high res data there.

 

Z

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Expecially when you imput your PQ results you get a better fix on the location. Its also great for planning. My sister is having a baby soon and since shes in Logan, UT it will be my first road trip with geocaching so im cheking out the caches to hit along the route. Plus it's 10 times faster to pan and zoom than the GC.com map. Well worth the download !! :)

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So not even in the ballpark. I tend not to tout the features of the geocaching.com web site but the Network KML + Google Earth makes for some cool alternate cache browsing.

I'm with Jeremy. The Google Earth browser coupled with the GC KML is a really powerful tool for geocaching. We use it every time we go on a trip-- we just "fly" along our route and create a bookmark list of all the caches we'd like to visit. It's just as good for planning local routes from cache to cache and for finding parking, etc... Once you start using Google Earth with GC.com, you'll understand-- just get it.

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One Devil to another...try USA Photomaps...much better resolution(2 meter)

 

http://www.jdmcox.com/

So not even in the ballpark. I tend not to tout the features of the geocaching.com web site but the Network KML + Google Earth makes for some cool alternate cache browsing.

I agree with this statement...but when you live out in the sticks the resolution of google earth just don't compare. Now for browsing possible cache runs and getting a quick cache location fix...Yeah it's pretty nice.

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Not sure how useful it is, but it sure is fun! :ph34r::lol:

I agree with that. Its lots of fun. Usefulness? Depends on the resolution available. When the resolution is low its less useful and only gives an idea of alternate parking and rough idea of terrain. In high res areas it can help avoid problems and gives good idea of cache area.

 

But, its mostly about the fun!!

 

JDandDD

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I use it all the time when im dragged around shoping. i just type in the store name when im zoomed intot he general area and i look for the nearest caches. you can measure the distance from the store to teh cache using the measure tool. Google earth has made caching so much easier and better for nonpremium memebrs. i dont use it to try and find the exact area of the cache as my area has really bad resolution, but it just helps to find the approximate area, and whats nearby

Edited by FishyKid
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I think Google Earth is one of the most impressive pieces of software ever made for public use. It's pretty incredible how much technology went into making the finished product. I have an earth sciences background and I'm continually facinated by how powerful the whole package is.

 

Take the following two photos. I took one while geocaching at South Mountain Park in Phoenix Az. I called my wife back in Virginia and gave her my coordinates as I took the shot. She got a glimpse of what I was seeing and we could have just as easily done it anywhere else on earth almost. I love it.

 

Real:

325aed20-bf81-4ad8-924a-e5a03ca6fb87.jpg

 

Google Earth:

b48a0530-818f-4336-babe-918ee8d712da.jpg

 

Pretty cool, huh?

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Google Earth, along with the KML add-on makes the software a wonderful tool see what caches are available on trip (say along the cross country trip). However Google Earth is unsuitable to cache by eyeballing without a GPS because the inherent error built into the software. Others have noticed the icons jumping around as you zoom in, but this is normal.

 

USAPhotomaps is better tool to map out cache location with better accuracy than Google Earth. Plus the information can reside locally in your laptop where as Google Earth requires connection with the Internet. With USAPhotomaps, you need to download the areas ahead of time so they already reside on your computer. This will take some planning on your part. USAPhotomaps and maps.google.com are equally good in in pinpointing caches.

 

One other software does a so-so job at rendering land contours World Wind written by NASA. It can render 3D land countours MUCH better than Google Earth.

 

There is no one tool that is perfect for everything. You need the right tool for the right job. Plain and simple.

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We had found more than 20 caches without GPSr and using only google earth and hints. You have to use the KML plugin only to get the general location of the cache, then C/P the Coords into the search box to get a better idea of the location. We then printed the map, printed the listing, and headed out. We were able to use the maps well enough to kind of eyeball ourselves into the right area then use intuition and/or hints to find the cache. Pretty effective i'd say..

 

Now that we have the GPSr, i use Google Earth to plot out the cache plan for the trip, getting a number of caches in a specific area. I also use it to make sure i know how to get to where we're going and find places to park.

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When are we going to be able to filter out our finds :P

 

You can. A feature I really like combines Google Earth with GSAK. There is a macro for GSAK that allows you to build a customized KML file for Google Earth. I use GSAK to sort and eliminate my found caches, virtuals, and non-available caches then output the area I am interested in to a KML file that uses the last 4 letters of the waypoint name and a small red dot icon to pinpoint the caches I am after. Then I print that screen shot. I only have one piece of paper and it has the waypoints named so I can just set the GPS and go to the waypoint I want. This uses the power of two programs to get a superior result quickly. Of course you do need to be a premium member to get the GPX files.

