First time

[Rick1911]

Last night was my first time looking for a cache, my GPS said I was within 1 foot of it, but I still could not locate it. It was the WAM in Syracuse UT is there anything I should know about this one. Is this what I have to look forward to?

[beautyisgod]

Last night was my first time looking for a cache, my GPS said I was within 1 foot of it, but I still could not locate it. It was the WAM in Syracuse UT is there anything I should know about this one. Is this what I have to look forward to?

 

your not the only 1 having difficulty find cache, me too! i found only 2 so far since aug 2006

i am sad

[+huskerrich2000]

welcome to our addiction bob. yes this is one of the kind of hides you will need to get used to. The first thing I noticed was that you put too much trust in your gps'r. The cache could be as far away as 40' depending on your probabiliy of error. Start looking for likely place when you get to within 50'. You chose a cache that had a difficulty of 2, from the cache description I honestly couldn't tell you what you are looking for but it is at least larger than a pill container. For your first caching experience try (gcnqtj, gcyjxp, gcjax7,gcq1ac) a good first time micro might be (gctpza)

[+Tharagleb]

Last night was my first time looking for a cache, my GPS said I was within 1 foot of it, but I still could not locate it. It was the WAM in Syracuse UT is there anything I should know about this one. Is this what I have to look forward to?

 

When the GPS says the cache is 1 foot away it just means that that is its best guess. Typically the cache can be anywhere from 10 to 30 feet away (or farther) from where the GPS thinks it is. You need to expand your search area and you should start with caches that are rated with a low difficulty level.

 

Another good thing would be if you could hook up with an established cacher and have them show you the ropes (although this is not necessary).

 

Hope this helps.

[+sbell111]

Keep at it. Remember that you can't find them all.

 

The best thing to do is to try to think like a person who is hiding the cache. Of course, I DNFd 5 out of six caches on Sunday, so I'm probably not the best person to take advice from, right now.

[+oprystar]

On some GPSr units, there is a page/screen that shows how many satellites are linked to the unit, on that same page there is usually a +/- range of how accurate the unit is at any given time. The accuracy can be constantly changing. It is not uncommon to see even +/- 43 feet. Keep this in mind when looking for the hide. Also the person who hid it could have been +/- 43 feet, making a total range of error around +/- 86 feet. And yes caches have been found more than 100 feet away from their posted coordinates.

-OpryStar

[+El Diablo]

Rick,

Go back and carefully read all the logs for the cache. There are lots of good hints in there. One post which is encrypted actually tells you what type of container you are looking for.

 

Good luck!

El Diablo

[+GIDEON-X]

It Happens..............Just the other day I was in fact 1.5' from a cache and I could find it / see it....went back the next day and there it was right where I been looking..............

[Rick1911]

Thanks for all the good advice I will try again.

I have a etrex vista cx does the WAAS enabled narrow the range at all?

Thanks

[+Bad_CRC]

I had 2 caches in one day that I couldn't find. I spent almost an hour looking for each of them.

 

I went back a few days later, and the GPSr led me right to them. Turns out it had left me 50 feet away from both of them the previous search.

 

lesson is: never trust your GPSr. always look in the area, and if it's not there, widen your search even if the GPSr says it's in a specific area.

[+Harriet the Spy]

WAAS will GREATLY increase your accuracy. Turn it on and keep it on.

[+team5150]

One other thing that I thought that I might add, in addition to all the great threads above, is that even though your GPSr says that you are 1' away, it might be 10-30 feet off, depending on your GPSr, tree cover, buildings, cliffs, etc. ALSO, the same is true for the person placing the cache, their accuracy was affected by the same things. So realistically you need to think that GZ is within 1-60' feet of where my GPS says it is. Stick with it, relax, and have fun! Its worth it, trust me!!!!!