+vespax Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Is this a big issue? I get this somewhat often from cachers who inform me that my cache coordinates are +/- 10m wrong from where they found the actual cache box. I have just laughed it off in the past but thought I would ask the question to everyone. Is it really a problem? I mean we are using handheld receivers picking up signals from little satellites far above us to find a little container. 10m seems really accurate to me. Plus, geocaching is about the hunt. "Where you are the search engine." Getting to 10m is close, from there you have to get your hands dirty, roll up those sleeves and get searching. Comments? Angry posts? *Not criticizing anyone personally here. Please don't take offense. Just discussion. Quote Link to comment
+cownchicken Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 We don't have a problem. Just read the clues and widen your search. The co-ordinates are never going to be one hundred percent accurate. We have found caches that are more than 20 metres out. The point of caching is the 'hunt'. One feels so much more rewarded if you actually had to search. Our 2 cents worth. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 (edited) Getting to 10m is close, from there you have to get your hands dirty, roll up those sleeves and get searching. Or for some..... time to pick up the phone Vespax, it’s well documented that you have a dud GPSr, get it sorted! You can have it tested and calibrated, contact Avnic or the Huskies It seems to be a common activity at some events where cachers are required to find a coordinate in an open field and place a flag, the closest wins a prize. You’ll find the flags spread over a large area. In theory two people walking to find a cache with two units each reading a reported accuracy of 10m could in affect reach “ground zero” 20m apart or more… Wouldn't consider +/-7m an issue (in challenging semi vertical terrain that 10m could quickly become 60m though). Anything over 10m may require a bit of investigation especially if cachers are consistently reporting the same issue. This however depends on the cache, it's difficulty rating, the clues and the location. If these have been appropriately stated then it should be fine. Get your hands dirty and enjoy the hunt. If you want caches with neon signs, go overseas Oh, and..... So more Shops in PE........ 14m Edited June 19, 2007 by GlobalRat Quote Link to comment
+LeonW Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 It is also true that the coordinates are sometimes taken so carefully and reached with the same precision that the hunter is standing 30cm from the cache at Ground Zero (which actually referred to an nuclear situation - in which case it does not matter). - blink - That is why "some cache hiders" conveniantly forget to take the coordinates until they get to the car. to enrich the hunting experience. I believe all geocachers is still letterboxers at heart and love the hunt by "clues" factor. Quote Link to comment
Scorp67 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I wonder if it is so hard to get co-ord more accurate. Leave the reciever for a while or take a few readings and average them, this is pretty good as the first is normally off by a few meters. Some caches 2 m can make a differece, it all depends on the complexity of the terain. I will always carry a cell phone for that very reason though, others may be smarter than u when it comes to finding cache Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 Vespax, it’s well documented that you have a dud GPSr, get it sorted! You can have it tested and calibrated, contact Avnic or the Huskies Oh, and..... So more Shops in PE........ 14m I should be offended by that right? Well I'm not! lol 14m, I say that is pretty good. You either found a parking lot, a road or the cache location. My GPS has found me 400+ caches and still going strong. I used it the other day to capture coordinates for fuel tanks at work and when I loaded them into GE they were spot on. So it is not just my GPS. I just think people get picky with ground zero locations. Get to the general area and start looking. If after an hour you want to use a life-line, than ok. But don't say in the log that you were 10m out because I can blame it on your gps as well. I do average all my cache locations up to <5m accuracy when placing them. And I even go back and check on them with my GPS and I get to the 'right' area. A tree, a boulder, a mountain might interfere but I am sticking with my format and you all will just have to struggle through to log my caches! Quote Link to comment
