I know this must have been asked 1000 times

[+msphynx]

Completely new to caching, completely new to GPS unit other than the one in my bmw.

 

Accuracy is important to me, i'd like to know i'm within 2-3 feet of it if that's possible

 

I'd prefer a one stop shop, but will purchase maps if need be for the 'perfect' unit.

 

It'd be cool if it could go car to trail so we could use it in the vehicle without nav when not geocaching

 

definately want the easiest way to download all these caches, not sure if there is a way to say i'm traveling between east coast to west coast, give me all caches within 1 mile of my highway journey or not.

 

What would you recommend and why?

[+themann00]

Yes, it is asked a lot- but there isn't exactly an easy way to search for the perfect answer each time. Honestly- you have to approach each subject in a search, and then see if one or two GPSr names keep coming up.

 

Garmin has a nice little compare feature. You can select a few GPSr to compare side by side- to see what features there are between one manufacture.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145

 

Compare Magellan handhelds here:

http://www.magellangps.com/products/product.asp?segID=425

 

Magellan also makes a "crossover" GPSr ("from your car to the trail...")

http://www.magellangps.com/products/product.asp?segID=391

 

To answer some Questions:

• Accuracy- look for "High-sensitivity receiver"
  
• In car nav- look for "Preloaded maps", "Ability to add maps", and "Automatic routing (turn by turn routing on roads)"
  
• For downloading easily, you'll want to explore the forums about geocaching software, look for Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) or EasyGPS. -- http://www.geocaching.com/waypoints/default.aspx
  
• "Along the route" is easily done by getting a premium Geocaching.com membership. Take a look at all the other great features you get for $30/year -- https://www.geocaching.com/Membership/Default.aspx
  

What do I use?

I had an eTrex Legend (the blue one) for about 7 years- and it is just now starting to give me problems. It randomly shuts off when it feels like it. But that thing has had it's fair share of abuse, and I highly recommend it for anyone with cost concern. It will never be accurate within 2 to 3 feet, and it won't do car navigation. I am doing slow research to replace it, and might end up getting the same one again. I do not like the eTrex Venture HC. Those are the only two I have enough experience with to give an opinion on at this time.

 

Hope this helps- keep posting, and when you can, offer advice to the next person who asks for the 1001st time

[+JDandDD]

Accuracy is important to me, i'd like to know i'm within 2-3 feet of it if that's possible

Accuracy on a civilian GPS can be less than 3m (about 10ft) with WAAS turned on but it can never be said to be accurate to less than 1m (about 3ft). Its just the nature of the civilian signal of the GPS system. The military system is purported to be more accurate than that but civilians cannot access it. Even when accuracy is reported to be less than 3m by your GPS that is just an estimate and those estimates can be wrong. So, any good modern GPS receiver will give you the estimate less than 3m with WAAS.

 

Yes you can get GPSs to go directly from car to caching. Garmin just announced a new Nuvi 550 which is their first specifically designed for this and Magellan has had its CrossOver GPS for a couple of years.

 

Maps will come included with either of these units.

 

Using GSAK and being a premium member you can do very good searches for caches along a route.

 

JD

[+themann00]

Accuracy is important to me, i'd like to know i'm within 2-3 feet of it if that's possible

 

The best way to be accurate? Triangulate. Get 50 to 100 feet away, and walk straight to the cache, and walk an extra 20 to 50 feet past it. Memorize this "line" Then go out 50 to 100 feet again, but 90degrees from your original spot. Repeat the same task, and your two invisible lines you have walked will form an X. X marks the spot. Try it with large amounts of rope sometime to see how well it works. Then just learn to do it in your head.

[+CondorTrax]

Also keep in mind when caching that you also need to take into account the hider's "accuracy". Did they have good reception when they hid the cache, did they have WAAS turned on, did they do any averaging, etc. Within 30 feet or so you'll need to start looking for a geo-trail, unusual pile of sticks (UPS) or Unusual pile of rocks (yep, UPR), hollow tree stumps, etc.

