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Disappointing First Time Out


dadndotter

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GPS is new to me, I'm an old map&compass man, but my dotter & I got "fearsome confused" last year on a back-pack trip (I've never been LOST). Her borrowed GPSr (I assume that's GPS reciever) showed us where we were, and the map showed us which way to go to get where we wanted to be, and the compass took us there. Then I heard about GeoCaching and thought it would be great fun.

We found a Cache location near home and went to find it. Well, the map told me as much as the GPSr did. That confounded new-fangled device kept sending me into the middle of the road, a good place to get run over, and I didn't think it would be there in the first place. I know that there can still be a margin of error, so we searched the area for about an hour, and found nothing.(S1H,FN)? The Cache was found the day before by a group of Boy Scouts, and I'm a fair tracker if I say so myself, but that didn't help either. When we left there, I was about ready to leave the r there.

So, I came here looking for help. Any hints or tips that may help us when we go out there again?(Yes, we will) I did just read thru "Your first GeoCache hunt" and feel like I'm a little better prepared to try again. Too bad it's too late in the day now. Thing is, If I go out there again, I won't even need to take the r along. DND

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Are you sure your GPSr was setup properly? This is a common thing to happen to a first-timer. Your GPSr should be set in the WGS84 datum and use the DD° MM.MMM coordinate format (Degrees Minutes DecimalMinutes).

Your first cache should be a "regular" sized traditional cache. Don't go looking for a micro size or a multi cache right off the bat. Also, take a look for a cache with only 1 or 2 stars for the difficulty and terrain ratings.

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One of the first things is make sure to check the star ratings, don't jump past the 1-2 difficulty ones till after you have logged a few. That way you build on your finding knowledge. Hide types and styles vary all across the board.

Check and see if you have a local caching group, they do cache runs or host events that allow you to meet and greet and have a hand if needed when looking for the nearby caches. Mention in the log that you are new to the sport, its ok to post the DNF and that you wouldn't mind tagging along with some others. It really is a good time to watch others poke about. Good luck and welcome to caching.

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So, I came here looking for help. Any hints or tips that may help us when we go out there again?(Yes, we will) I did just read thru "Your first GeoCache hunt" and feel like I'm a little better prepared to try again. Too bad it's too late in the day now. Thing is, If I go out there again, I won't even need to take the r along. DND

:) As a new cacher myself I have a big piece of advice... sometimes you need to let the GPS sit still a few to get its self settled. I have a hand me down GPS and my dad had to show me how to work it.. hehe I am great if it is a computer... but GPS well that is a whole nother kettle of fish.

 

But as others have said... look for larger caches.. and if possible ones that are close by you. That way you are a least filmilar with the area. At first it can be confusing but after you find that first one it is addicting... hehe...

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Just a thought since I'm a newb myself, but you could pick a cache you would like to find, and send an e-mail to the owner thru the forums and explain that you are new. Chances are pretty good that he/she will be glad to help you out. If nothing else it will give them a chance to check up on thier cache. Worst case senerio, they say no, so it's worth a shot. You never know, you may meet a new friend!

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Thanx guys for all your help, I'm anxious to get back out there & try again. I'm sure I had the coordinates entered right, as I drove to the spot and parked within 100 ft of where the r said I should be, before I even looked at it. The difficulty rating is only 1 1/2, and I know the area very well, so I guess that made the failure a little harder to take. It is a "log only" cache so I suppose it's not too big. Probably next weekend now before we get a chance to go back out, I'll see if I can find some local cache'rs, and I'll let you know how we make out. Thanx agin, an' hav a gud'un. DND

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Keep in mind the cache coordinates are only as accurate as the reading TAKEN. If the cache was hastily placed that is likely the problem. I never go out without a compass and a map and sometimes we shut the GPS off and use a map. The sport is hide and seek. SO if you can do it without a GPS - hey, your leaps and bounds ahead of using a GPS. Try them both. It's the adventure not the GPS. It's the find... no matter how you come by it.

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Just a thought... Did you set your unit to True North or Magnetic North.... There is a difference... I just started myself and set mine up Magnetic ... Hunted two Micro's yesterday and hit them both in minutes and they were my first finds ever....

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Depending on your GPSr model, check to make sure you don't have it set to "lock on road." Some models, knowing that the unit may drift a bit, allow the user to "lock" it onto the road. This setting is great for car navigation, but bad for caching, especially if the cache is near the roadway. Check you user's manual (or let us know your model).

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Depending on your GPSr model, check to make sure you don't have it set to "lock on road." Some models, knowing that the unit may drift a bit, allow the user to "lock" it onto the road. This setting is great for car navigation, but bad for caching, especially if the cache is near the roadway. Check you user's manual (or let us know your model).

 

I'm useing a Magellan Sportrak Pro... and I don't see the lock on road???

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Hi!

If you post the waypoint for the cache you're looking for you might get some more detailed help. Good luck!

 

(I don't know if there's any other language in which daughter is spelled "dotter", so if you're Swedish, you're welcome to www.geocaching.se for more local information)

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Depending on your GPSr model, check to make sure you don't have it set to "lock on road." Some models, knowing that the unit may drift a bit, allow the user to "lock" it onto the road. This setting is great for car navigation, but bad for caching, especially if the cache is near the roadway. Check you user's manual (or let us know your model).

 

I'm useing a Magellan Sportrak Pro... and I don't see the lock on road???

