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Find a cache without cell connecion


andyand

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I know nothing about the iphone but I can give useful info.

If it truly does have a GPSr in it then it should work without towers.

BUT, A lot of phones claim to have GPS when in fact they use CTT (cell tower triangulation).

As it has been explained to me, if you have to pay a monthly fee for navigation functionality then it most likely uses CTT.

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The new iPhone does indeed have real GPS capabilities with no need for cell availability. However, some programs that save cache description information (such as iGeoCacher or Geocaching) will not be able to display any photos on the cache page without a web connection of some sort (either cell or WiFi). You also won't be search for caches with the Geocaching app. However, you should be able to use the GPS capability with the Geocaching app with no web connection at all.

 

I just realized that what I said above might not have been entirely clear. I meant that, without an internet connection of some sort, you won't be able to search the Geocaching.com web site for cache listings. Once you've saved the cache listings, you can most certainly search for caches without any web connection. I don't know of anyone who actually uses an iPhone for this purpose, so I can't vouch for how well it performs. I use an iPod for the cache page listings and a GPSMap60csx for finding my way to them.

Edited by bream_rockmetteller
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Thanks for your info. I am considering getting a new iPhone and being able to use it to find a cache without the cell conection was the main reason for putting out the extra $$$.

 

Has anyone tried it and if so how well did it work in relation to a regular GPS unit?

Edited by andyand
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Remember when phones were used for talking? now it seems they are used for anything but talking. my kids will spend 10 minutes texting when the same conversation could be had on the phone talking for 30 seconds. To the OP...get a real GPSr and go caching.

 

EDIT: I just checked Andyand's profile...with over 2000 finds you must already have a real GPSr so why the switch to iPhone now? Looking to go paperless with internet capability?

Edited by KJcachers
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My friend has an iPhone, and I know with the first version of the GC app, it would have him 300 feet from the cache when we were signing the log. I'm not sure if that was an app issue or phone issue. He upgraded to the newer version but hasn't been caching since.

 

If the phone can download a bunch of caches & cache info for an area, it might be okay, but if you have to download one cache at a time, that wouldn't be good if you cache in areas that don't have any cell service.

 

I have a BlackBerry with Geocache Navigator. It's not my main caching device, but it works great when I use it. But, we were in an area that had no cell service for 20 miles and drove past a ton of caches because we couldn't look up anything on the BB, and we didn't have that area loaded into our regular GPS.

 

So, I'd say go for it if you want it to use when you want to cache on the fly and didn't plan to be somewhere. No cell service is probably not an issue most of the time, but it can happen. Plus, an iPhone isn't going to be anywhere near as durable as a regular GPS, so I wouldn't plan to use it as your main GPS for the possibility of damaging it easier.

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EDIT: I just checked Andyand's profile...with over 2000 finds you must already have a real GPSr so why the switch to iPhone now? Looking to go paperless with internet capability?

 

I don't know him, but my guess would be he's not replacing his hardware, he instead is just adding a new tool to his present arsenal.

 

But, that's just a guess.

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