+LeonW Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Hi Vespax You do know that Google Earth is by design not accurate with the coordinates to circumvent the intellectual copyrights of the producers of the maps. So please use a surveyor for those tanks - doesn't it require a certificate of sorts for the placement? You guys in the Cape already faces an energy cricis, don't add to it. No disrespect intended. Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 They do and that is why I am there. General GPS coordinates are adequate for my reports. No surveyor required. Care to explain that GE thing there? They license the photographs from various places, and as far as I know try to be as accurate as possible with image georeferencing and content features such as roads and boundaries. Why would offsetting features circumvent copyright? WC has a slight energy problem, but Gauteng has been having a worse time recently. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 They license the photographs from various places, and as far as I know try to be as accurate as possible with image georeferencing and content features such as roads and boundaries. Why would offsetting features circumvent copyright? Check it out carefully, you'll notice GE isn't very accurate, gives an idea of a location. When you zoom in and out and move around, you'll see that a waypoint jumps around and isn't always displayed in the same position. WC has a slight energy problem, but Gauteng has been having a worse time recently. Dunno which idiot decided to divert half our power to the cape...whatever for....? 14m, that's pathetic I would complain to Garmin Quote Link to comment
+Fish Eagle Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Google Earth - my understanding is that the co-ords from the geocaching link (kml file) are intentionally fuzzed by GE (not sure why), hence the fact that they jump around as you zoom in and out. You can overcome this by typing, or copying and pasting the co-ords from the cache listing into the "fly to" input box - then they don't jump around at all. I have found that GE photos are generally quite accurate, but can be misaligned by up to 20m at times. Hope this helps. Interesting that there are several cachers in the UK who cache using GE and not a GPS, and they seem to find them OK. We couldn't find a puzzle cache on the day we left Cardiff. When we got home, we checked it on Google Earth and spotted our error. Out of curiosity, I emailed my muggle daughter a GE snapshot of the location, and asked if she and her boyfriend would like to hunt it. They did, and found it quite easily!!! I tried to convince them to create an account on GC and log it, but they didn't take the bait. Vespax, don't stress about co-ords being 10m out. My opinion - judge it by the logs on your cache - only if there are too many DNF's and too much frustration coming through is it a problem. Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 Check it out carefully, you'll notice GE isn't very accurate, gives an idea of a location. When you zoom in and out and move around, you'll see that a waypoint jumps around and isn't always displayed in the same position. You must be trying this using the geocaching kml for cache locations. It is common knowledge that those waypoints are offset by up to 200m to prevent anyone from using it to find caches. When you manually add coordinates from your GPS 9for example) the waypoint stays in the exact same position. I just looked at a site in Franschhoek (with terrain on/off) and it remains in the same exact spot where I can see the thing I marked. GE is accurate with its imagery. Dunno which idiot decided to divert half our power to the cape...whatever for....? 14m, that's pathetic I would complain to Garmin That would be because we are just slightly more enlightened down here! 14m... that's fine for me. I am not replacing the GPS instead buying a new Macbook soon! Google Earth - my understanding is that the co-ords from the geocaching link (kml file) are intentionally fuzzed by GE (not sure why), hence the fact that they jump around as you zoom in and out. You can overcome this by typing, or copying and pasting the co-ords from the cache listing into the "fly to" input box - then they don't jump around at all. I have found that GE photos are generally quite accurate, but can be misaligned by up to 20m at times. Hope this helps. Interesting that there are several cachers in the UK who cache using GE and not a GPS, and they seem to find them OK. We couldn't find a puzzle cache on the day we left Cardiff. When we got home, we checked it on Google Earth and spotted our error. Out of curiosity, I emailed my muggle daughter a GE snapshot of the location, and asked if she and her boyfriend would like to hunt it. They did, and found it quite easily!!! I tried to convince them to create an account on GC and log it, but they didn't take the bait. Vespax, don't stress about co-ords being 10m out. My opinion - judge it by the logs on your cache - only if there are too many DNF's and too much frustration coming through is it a problem. You are right, I am not stressing just wondering why people comment on 10m differences. I have found a couple of caches without GPS, so yes, planning beforehand on GE is very doable. