Newbie needs some good geo-mojo

[+lekyfsirk]

Hi all,

I just learned about this sport a few days ago and think it looks like a ton of fun. So I went to C.City and found a Mio C230 DigiWalker for $50. and jumped on my bicycle for some adventurous exercise. I've been to 8 locations over the past 3 days and found nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I'm getting a little bummed but I'm hoping someone can send a little geo-mojo my way. Any advise to help me tune into the great universal geocaching mind would be appreciated. These are the caches I tried to find - GC1BER7, GC19YV8, GC1A0Q4, GC1A0WP, GC1A0TR, GC13PD3, GCVM4P and GC1DZGZ. I'm not expecially stupid, but I'm felling kinda lame right now.

Thanks,

Kris

[+lekyfsirk]

Wait a minute, maybe I am eXpecially stupid. Are there any remedial caches? Like maybe -10?

Cheers.

[+The Blorenges]

Not being from your area (by a few thousand miles) I can't help you by saying anything specific about those caches but why not drop into your local West and Southwest USA Forum, have a bit of a blub over there, thows yourself on their mercy and see if anyone local to you will meet up to give you the benefits of their caching experince?

 

Most geocachers are very willing to help out a newbie in their area.

 

(Or that's my experience from this side of the Pond)

 

MrsB

[+admo1972]

I think the problem is the unit you are using. I also have the C230, which I use exclusively in the car. The unit does allow you to put in coordinates, but the one time I used it as a backup when my eTrex Vista lost staellite signal, I found it almost useless. Luckily my Vista regained a satellite lock and I was still able to find the cache.

 

Anyway, if you still plan to use the C230, make sure you turn off the option "lock on road"

[+Userzero]

On this side of the pond too!!!

 

I am not familiar with your GPS unit, but since I am a newbie myself, here are a few tips that improved my success rate:

• Make sure that your unit is set with the same format as the coordinates published on geocaching.com
  
• If the caches are near a road and if your gps unit is in some kind of road navigation mode, it could be trying to place you on the road instead of on your actual position.
  
• Give it time to adjust, take a break once you are near the cache, and see what kind of precision you are getting. Get a feel for it, do not rush into the search.
  
• The cache could be anywhere within a radius of 15 to 25 feet of where the gps says it is. Even more than that if the cacher had a bad precision on the day he placed the cache.
  
• The cache could be very well hidden. Some cachers are pretty devious...
  
• Ask yourself where you would place it.
  
• Take your time, it will jump right at you.
  

The caches you listed seem to be easy enough. There must be a small detail that's missing...

Good luck

Edited July 14, 2008 by Userzero

[+usyoopers]

Hi all,

I just learned about this sport a few days ago and think it looks like a ton of fun. So I went to C.City and found a Mio C230 DigiWalker for $50. and jumped on my bicycle for some adventurous exercise. I've been to 8 locations over the past 3 days and found nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I'm getting a little bummed but I'm hoping someone can send a little geo-mojo my way. Any advise to help me tune into the great universal geocaching mind would be appreciated. These are the caches I tried to find - GC1BER7, GC19YV8, GC1A0Q4, GC1A0WP, GC1A0TR, GC13PD3, GCVM4P and GC1DZGZ. I'm not expecially stupid, but I'm felling kinda lame right now.

Thanks,

Kris

 

hmmm...I took a look at those cache pages, a mix of small and regular sizes. A couple talked about being in plain sight, perhaps they could have been muggled...seems like you should have been able to find some though! I'm not sure what your gps is like, is it one primarily for cars?

Contacting your local caching community is a really good idea, you can always email a cache owner for a tip or 2 also, most are very willing to help.

[+lekyfsirk]

Thank you all so much.

 

MrsB that is a great idea. I will check out the West and Southwest USA Forum and place a post today.

 

Adamo1972, thank you very much for the technical tip - I am still learning how to use this GPS unit (my first one) and will definitely change the "lock on road" setting. I just bought this particular GPS because it was on sale for only $50. If I have any luck with geocaching I will surely be buying a more suitable unit for geocaching/hiking.

 

Userzero and usyoopers, I am wondering if some of them have been muggled. I'm probably missing the majority of them, but there is one that was listed as a camoed Altoids tin in plain sight and I still couldn't find it. That one should have been a sure thing. Since I'm in a fairly large city with a bajillion people milling about and gardeners on every other lawn, maybe they have been muggled. ???

 

I am grateful that each of you have taken your time to reply. I will surely use your advise and I wish you all the best in geocaching.

 

-Kris

 

p.s. - I'm not giving up. This is too cool.

[+angelashley1018]

I find that if I use google earth by putting in the co-ordinates from the cache page I find what I can make out thats close to the cache and I have a WAY better success rate. If you just highlight the co-ordinates and copy and past them into the google earth browser it will take you right to it. You will probably only need to do this the first few times out. Good Luck!

[Neos2]

Of the caches you listed, GC19YV8 and GC1DZGZ look especially findable (from the comfort of my seat at the computer anyway!).

 

Near the last one are several other caches that also look to be "easier" to find

GCHNZ1, GC183Q2, and GC126JQ

 

Take a look at the map of the nearest caches before you head out to make sure that your unit is taking you to the general area. (See "map it" in the top right corner of the list of nearest caches)

 

Don't expect your unit to put you exactly on top the cache. It should get you within 30 feet or so, perhaps closer. When you get to about 30 feet away, start looking for hiding spots that match the clues.