I can't tell you where it is on the Magellans, but I know my Garmin came pre-set to lock on roads. So even if you are off in the woods somewhere, it will "snap" the map location to show you standing in the middle of the road. I know it affects the map display, but I'm not sure if it makes any difference on the bearings. We had to fiddle with our settings a bit to get the datafields we wanted to see on our compass arrow "goto" screen. I got rid of stuff like "Time to destination" and replaced it with Bearing - then had to change that from just cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) to show compass heading numbers. That way if I want to use my compass to home in on the cache, I can get the numeric bearing off the GPS (remember to correct for magnetic north, either on the GPSr or on the compass).

 

That said, I haven't tried any micros yet, though there a couple nearby. I made sure to not look for any micro-caches on our first few trips. One, the kids are not as interested without the fun of seeing what goodies are inside (though this may change in the future). Two, I wanted to be successful on our first finds, so made sure to pick nice easy ratings. :rolleyes: So far so good!

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Also be mindful of your location. Still being winter it's not as big of a problem, but once the trees start to fill in, the cover will impair the GPS to a certain extent.

 

I, too, am a newbie to the sport and am careful to keep the, er, error isn't the right word... accuracy? Oh heck, the number of feet around from your position where the cache might be. If you landed in the road with a 30 foot difference, the cache may have been just off the road itself.

 

Heck, I hate it when I can't think of the right word..... :rolleyes:

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We should get back to Mr. dadndotter's question... he started this.. I'm not having trouble yet.....

 

GPS is new to me, I'm an old map&compass man, but my dotter & I got "fearsome confused" last year on a back-pack trip (I've never been LOST). Her borrowed GPSr (I assume that's GPS reciever) showed us where we were, and the map showed us which way to go to get where we wanted to be, and the compass took us there. Then I heard about GeoCaching and thought it would be great fun.

We found a Cache location near home and went to find it. Well, the map told me as much as the GPSr did. That confounded new-fangled device kept sending me into the middle of the road, a good place to get run over, and I didn't think it would be there in the first place. I know that there can still be a margin of error, so we searched the area for about an hour, and found nothing.(S1H,FN)? The Cache was found the day before by a group of Boy Scouts, and I'm a fair tracker if I say so myself, but that didn't help either. When we left there, I was about ready to leave the r there.

So, I came here looking for help. Any hints or tips that may help us when we go out there again?(Yes, we will) I did just read thru "Your first GeoCache hunt" and feel like I'm a little better prepared to try again. Too bad it's too late in the day now. Thing is, If I go out there again, I won't even need to take the r along. DND

 

Are you following this Sir? I didn't mean to step into the middle of your question....

 

So far, we need to know your model GPS and what the location is your trying to find....

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Depending on your GPSr model, check to make sure you don't have it set to "lock on road." Some models, knowing that the unit may drift a bit, allow the user to "lock" it onto the road. This setting is great for car navigation, but bad for caching, especially if the cache is near the roadway. Check you user's manual (or let us know your model).

 

I'm useing a Magellan Sportrak Pro... and I don't see the lock on road???

 

on Garmin units not Magellan

Edited by vagabond
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Just to add my own input on this topic.

 

There are some great resources on starting out with Geocaching. Geocaching-U has a great tutorial, as does the Complete Idiot's guide. Understanding how GPSr work, how accurate they are, and how they work best at getting you to the location are important.

 

My own advise, based on my past experiences.

 

* try to go after easy hides (regulars or smalls, no micros), hidden in local (city, county, state) parks. No urbans or backcountry hides. Thus you are in a safe place to be wondering around looking for the cache. You don't have to worry you're away from civilization, and you don't have to worry too much about muggles running into to wonder what the h*ll you are doing. My first 40 or so caches were all ones hidden in local parks.

 

* print out the full info on the hide, including decrypted hints and the five most recent logs. This can give you info you need to find the cache. It helps to have the hint. It helps to know that someone has found the cache recently. If no one has tried to even find the cache in 3-4 months, that can be worrysome. All caches I go after I have a recent print out. If I'm going to go after caches on a weekend, I make sure I double check all the caches to be sure that they are still active, etc.

 

* an understanding of what makes a good hide location is important in finding a cache. some call this 'geosense'. Sort of 'if I was hiding a cache, where would I do it'. This is important because some times the coords are just 'off'. I've found several caches in which the location was anywhere from 20-60 feet from where my GPS said it was. Sometimes you get to the location, and your GPSr is saying its over there, but you really feel that, based on the hide info, logic, etc, that it's over here. So look over here to be sure. You just might find it.

 

* even if you aren't goint to go paperless, at least figure out how to upload the coords to your GPS. After several problems when I found I had somehow miss-entered the coords, I always upload the coords. Spend a lot of time looking in the wrong location due to wrong coords, and see if you'll do the same! The only time I enter coords by hand is when I do multis, etc.

 

* if you decide to tackle urban hides (or are going for hides in small parks you aren't familiar with), also print out the mapquest map of the location, at the level that you can correctly drive there. Sometimes the map with the GC info isn't enough. After now going after urban/small park hides, I've found this important as well.

 

Hope this helps.

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Also use your compass,

 

Gpsr are great at getting you close, but in those last few feet and many times yards/meters the don't do to well. It can help alot to back off some, let the GPSr give you a bearing to the cache, then use the compass to follow it. If you can make a circle around ground zero taking barrings from different locations and then triangulate.

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Depending on your GPSr model, check to make sure you don't have it set to "lock on road." Some models, knowing that the unit may drift a bit, allow the user to "lock" it onto the road. This setting is great for car navigation, but bad for caching, especially if the cache is near the roadway. Check you user's manual (or let us know your model).

 

 

When we switched GPS units we had the exact same problem. It took us two caches to figure out what was up. On both caches we hit ground zero in the middle of the road. I knew something was up so I read the owners manual a bit and figured it out. I have a Garmin map60c and it has two different navigation modes a follow road or off-road. You absolutely must have it set on off-road to find a geocache.

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