asking the dumbest yet

[dale hollow lake]

No experience, going to start, the target you are looking for U have coordinates, how much of an area is i this if IM saying it correctly.

 

examples would be appreciated

[+briansnat]

I'm guessing that you are asking how wide the search area can be???

 

If so, its not a dumb question at all. In fact its a major mistake made by novices to search only the area right where the GPS points.

 

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

 

Forgive me if I misunderstood your question.

[+norsehawk]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

 

I've usually had a bit of luck with that, the most i've ever had a cache be off from where my gps took me was about 20 feet, and that was one where the coords were known to be off a bit. the other time that comes to mind was about 15 feet off, but it was such a likely hiding spot I checked there on the way to ground zero, and the clink was unmistakable when my hiking pole connected with the jar.

[+brownie2]

If I understand your question correctlly. When you start to hunt a cache the search area varies. If the person giving the coords had really good satelite reception and let their gps unit sit for a while to settle down. The coords should be fairly good. Say with a 3 meter radius or better. If you go to find this spot and you have a good clear view of the sky you should be able to stay within this same area.

I know a local cache that is within 2 feet of the posted coords according to my unit. It is in an open area. I also know of a local cache that it is not possible to get more accurate than about 50 feet. It is in a river gorge beside a waterfall. The steep hillsides block the signal.

I noticed your user name. A lot of folks from my area (NE GA)have bought property near that lake.

Hope that helps!

Edited October 13, 2006 by brownie2

[dale hollow lake]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

 

I've usually had a bit of luck with that, the most i've ever had a cache be off from where my gps took me was about 20 feet, and that was one where the coords were known to be off a bit. the other time that comes to mind was about 15 feet off, but it was such a likely hiding spot I checked there on the way to ground zero, and the clink was unmistakable when my hiking pole connected with the jar.

[dale hollow lake]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

 

I've usually had a bit of luck with that, the most i've ever had a cache be off from where my gps took me was about 20 feet, and that was one where the coords were known to be off a bit. the other time that comes to mind was about 15 feet off, but it was such a likely hiding spot I checked there on the way to ground zero, and the clink was unmistakable when my hiking pole connected with the jar.

 

thanks everyone that seems resonable well I looked up my zip code and there was one about 6 miles from me a few weeks ago so ill see what happends

[+StarBrand]

Best advice I've seen is to get within 15 or so feet of where your GPS says it should be and then put it away and start looking for possible hide spots. Not uncommon to find within a few feet or within 40 foot. Rarely is it much further away but possible.

[+Prime Suspect]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

You lost me with that last sentence. If the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is, then the radius is 50 feet, not 100. Or am I missing something.

[+briansnat]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

You lost me with that last sentence. If the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is, then the radius is 50 feet, not 100. Or am I missing something.

 

Sorry, radius is probably the wrong term (I flunked math in HS). I meant a 100 ft wide arc surrounding ground zero.

[+kemp_family]

What works for me (in all four that I have found) is to let the GPS "settle down." We go to the spot indicated, set the GPS down, look around for a good little bit, and then go back to see what the GPS reads. We usually then walk 20 to 30 feet and find what we are looking for in a couple of minutes.

 

Good luck.

[+Prime Suspect]

You lost me with that last sentence. If the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is, then the radius is 50 feet, not 100. Or am I missing something.

 

Sorry, radius is probably the wrong term (I flunked math in HS). I meant a 100 ft wide arc surrounding ground zero.

The surround circle would be about 3 times that distance (100 * π, actually) . The area would be about 7,853 feet.

[+StarBrand]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

You lost me with that last sentence. If the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is, then the radius is 50 feet, not 100. Or am I missing something.

 

Sorry, radius is probably the wrong term (I flunked math in HS). I meant a 100 ft wide arc surrounding ground zero.

Circle with a Diameter of 100

[+welch]

Figure your GPS has a margin of error of 10-25 feet under normal conditions (worse under poor) and so did the GPS of the person who hid the cache. That means the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is. Which in turn means that your search area could be a radius of as many as 100 feet from "ground zero".

You lost me with that last sentence. If the cache could be as many as 50 feet from where you're GPS says it is, then the radius is 50 feet, not 100. Or am I missing something.

 

Sorry, radius is probably the wrong term (I flunked math in HS). I meant a 100 ft wide arc surrounding ground zero.

Circle with a Diameter of 100

If the cache is hidden off the ground, would the shape of the area to seek need to be spere? Or since aren't supposed to be underground maybe some sort of cone or pointy dome... the error for altitude is suppoed to be greater than the lat/long right??

 

This is getting complicated, can't we just say 'the cache may not be exactly where the gps claims it is, Look around' ?