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 It is common knowledge that those waypoints are offset by up to 200m to prevent anyone from using it to find caches. When you manually add coordinates from your GPS 9for example) the waypoint stays in the exact same position. I just looked at a site in Franschhoek (with terrain on/off) and it remains in the same exact spot where I can see the thing I marked. GE is accurate with its imagery. I wasn't aware it was as much as 200m... who said you can't learn anything new from the forums . However, I have noticed that taking a waypoint of a known location and plugging this into GE, it is still sometimes offset. Anyway I only use it as a curiosity and accept any built in error, close enough for me. I do know of a couple in the midlands (UK) that cache without a GPSr, cellphone, or GE. Just read the logs and descriptions and hints, and yep, they find them. They do of course have landranger maps to narrow things down a bit. Having done some of the caches that they have found.... some are real easy and pretty obvious once you're within 30/40m, others...they must have cache detectors built into their brains or be extremely persistent with good all weather gear and the best wellies. I have found a couple of caches without GPS ... I'm tempted , but won't... this type of jovial banter and digging is best done over a few beers/wine ... some folks might just take this all to seriaaaaaaaaasly Never mind the 10m, I've read numerous logs where cachers are complaining about coords being 5m out may these poor souls never hunt for a cache in London Enlightened.... electric spinach mebbe Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 ... I'm tempted , but won't... this type of jovial banter and digging is best done over a few beers/wine ... some folks might just take this all to seriaaaaaaaaasly True dat. Never mind the 10m, I've read numerous logs where cachers are complaining about coords being 5m out may these poor souls never hunt for a cache in London. I wasn't even going there, but yeah, have noticed the 5m phenomenon myself. Perhaps it is the csX that is making people be ultra-sensitive with GZ? BTW-will be in the north searching for caches next week. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 BTW-will be in the north searching for caches next week. I'll purposefully place some caches where the coords are 10m out, that way you'll be spot on Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 BTW-will be in the north searching for caches next week. I'll purposefully place some caches where the coords are 10m out, that way you'll be spot on I'll lend you my GPS so you get it right. Would hate for your GPS to throw the whole thing off. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 I'll lend you my GPS so you get it right. Would hate for your GPS to throw the whole thing off. But then you'll have no opportunity to get your hands dirty or whinge about coordinates that are 10m out, or get to use your mobile Where's the fun in that Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Now where can I get a cache container that is about 10 meter long. Then i don't have to worry about the co-ords been out a bit. Haa haa this is too much. One of my caches happened to be half a kilo off. But it was found. Sometimes people slip up on co-ords. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Now where can I get a cache container that is about 10 meter long. Then i don't have to worry about the co-ords been out a bit. Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 21, 2007 Author Share Posted June 21, 2007 Now where can I get a cache container that is about 10 meter long. Then i don't have to worry about the co-ords been out a bit. There are a few here in Cape Town that I have been wanting to get my hands on, but hiding might be a bit problem-matic. There are easily 10m long and some have Sea/Land or Mearsk written on the sides of them. Go check em out on the side of the N1 near milnerton. Quote Link to comment
+cownchicken Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 They are nice - just think what goodies you can fill these cache containers with - enough furniture for 2 houses - luxury imported cars. Think we will have to log TNLNSL! Quote Link to comment
+LeonW Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Some cacher trucks them all up to deepest Africa not to be found ever again. Conclusion - GPS does not work in Africa. Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Problem is what do I put in it? 1000's of little things or something big. Just imagine: This is a high value cache, please exchange with something of similar value around R80K to R100K. Please replace the container as you found it. Bring your own earth moving equipment. Cache is well hidden under a few boulders. Make sure you bring some camping equipment should you wish to try this cache alone..... I can just imagine batsgonemad camouflaging it!!!! Eish, who ever said geocaching would be easy....... Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 (edited) Other thing, how do I get it up that dadgum mountain in my Corsa Lite, And never mind the muggles finding it......... eish. Edited June 21, 2007 by Wazat Quote Link to comment
+vespax Posted June 21, 2007 Author Share Posted June 21, 2007 Other thing, how do I get it up that dadgum mountain in my Corsa Lite, And never mind the muggles finding it......... eish. Or my dumpy Mazda 323! Under a pile of rocks. Quote Link to comment
+batsgonemad and his squirrel Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 stop moaning and find the caches get your hands dirty it will always be out most of the time due to various factors, nakes it more interesting, there should be no rush to finding them Quote Link to comment
