brunettes Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 (edited) My parents and I are going to Mexico next week. There are some geocaches there and one is underwater. My parents gave me their old Garmin Legend. When this is underwater, will you actually be able to see the coordinates or does the water distort it? I will have swim goggles along. Also, does the GPS compass have to be readjusted? We thought we read something about traveling more than 500 miles from home and you have to recalibrate the compass? Edited June 8, 2006 by brunettes Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 For an underwater cache, you'd simply navigate to the proper place on the surface, then go down below. GPS signals do not penetrate water, so the GPS would be worthless below the surface. You will not have to do any "recalibration." What you've read is that when a GPS is moved a great distance, it can sometimes take a while for it to reaquire satellite signal since it doesn't know where to look. It's best when you get there to turn the GPS on and leave it with a clear view of the sky for roughly 15 minutes. This will enable the GPS to download the proper almanac data for satallite position at your location. Where will you be in Mexico? I'm brain-storming a Mexican road trip in a few weeks myself. Jamie Quote Link to comment
brunettes Posted June 8, 2006 Author Share Posted June 8, 2006 Thank you for the information. Going to Playa del Carmen. Most of the caches are quite a drive away and will will need to rent a car to get to them. There is one virtual in town, but I thought that an underwater one sounded fun. Quote Link to comment
+drbugs Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 have fun on your trip! I'm not familier with the legend, but when I travel with my 60cx, from the sattelite screen select menu->new location. You will then be prompted with automatic, or select a location (on my unit I do this, then navigate the cursor to the rough geographical location on the map). It takes a bit, and then boom! It knows where it is Quote Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I just know that I am going to regret this but exactly how does one use a GPSr under water? Quote Link to comment
brunettes Posted June 9, 2006 Author Share Posted June 9, 2006 When using snorkel mask or dive mask , thought it might be easy enough to see, but was not sure about how the satellites worked, that is why I asked! I just got the GPS, used to go with my parents when they went and I wanted to try this on my own since they just gave it to me. Quote Link to comment
kb9nvh Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 On another note, your gps may be waterproof but I doubt it will be waterproof a few feet below the surface. The pressure on the gps as you go deeper will force water into the seals. Dont dive with your gps if you want it to work when you come back up. Also, as noted, it wont work underwater anyway. :-) When using snorkel mask or dive mask , thought it might be easy enough to see, but was not sure about how the satellites worked, that is why I asked! I just got the GPS, used to go with my parents when they went and I wanted to try this on my own since they just gave it to me. Quote Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I could.............but I won't. Quote Link to comment
brunettes Posted June 9, 2006 Author Share Posted June 9, 2006 (edited) We found out about it from a friend, now went to look for it. I can't seem to locate the cache, maybe destroyed by the hurricane last fall? Also not that many around the Playa area. More in Cozumel. We have some underwater caches in my state, I guess I'll have to try those instead... bummed. Edited June 9, 2006 by brunettes Quote Link to comment
+Boardslider Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 I tried this once for an underwater cache. Not trusting the waterproof claims of my Etrex Vista (I now know better), I put it in an Aquapak with a velcro arm band and wore it on my forearm. I found that once under the surface - even by the smallest amount - all signal was lost. It's hard work snorkelling with your arm held up like that, but it got me to the correct place. Unfortunately the cache had been reported missing the day before Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 If you had an external antanea you could let that float at the top of the water and the GPS will give you a reading. There are some problems to be solved to pull it off. Not the least of whic is that the legend can't accept an external antanea. Oh and it would have to be a wired antanea... Other than that Jamie Z gave the right technique and this is all moot because it looks like the trip already happened. Quote Link to comment
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