 

Read the whole cache page before you go---the description, the hint, the previous cache logs. They all may contain useful information about the cache. Later you can challenge yourself by not reading the other logs or saving the hint until after you've looked a bit--but for now, give yourself all the advantages you can get.

 

Pay attention to clues like the size (an ammo can probably isn't going to be stuck inside a light pole cover) and whether is says "magnetic" (if it does, look for something metal). Look in bushes and trees. The containers may be wrapped or painted in camoflauge, so they won't stick out as much as you would think.

 

Don't give up too quickly --It may take you 20 or 30 minutes to find a cache that you will find in 15 seconds later. That is just how it goes when you are new.

 

Have fun! Stop if you get frustrated and try again another day.

[+lekyfsirk]

OMG!!! I found my first cache today. On my way home from work I stopped off at GC19YV8 again and poked around some more and there it was!!! This is awesome! Thank you all so much. WooooHooooo!

[+The Blorenges]

OMG!!! I found my first cache today. On my way home from work I stopped off at GC19YV8 again and poked around some more and there it was!!! This is awesome! Thank you all so much. WooooHooooo!

 

I feel your joy

 

Well done!

 

MrsB

[CCHHunter]

hello and welcome aboard.

 

Like you I am new to the sport and also have a mio digiwalker (I've had mine for a while and think it's a slightly newer model then yours); however, I must say I am not very pleased with my mio. It's okay for navigating the roads but I found that trying to pinpoint a location with it is not very good, not only that but the unit does not update frequently and I find that I've past the pinpoint by the time it updates.

 

Needless to say, until I get a new GPS unit, I'm stuck with the mio for now, if you find you enjoy this, I suggest a new unit.

 

Speaking of new units, anyone who's reading, any suggestions for a decent / cheap gps unit? I would like to pick one up that is usable in my car and keeps a pretty well charge on the battery.

 

Any input would be great

[+Silfron Mandotheneset]

I tried using a Mio too, and failed rather miserably on two different caches that should have been easy that said I recently bought a Garmin eTrex H from a website (Newegg.com) for $85, which even with the $8 shipping was cheaper than any other one I could find.

[+lekyfsirk]

You know... this Mio seems to be great on the road but it doesn't seem to see anything off the street at all. I set it to bicycle mode because I combine exercising with caching. However, it also has a pedestrian setting that might allow me to see off road. I'll check it out.

 

I met someone at work who really likes his Garmin - I think he said it was a 4 trex ???

[Mag Magician]

 

I met someone at work who really likes his Garmin - I think he said it was a 4 trex ???

 

We have two Etrex Legends which we upgraded to when we started geocaching.

They found over 375 caches, once we got used to them.

 

You can check out the GPS Garage Sale threads on this forum and find one for under 50 bucks usually. No, Im not putting mine up for sale, they are really good for the newbies I take out to learn caching.

[+Silfron Mandotheneset]

You know... this Mio seems to be great on the road but it doesn't seem to see anything off the street at all. I set it to bicycle mode because I combine exercising with caching. However, it also has a pedestrian setting that might allow me to see off road. I'll check it out.

 

It doesn't go off road either. Which I find very, very odd. That's what mine was set on, and... not so much.

[+GeoRioux]

Being also new myself to this great sport, it takes time to find these wonderful trinkets.

 

As some of the posters have said make sure that you have your GPS in a proper mode. I have a Garmin eTrex Legend and it has not failed me to bringing me to the locations (hit my 100th find in 30 days on my birthday the other day). The only that I have failed on is just not thinking it through all the way. You may think about spending a couple more $'s, but you may not have to, I don't know anything about your unit.

 

There are some cachers out there that love to be sneaky in their hides, if you would like to know about some let me know I love sharing stories.

 

Here is some helpful advise:

 

* Don't get frustrated!! If you feel this way walk away and return clear minded another day

 

* Try a simple lamp post hide to see if you GPS is leading you in the right direction (I know lamp post hides are a bit cheesy but you are new and they are kinda neat to grab without attracting attention)-- I take my kids to lamp posts hides a lot cause some of them are small and don't grasp the really harder hides

 

* Read the hints -- If there are no hints read the descriptions sometimes they hide them inside

 

* Read the posts -- At times we can leave spoilers inside that might help you

 

* Try a cache a couple of times to get the hang of it, if all else fails asks for more hints, like someone posted we love to help newbies understand it so they keep going.

 

* Take someone with you -- Here you do a few things -- You have another set of eyes to help you look, You can turn another person into a GeoCacher, it is sometimes safer!

 

* HAVE FUN!

 

If you need help let us know

 

GEORIOUX

[+lekyfsirk]

Thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to reply with helpful info.

 

Yep, my Mio can't see anything off the road. Bummer. So I'm going to look in the yard sale area.

 

This weekend there is an event locally that I'm going to try to find. Should work since it's in the city.

 

Happy caching.

[+Fuzzywhip]

OMG!!! I found my first cache today. On my way home from work I stopped off at GC19YV8 again and poked around some more and there it was!!! This is awesome! Thank you all so much. WooooHooooo!

 

Congrats and welcome to geocaching.

 

Sometimes, the first cache is the hardest one to find. Once you have a number of cache finds "under your belt", you will find caching gets easier and easier. Experience is a great teacher!