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There but not there . . .


alwayskimmer

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So today was the first time I've used my GPS and luckily there are a couple of spots right up the road so I didn't have to worry about getting too lost. I'm wandering around, trying to figure out how to read the thing and it beeps at me like I've hit the jackpot except there's nothing there. I find a mailbox with a pen in it but nothing else. So I wander on in the same 20' area and then it beeps at me again, once again I haven't really found anything. I checked my unit and it tells me I've found two locations - YAHOO! But I didn't find anything really :( So I'm assuming that when you get to the right coordinates it marks the spot as found but then you still have to find the bounty??? How do you know if there's still something there to find? Any advice would be appreciated. By the way, I downloaded these from the Garmin website but they are listed on this site as well.

 

On a side note, I just read the topic about greating other cachers and my hubby and I will be practicing "the dance" tonight to make sure I get it right :laughing:

Edited by Keystone
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Can you post the coords or waypoint so we can make sure that there is a cache listed there and you don't just have coords to go test out?

 

Basically, your unit will beep when you get to a pre-determined "closeness" to the coords you entered. Most units are accurate to +/- about 30 feet. Figure that the person who was hiding it had that same level of accuracy and you have a decent search are to check out.

 

Make sure to read the cache page so you know what size container you are looking for, hints, etc. Read previous logs to gain more insight as well.

 

Don't give up. When you find that first one you'll be hooked.

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Remember that your unit is accurate to about 10-30 feet as was the unit of the person who hid the cache. So the cache can be 50 or more feet from where your unit is telling you it is.

 

Many novices tend to rely too much on their GPS and expect it to lead them directly to the cache. It may, but more often than not you are going to be off some.

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Can you post the coords or waypoint so we can make sure that there is a cache listed there and you don't just have coords to go test out?

 

 

Okay, so here are the two places that I went to and didn't find anything. N 42 degrees 50.482',

W 072 degrees 28.986' - #GC10BV3

 

The other one is 42 degrees 50.297', W072 degrees 28.440' - #GCVJEM

 

Thanks for your comments :(

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Remember that your unit is accurate to about 10-30 feet as was the unit of the person who hid the cache. So the cache can be 50 or more feet from where your unit is telling you it is.

 

Many novices tend to rely too much on their GPS and expect it to lead them directly to the cache. It may, but more often than not you are going to be off some.

 

 

I guess what through me off was that it marked the place itself - I don't think I did anything to say that I had actually found the place . . . . I thought I had to highlight "found" and push the button or something.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more successfull. I also didn't pay any attention to what size caches they were when I went and I think they were micro.

 

Thanks for responding!

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Remember that your unit is accurate to about 10-30 feet as was the unit of the person who hid the cache. So the cache can be 50 or more feet from where your unit is telling you it is.

 

Many novices tend to rely too much on their GPS and expect it to lead them directly to the cache. It may, but more often than not you are going to be off some.

 

 

I guess what through me off was that it marked the place itself - I don't think I did anything to say that I had actually found the place . . . . I thought I had to highlight "found" and push the button or something.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more successfull. I also didn't pay any attention to what size caches they were when I went and I think they were micro.

 

Thanks for responding!

 

I've noticed my 60CSx does that as well, sometimes I don't even hunt the cache, I'll just navigate to the parking area and decide to skip it and the unit still marks it as found. Very annoying.

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Geocaches have stickers on them proclaimin them to be geocaches. Inside you will find a log book as well as swag.

 

~.~Scare Force One

I have found many without stickers, geo cache sheets, no swag, or anything else except log sheets. So depending where you are you may find exceptions to all of the "rules". good luck with your new hobby

Edited by Illinois Bill
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<snip>

Any advice would be appreciated. By the way, I downloaded these from the Garmin website but they are listed on this site as well.

 

On a side note, I just read the topic about greating other cachers and my hubby and I will be practicing "the dance" tonight to make sure I get it right :anibad:

For your first caching adventures, I highly recommend looking for caches that are "Regular" or "Large" sized containers. Even after finding several thousand caches, my DNF (Did Not Find) ratio for "Micro" containers is probably 80%. Fortunately for me, the first cache I found was an ammo can under an artificial pile of rocks.

 

If I had started out looking for Micro containers, I would have probably gotten discouraged and taken up a different activity . . . :ph34r:

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Okay, so here are the two places that I went to and didn't find anything. N 42 degrees 50.482',

W 072 degrees 28.986' - #GC10BV3

 

The other one is 42 degrees 50.297', W072 degrees 28.440' - #GCVJEM

 

Thanks for your comments :laughing:

The first cache you mention is a Micro size cache. They can be very small from the size of a 35mm film cantainer down to the size of a jelly bean or smaller. They can be very hard to find sometimes.

 

The other one is a Small size maybe the size of a pint jar or small Tupperware cantainer.

 

I'll bet they are still there because they both were found by other cachers not too long ago.

Edited by lacomo
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Take your time and search really carefully. Some people go to great strains to make sure a cache blends in really well. I have seen artificial plants mixed in with with surronding vegetation with a bison tube attached to a Darth Vader conatiner to everything in between.

 

I am lucky as my first two finds ever were micros and I have been hooked ever since.

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<snip>

On a side note, I just read the topic about greating other cachers and my hubby and I will be practicing "the dance" tonight to make sure I get it right :laughing:

For your first caching adventures, I highly recommend looking for caches that are "Regular" or "Large" sized containers.

But if they're going to be doing "the dance", then I would recommend webcam caches. Lots of them. :huh:

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