[+lgreenbaum]

I'm 8 months new to caching. I started out with an Magellan Explorist 210 which came with detail maps (as a bundle). It works well but was slow to boot up, had a flakey connector to the PC, and the files were organized by the long name, not the GCXXX number, which at a cache event was a nightmare because the long name would be the XXX Event cache #N, and there were 100 caches. The cache name would truncate on this unit. It is also black and white and the maps were a bit hard to read on such a small screen. It really depends on your budget, but a unit like this runs for about $120 new, or less used on Ebay. The Garmin Etrex H is also a popular choice in this price range but doesn't have detail maps. There are about as many units available as there are price ranges that you can imagine.

 

I went to a caching event and noticed that about 80% of the cachers there carried the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. After reading many online info pages, I see that many cachers own this unit. It also has gotten rave reviews online. The lowest online price that I found for one was $281 for a new unit. Refurbished units cost about $260 on ebay. Maps can be had through Garmin for $100 or you can buy them cheaper on ebay. I am much happier with this unit. You can customize the pages that you see on the menus. After you find a cache, there is a check mark that you can use to indicate that the cache has been found, and you can see the recent finds on the recent finds page. Then it will indicate the next closest cache to your current location (the Magellan also sorted the caches by nearest, which is a useful feature). The color maps are easier to read, and you can click on a geocache on a map and it will take you to the cache page. Also if you buy the detail maps, the unit will provide turn by turn directions to the cache. It is very accurate, as it uses a SiRF chip, and is WAAS enabled, but only uses WAAS when it proves most accurate. I can use it indoors and it hasn't lost signal. This is convenient when you are caching, if your caches are closely spaced, because you don't have to wait for it to boot up to use it. Just hop out of the car.

 

The other unit that seems to be popular, but is a bit more expensive, is the Garmin Colorado. There are two models of this unit, that I know if. It includes paperless caching features, eliminating the need to print out the cache page for the cache description, past logs and hints. However, I use a PDA with Cachemate to carry this information. It would be convenient to have it all in one device, so if you can afford it, then by all means... I am unsure if there are reasons to avoid this unit, as nobody I know has one. I would check this forum, online reviews, etc before purchasing one.

 

 

Hope this helps.

[+twolpert]

Accuracy is important to me, i'd like to know i'm within 2-3 feet of it if that's possible

Accuracy on a civilian GPS can be less than 3m (about 10ft) with WAAS turned on but it can never be said to be accurate to less than 1m (about 3ft). Its just the nature of the civilian signal of the GPS system. The military system is purported to be more accurate than that but civilians cannot access it.

This information is somewhat out of date. The military no longer intentionally degrades the accuracy available to civilian units. The use of this feature, called "selective availabilty," was discontinued in May 2000. In September, 2007 the government announced its intention to remove selective availability entirely.

 

However, in order get the kind of accuracy you want, you would need to purchase a professional surveying unit rather than a recreational handheld. These units cost thousands, not hundreds, of dollars.

[+msphynx]

I ended up just going for the new Garmin Oregon 400t. Looks cool and easy to use so far. We'll see how it works out.

 

Wish it could do the speaking like the Nuvi, but looking at the nuvi it didn't seem like it'd be as trail friendly.

 

 

I'm 8 months new to caching. I started out with an Magellan Explorist 210 which came with detail maps (as a bundle). It works well but was slow to boot up, had a flakey connector to the PC, and the files were organized by the long name, not the GCXXX number, which at a cache event was a nightmare because the long name would be the XXX Event cache #N, and there were 100 caches. The cache name would truncate on this unit. It is also black and white and the maps were a bit hard to read on such a small screen. It really depends on your budget, but a unit like this runs for about $120 new, or less used on Ebay. The Garmin Etrex H is also a popular choice in this price range but doesn't have detail maps. There are about as many units available as there are price ranges that you can imagine.

