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GPS Accuracy


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Hi everyone,

As i am very new to all this, is there anyway of making my Etrex more accurate? i mean most times i can only get it to around 20 feet so if the hider's gps is also 20 feet out i could be at 40 feet! so you may aswell be in a different county!! :D

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As everyone is using different equipement you are always going to have variations in how far out you are, there are more acurate GPSr about but if someone placed a cache withh an older model then you will still have the same problem.

 

As long as you are using the right Datum you should not be to far out, then if all else fails read the clue. or just read the clue or use google earth or follow the trail left in the long grass.

 

Most of all don't worry you get them in the end!

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40 feet - I hunt in metres so that's about 12 metres or so. Nope - that's about right.

 

It just comes with practice now - you get your geo eyes. Would nature lie those sticks in that way? If the clue says rocks - look for rocks which are scuffed as people have moved them. When I place a cache I try to get stones that fit with the natural rock. Leave the moss on the outside. Leave the muddy covered bit of stone on the inside. But invariably, people who have successfully found the cache before you may not be as studious in re-hiding and subsequently lots of mossy rocks with a sudden clear patch amongst rocks. Or lots of clean rocks and sudden patch of small muddy ones are clues to something far more exciting...

 

Yes! A butty box full of cheap plastic tat! :D

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Making sure your GPS is in WAAS mode (system setup menu) will help get better accuracy but only if you can see the WAAS satellite that serves the UK. Typically, you need to be able to see quite a lot of sky to your south, for instance on a hillside/top.

 

WAAS mode can get your estimated error down to 10ft or sometimes even better but remember the error reading is estimated too :D. Also, WAAS comes will hit your battery life slightly...

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Hi everyone,

As i am very new to all this, is there anyway of making my Etrex more accurate?

 

Which Etrex is it?

 

Our original Etrex Yellow we bought March '07 was really good. The replacement one they sent us later in the year is an unusable pile of cack.

 

I have my suspicions that they detuned (or whatever) the lower spec ones to get people to buy the 'H' instead

 

We call it the Aproximator and is only used to feed a signal to the laptop or when raining and to lead us to the approximate location gz at which point we'll switch to the Mio.

 

A few months ago we bumped into a pair of newbe cachers who had just given up looking for their first cache. Their etrex was taking them to the other side of the field whereas we just went straight to it.

 

The didn't log their find and I suspect that they just gave up there and then. Shame really. :D

 

M

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:D

 

Walk around with it on your head.

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

:D

 

:)

 

What the Tatty Bear said, apparently that does help it to pick up the Signal signal, or so I've read. Don't quote me if it doesn't seem to work, though...

 

MrsB <--- not the technical half of the partnership.

 

Remember, part of the game is the hunt: It wouldn't be so much fun if the GPS took you to where you were standing on it, would it? :D

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i mean most times i can only get it to around 20 feet ...

 

Just re-read what you said. Don't worry about that. 20ft accuracy displayed on the screen. That's pretty good conditions actually and is not nearly as bad as it sounds.

 

 

My gripe in the earlier post was that even with a claimed 20ft accuracy is still about 40 to 60 foot different to the Mio

 

 

M

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We have a GPSmap 60Cx. When we first started using and experimenting with it we set it to 'Battery Saver' which is in the Setup, System, GPS, Menu.

This gave us an accuracy of about 15 metres in the open. Finding caches with it was really hard work!

Mrs Dizzy then got a Vista HCx. This does not have the 'Battery Saver' option and usually gives her 3 - 4 metres accuracy.

The 60Cx is now always on 'Normal' and it too gives 3 - 4 metres accuracy.

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Hi everyone,

As i am very new to all this, is there anyway of making my Etrex more accurate?

...A few months ago we bumped into a pair of newbe cachers who had just given up looking for their first cache. Their etrex was taking them to the other side of the field whereas we just went straight to it....

 

M

The wrong side of a field sounds like wrong Datum to me- a classic newbie error. I recently had an email telling me my cache was 300ft from where their borrowed GPS took them, which set alarm bells ringing- The typical variance for wrong datum/speroid is about that... It turns out it was set to the OS Datum, not the 'geocaching standard' WGS84

 

By the way, the 'put it on your head' thing does work. One, it gives the GPS a better view of the sky generally, and Two, it specifically gets your body out of its way. I find if it's taking an age to get a lock, popping it on the old bonce usually gets it sorted inside a minute, and can help under tree cover (it's an ancient etrex that needs all the help it can get!)

 

98f1feb0-d10e-4e3e-9fd9-96458768cbf5.jpg

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Hi everyone,

As i am very new to all this, is there anyway of making my Etrex more accurate?

...A few months ago we bumped into a pair of newbe cachers who had just given up looking for their first cache. Their etrex was taking them to the other side of the field whereas we just went straight to it....

 

M

The wrong side of a field sounds like wrong Datum to me- a classic newbie error. I recently had an email telling me my cache was 300ft from where their borrowed GPS took them, which set alarm bells ringing- The typical variance for wrong datum/speroid is about that... It turns out it was set to the OS Datum, not the 'geocaching standard' WGS84

 

By the way, the 'put it on your head' thing does work. One, it gives the GPS a better view of the sky generally, and Two, it specifically gets your body out of its way. I find if it's taking an age to get a lock, popping it on the old bonce usually gets it sorted inside a minute, and can help under tree cover (it's an ancient etrex that needs all the help it can get!)

 

98f1feb0-d10e-4e3e-9fd9-96458768cbf5.jpg

 

You can get a GPS antenna (try Ebay), and then you can mount that on your hat.

 

I tried it, it was pants.

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