 

This provides stable accurate position information in Google Earth that is much more useful than the generic Geocaching link with the "cache" icons. However I do use the generic KML also to scout for clusters of caches and interesting areas.

 

As far as Google Earth making it too easy to find caches; all you have to do is hide them in heavily wooded flat areas where the Google Earth image is low-res. Hmmm, come to think of it that makes finding them with a GPS harder too. :-)

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I think Google Earth is one of the most impressive pieces of software ever made for public use. It's pretty incredible how much technology went into making the finished product. I have an earth sciences background and I'm continually facinated by how powerful the whole package is.

 

Take the following two photos. I took one while geocaching at South Mountain Park in Phoenix Az. I called my wife back in Virginia and gave her my coordinates as I took the shot. She got a glimpse of what I was seeing and we could have just as easily done it anywhere else on earth almost. I love it.

 

Real:

325aed20-bf81-4ad8-924a-e5a03ca6fb87.jpg

 

Google Earth:

b48a0530-818f-4336-babe-918ee8d712da.jpg

 

Pretty cool, huh?

 

 

Google Earth doens't show the smog!

Edited by Mustcache
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I do most of my caching in urban areas, and GoolgeEarth is great, but the resolution varies a lot. I think the images are composited from several sources with varying resolution. Large urban areas that use GIS for city planning probably use some aerial photos for some of the images and satellite imaging for the less interesting places. It really helps to locate those parking-lot micros, but is less useful in city parks in mostly residential areas.

 

Check this out... The google campus appears to be about .005m/pixel. This is obviously from an aerial photo.

Just to the south, the resolution appears to be about .5m/pixel with some dithering. It looks like a digital image and may be from a satellite.

The bay is rendered at a much lower resolution.

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Google Earth and the geocache browser are the best things since sliced bread :D:D

One Devil to another...try USA Photomaps...much better resolution(2 meter)

 

http://www.jdmcox.com/

 

Thanks so much for this lead, Now I can't see any reason to pay for Trails.com.

I love GE for lots of things besides geo-caching, but it really helps to find areas to go to. I like going out to the country to find caches and GE can help me find a place to go.

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When are we going to be able to filter out our finds :ph34r:

 

You can. A feature I really like combines Google Earth with GSAK. There is a macro for GSAK that allows you to build a customized KML file for Google Earth.

 

A finds filter would be great as I use Google Earth mainly to find caches along a route without having to get generate Pocket Queries for the route. I've been Bookmarking the caches along my route, generating a Pocket Query for the Bookmark, importing the PQ to GSAK and then deleting my finds.

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I read through google earth / geocaching FAQs, and they are adding better resolution of more areas on a daily basis, theres a lot out there. Chicago and NY are highly detailed, must be where they started.

 

I was browsing around the globe for caches the other day after d/l it, and found some interesting virtual caches out in the ocean, historical marks. Very interesting.

 

I also found areas that should/could have a cache, and there is none for miles, excellent for finding areas to place 'em.

 

It's awesome! Even cooler, it's free :ph34r:

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I think Google Earth is one of the most impressive pieces of software ever made for public use. It's pretty incredible how much technology went into making the finished product. I have an earth sciences background and I'm continually facinated by how powerful the whole package is.

 

Take the following two photos. I took one while geocaching at South Mountain Park in Phoenix Az. I called my wife back in Virginia and gave her my coordinates as I took the shot. She got a glimpse of what I was seeing and we could have just as easily done it anywhere else on earth almost. I love it.

 

Real:

325aed20-bf81-4ad8-924a-e5a03ca6fb87.jpg

 

Google Earth:

b48a0530-818f-4336-babe-918ee8d712da.jpg

 

Pretty cool, huh?

Dang. That's good. It even filtered out the smog. :huh:

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Could some with GSAK post / email the macro / explanation for using GSAK with the GE kml add on? Us less technical types would appreciate it.

 

Not sure what you're asking? At a minimum you can just do a an export of a GPX file which can be loaded by Google Earth. If you're comfortable with setting up GSAK macros there are a couple that are available for download here. The GoogleEarthv1.5 macro will apply the geocaching icons to each type of cache.

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Just now I was using Google Earth to find the names of mountains/buttes that I took pictures of last weekend. I know where I was when I took the photo, so I navigate to that spot in GE, find the correct angle, and presto. The only problem is Google Earth gets a little jumpy when you try to get a directly horizontal view.

 

By the way and FYI, GPS Visualizer's KML converter can also read Geocaching.com .LOC files in addition to GPX: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=googleearth

 

...and pretty soon I'm going to come up with a way to automate the creation of USGS aerial and topo overlays so you can see things like this:

ghost_ridge_topo_overlay.jpg

Edited by adamschneider
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