 

I went to a caching event and noticed that about 80% of the cachers there carried the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. After reading many online info pages, I see that many cachers own this unit. It also has gotten rave reviews online. The lowest online price that I found for one was $281 for a new unit. Refurbished units cost about $260 on ebay. Maps can be had through Garmin for $100 or you can buy them cheaper on ebay. I am much happier with this unit. You can customize the pages that you see on the menus. After you find a cache, there is a check mark that you can use to indicate that the cache has been found, and you can see the recent finds on the recent finds page. Then it will indicate the next closest cache to your current location (the Magellan also sorted the caches by nearest, which is a useful feature). The color maps are easier to read, and you can click on a geocache on a map and it will take you to the cache page. Also if you buy the detail maps, the unit will provide turn by turn directions to the cache. It is very accurate, as it uses a SiRF chip, and is WAAS enabled, but only uses WAAS when it proves most accurate. I can use it indoors and it hasn't lost signal. This is convenient when you are caching, if your caches are closely spaced, because you don't have to wait for it to boot up to use it. Just hop out of the car.

 

The other unit that seems to be popular, but is a bit more expensive, is the Garmin Colorado. There are two models of this unit, that I know if. It includes paperless caching features, eliminating the need to print out the cache page for the cache description, past logs and hints. However, I use a PDA with Cachemate to carry this information. It would be convenient to have it all in one device, so if you can afford it, then by all means... I am unsure if there are reasons to avoid this unit, as nobody I know has one. I would check this forum, online reviews, etc before purchasing one.

 

 

Hope this helps.

[+Wesbo]

Accuracy is important to me, i'd like to know i'm within 2-3 feet of it if that's possible

Accuracy on a civilian GPS can be less than 3m (about 10ft) with WAAS turned on but it can never be said to be accurate to less than 1m (about 3ft). Its just the nature of the civilian signal of the GPS system. The military system is purported to be more accurate than that but civilians cannot access it.

This information is somewhat out of date. The military no longer intentionally degrades the accuracy available to civilian units. The use of this feature, called "selective availabilty," was discontinued in May 2000. In September, 2007 the government announced its intention to remove selective availability entirely.

 

However, in order get the kind of accuracy you want, you would need to purchase a professional surveying unit rather than a recreational handheld. These units cost thousands, not hundreds, of dollars.

 

...but this kind of accuracy is kind of meaningless in Geocaching unless hiders and cachers all have units with this kind of accuracy. If the hider's GPS is 50' off, and your GPS is accurate to withing inches, you're still 50' from the cache... The vast majority of units made in the last 5-10 years have more than enough accuracy for geocaching. Any current unit from the big manufacturers is accurate enough.

[+roadrage64]

Accuracy is important to me, i'd like to know i'm within 2-3 feet of it if that's possible

Accuracy on a civilian GPS can be less than 3m (about 10ft) with WAAS turned on but it can never be said to be accurate to less than 1m (about 3ft). Its just the nature of the civilian signal of the GPS system. The military system is purported to be more accurate than that but civilians cannot access it.

This information is somewhat out of date. The military no longer intentionally degrades the accuracy available to civilian units. The use of this feature, called "selective availabilty," was discontinued in May 2000. In September, 2007 the government announced its intention to remove selective availability entirely.

 

However, in order get the kind of accuracy you want, you would need to purchase a professional surveying unit rather than a recreational handheld. These units cost thousands, not hundreds, of dollars.

 

True, Selective Availability was discontinued, but military receivers still have a significant advantage. GPS sattelites beam two codes, the P code (precison code), and the CA (course acquisition) code. The P code has a much higher chipping rate, (and I think I read somewhere that it is encrypted also) allowing for much greater accuracy. Civilian GPS only uses the CA codes, which combined with WAAS, can be as accurate as 3 meters, where military recievers, because of thier use of both the CA and P codes can be accurate to 1 meter under most conditions.

[+Star*Hopper]

Oops.....doubled up.

~*

Edited August 8, 2008 by Star*Hopper

[+Star*Hopper]

It's commonly said if 10 people with identical GPSr's go after a waypoint, when each of you reaches GZ you'll each be standing in a different place. Every time I've cached with someone I've always done a side-by-side comparison, & I've found that appraisal to be absolutely true. I don't care which nor how much you spend on a receiver, it just ain't gonna put you 'dead on' every time!

 

Best piece of advice I or anyone else could give you, told me by a couple of "Ol' Pro's". This allows for the difference in your & 'their' (meaning the hider's) GPSr.

 

Once your receiver gets you to within 10-15 feet, put it down & go with "The Force". That comes with experience.

 

Success in this game don't come in a box. Trust me.

 

~*