Just Follow The Compass Arrow?

[+chuckwagon101]

Ok, I did not have any trouble my first time out, found my first cache..no problemo

 

Today, I could not find doodly. I was in a park with 6 caches and could not seem to locate.

 

I would punch in the site and the compass arrow would seem to work "sometime" and then point in the

opposite direction!

 

After awhile, I got confused and went home.

 

Question....is there some special setting to adjust the "map" face to, or what? Should I just

follow that dark accented end of the arrow?

 

It seems like when I followed the arrow I would get close, then it would swing in the other direction.

 

I have a Magellan Explorist 200 and I have only had it out twice now.

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Chuck

[+Miragee]

I'm not familiar with that GPSr, but most of them will have the same behavior when you aren't moving, or are moving slowly.

 

While you are still moving and are 100 to 50 feet away, look up and in the direction the arrow is pointing. See if you can see a likely hiding spot, tree stump, artificial pile of rocks or sticks, hollow tree, etc.

 

Sometimes I will have to move through Ground Zero to the other side and approach from there to get another view of what the arrow is pointing at.

 

When you are first starting out, it is probably a good idea to look for the regular-sized containers that are rated a '1' or '1.5' for Difficulty.

[+Confucius' Cat]

assuming you do not have a magnetic compass option on your gpsr, you must be moving to get a direction reading.

 

To get a bearing whilst sitting still, use the digital distance and bearing readings and sight the bearing with a separate magnetic compass. The Silva system map compass for about 10 bucks is very good for this.

[+briansnat]

assuming you do not have a magnetic compass option on your gpsr, you must be moving to get a direction reading

 

Yep. And what happens with most geocachers is that they slow down as they near the cache. If you are moving too slowly, the GPS doesn't know which way it is moving. What you can do in this case is walk back 50 - 100 feet and approach the area again at a brisk pace. You will usually see your arrow "straighten out" when you do this.

[Kemo_Sabe]

I would also suggest "practicing" at home. This can be done by setting up an object and marking it on your gps. and then walk away 50-100 feet and try to go back to the object using your gps. This well help in getting to know your gps better and how it works.

[+chuckwagon101]

Thanks sooooo much! That must have been the problem!

 

We were just "creeping" along! I thought slower is better to give the compass time to react. Boy

was I wrong!

 

Anyway, I am out again tomorrow, Spring Break, and will hit those 6 caches again......with speed!

 

Chuck

[+Confucius' Cat]

typically, u only need to move 1-2 mph

[+Robespierre]

briansnat

post Today, 08:37 PM

Post #4

 

assuming you do not have a magnetic compass option on your gpsr, you must be moving to get a direction reading

 

Yep. And what happens with most geocachers is that they slow down as they near the cache. If you are moving too slowly, the GPS doesn't know which way it is moving. What you can do in this case is walk back 50 - 100 feet and approach the area again at a brisk pace. You will usually see your arrow "straighten out" when you do this.

Yes! And you can walk past the cache until the arrow turns at a hard 90 degrees, so you're sure of the direction, and you can approach from 2 or 3 directions. But don't expect it to always be within 10 feet.

[+Oreo Pony]

I'd never used the "arrow" before today. On my 60cs I've always gone to the map screen and walked towards the cache icon. I was caching with a friend recently and saw him using compass screen on his 60cs.

 

What a convenient feature for driving through town from cache to cache! I'll have to go caching this weekend and try it out some more. In the past I clicked the "go to" button, but found its frequent beeping annoyed me. I never thought (or read) to click to the next page.

[+1stimestar]

I don't use the arrow. I use the coordinates only.

[+the hermit crabs]

I'd never used the "arrow" before today. On my 60cs I've always gone to the map screen and walked towards the cache icon. I was caching with a friend recently and saw him using compass screen on his 60cs.

 

What a convenient feature for driving through town from cache to cache! I'll have to go caching this weekend and try it out some more. In the past I clicked the "go to" button, but found its frequent beeping annoyed me. I never thought (or read) to click to the next page.

You can have the best of both worlds, by using the map screen and setting one of the data fields to "Pointer". You can still see the map and the cache icon, plus you get the arrow that points to the cache -- no need to toggle back and forth between the map screen and the compass screen.

 

See page 11 of your manual for details on how to specify which data fields are displayed on the map screen.

[+martinell]

I have that model. The accuracy reading on the nav screen will let you know how close you are. If you are lucky you will have a 10 foot search radius - otherwise it could be around 25 feet.

 

When you set up your waymark and choose goto you follow the black arrow, not the white arrow.

 

It also works fairly well if you are walking very slowly - allow does have a slight tendency to "drift" if you are standing still.

 

This model does work really well for geocaching so don't give up on it.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I carry a magnetic compass with me (I get them from BrianSnat's caches.) Wen we get cloe, I pull out the compass, and follow it, rather than the arrow.

[+Oreo Pony]

I'd never used the "arrow" before today. On my 60cs I've always gone to the map screen and walked towards the cache icon. I was caching with a friend recently and saw him using compass screen on his 60cs.

 

What a convenient feature for driving through town from cache to cache! I'll have to go caching this weekend and try it out some more. In the past I clicked the "go to" button, but found its frequent beeping annoyed me. I never thought (or read) to click to the next page.

You can have the best of both worlds, by using the map screen and setting one of the data fields to "Pointer". You can still see the map and the cache icon, plus you get the arrow that points to the cache -- no need to toggle back and forth between the map screen and the compass screen.

 

See page 11 of your manual for details on how to specify which data fields are displayed on the map screen.

 

Thanks crabs - Fixed it up sin manual.

 

L'Oreo to Hubby "Sorry Honey, I'll be a little late getting home tonight - gotta new trick to try thanks to The Hermit Crabs."

[medoug]

Also, if you don't have a magnetic compass in your model, try to walk in fairly straight lines and broad curves. If you stop and then face a different direction or make a sharp turn during your last few steps, you are guaranteed to be pointing in the wrong direction.

 

medoug.

[nobby.nobbs]

doesn't that unit have the navigate via road option? then when at parking spot change back to arrow pointer option....

[+RUFFLEDOSTRICH]

I use the arrow screen and it seems that if the arrow is acting up (usually less than .1 from the cache) I rely more on the numbers going down. Also, if I'm pretty sure that I'm going in the right direction (over a tenth of a mile), I continue in that diection and almost always, the arrow finally flips for me.

[+RichardMoore]

I use the map screen on my Magellan Meridian. I follow the line that it draws from where I started to the cache, and generally ignore the direction the arrow is pointing in. As long as it's on or near the line, I'm okay. If I get too far off the line, I reselect the waypoint and it draws a new line. I also keep an eye on the distance reading.