+LeonW Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 There is a quite a few nice koppies in the Karoo that could hide such a container. Easy find for Capetonians and Gautengers, halfway between civilization, special equipment required - metal detector, TNT and lots of drinking water. Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Bats, i must check up on your Newcastle view for you. I will definitely get dirty with that one now, the ground is blackened by a recent fire. Luckily I moved the Mossel bay Diabetes TB and a geocoin from there just before the fire. Will inform if the cache is still ok, should be in the place it is stashed. I agree though, caches should be a little hard to find. Makes it more interesting. Love rock cache was about two meters from where my GPSr was indicating but I took forever to find it. Was well worth the effort in the end. Quote Link to comment
+batsgonemad and his squirrel Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Bats, i must check up on your Newcastle view for you. I will definitely get dirty with that one now, the ground is blackened by a recent fire. Luckily I moved the Mossel bay Diabetes TB and a geocoin from there just before the fire. Will inform if the cache is still ok, should be in the place it is stashed. I agree though, caches should be a little hard to find. Makes it more interesting. Love rock cache was about two meters from where my GPSr was indicating but I took forever to find it. Was well worth the effort in the end. hey we'll be in newcastle in August for the long weekend not sure when we arrive but we can at least get together for a cup of coffee at Gekoes (spelling) Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 (edited) Sure thing. Was going to check on your cache yesterday but didn't feel well will probably go up and check it later today. I want to drop another one or two caches here in Newcastle. Got some spots in mind. Was in Gecko's (Spelled) yesterday for coffee funnily enough. Edited June 23, 2007 by Wazat Quote Link to comment
+QFC Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 60cs???? what.... All of these spoilt geocachers! Bats, Whostops and I have found a cache 100m out and my masking-tape-covered, scratch etrax venture, loose reception as soon as there is a hit of cloud or tree cover GPSr still treats me well. Lets hope I never get lost in the Congo because my GPSr will be useless. C and I have found 500 odd caches with an assortment of cheaper GPS's, quite a few at night and people that can get the co-ords below 5m just piss me off Seriously, who doesn’t take multiple readings for a cache placement???!!!??? (oh wait that is us.....) Quote Link to comment
+Noddy Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 My 2 cents. I think that in certain areas, especially where flora needs to be protected, 10 m makes a huge difference and cachers placing caches should try and think what might happen when cachers start searching for a cache. Unfortuantely if the clue is not suffiecient, lots of rocks get turned over and lots of plants get damaged, usually a whole area. Not good for a low impact sport. So it is not only about searching with sensitivity, but also placing with sensitivity. Quote Link to comment
+batsgonemad and his squirrel Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 My 2 cents. I think that in certain areas, especially where flora needs to be protected, 10 m makes a huge difference and cachers placing caches should try and think what might happen when cachers start searching for a cache. Unfortuantely if the clue is not suffiecient, lots of rocks get turned over and lots of plants get damaged, usually a whole area. Not good for a low impact sport. So it is not only about searching with sensitivity, but also placing with sensitivity. aND THATS WHY I LOVE URBAN CACHING nothing like running around the concreate jungle Quote Link to comment
+QFC Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 My 2 cents. I think that in certain areas, especially where flora needs to be protected, 10 m makes a huge difference and cachers placing caches should try and think what might happen when cachers start searching for a cache. Unfortuantely if the clue is not suffiecient, lots of rocks get turned over and lots of plants get damaged, usually a whole area. Not good for a low impact sport. So it is not only about searching with sensitivity, but also placing with sensitivity. HEHEHE... One wonders if another 10m is not just far two walk/ climb when the verticle factor is taken into account! Yes, yes, yes protect them pretty trees. Who else would let me hug them Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Bats, to feed back on the below quote.... Sure thing. Was going to check on your cache yesterday but didn't feel well will probably go up and check it later today. Ended up only checking on the cache yesterday, I was caught by the flu bug. The Newcastle view cache area was ravaged by an almighty veldfire and I am pleased to say that the cache is alive and well. Not an inch of molten plastic to be found. I did happen to find about an inch of the naughty magazines that were left in the vicinity. Seems like the fire did a good job of a bad thing. Quote Link to comment
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