+BrunoJr Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I'm new to all this and been studying for 3 months with everything i could get my handa on! I bought a book, 2 DVD's, a new Garmin GPSMAPS 60CSx, extra ToPo maps for it, and spent over $150.00 at GeoCasche store on nice new containers, TB's, ect... I JUST CANT seem to get myself organised correctly with planing routs, keeping all the info on them and getting there. Will antone with exp. show me step by step how to organise all this stuff? First please let me tell you what I have to use. It just seems so overwelming all this stuff. 1. a Garmin 775T Nuvi 2. a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx 3. a iPhone 3G w/ the new v2.1 Geocaching software Will anyone show me what to do to get this all organised?? Sorry but I am a bit slow. Been mostly in bed for over 4 years now, Its not that I'm heavy, I was just ill & lost ALL my mussel tone & the doc gave me this has an Idea to get out on my home & moving again. Thank you fot letting me bend your ear! PLEASE HELP! Have a blessed day.BJ Quote Link to comment
modernman Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I'm new to all this and been studying for 3 months with everything i could get my handa on! I bought a book, 2 DVD's, a new Garmin GPSMAPS 60CSx, extra ToPo maps for it, and spent over $150.00 at GeoCasche store on nice new containers, TB's, ect... I JUST CANT seem to get myself organised correctly with planing routs, keeping all the info on them and getting there. Will antone with exp. show me step by step how to organise all this stuff? First please let me tell you what I have to use. It just seems so overwelming all this stuff. 1. a Garmin 775T Nuvi 2. a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx 3. a iPhone 3G w/ the new v2.1 Geocaching software Will anyone show me what to do to get this all organised?? Sorry but I am a bit slow. Been mostly in bed for over 4 years now, Its not that I'm heavy, I was just ill & lost ALL my mussel tone & the doc gave me this has an Idea to get out on my home & moving again. Thank you fot letting me bend your ear! PLEASE HELP! Have a blessed day.BJ Wow sorry to hear about your illness. Do know how many caches are close to your home? Where to you live? Do you have anyone who can go with you at least when you start out? Quote Link to comment
modernman Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I'm new to all this and been studying for 3 months with everything i could get my handa on! I bought a book, 2 DVD's, a new Garmin GPSMAPS 60CSx, extra ToPo maps for it, and spent over $150.00 at GeoCasche store on nice new containers, TB's, ect... I JUST CANT seem to get myself organised correctly with planing routs, keeping all the info on them and getting there. Will antone with exp. show me step by step how to organise all this stuff? First please let me tell you what I have to use. It just seems so overwelming all this stuff. 1. a Garmin 775T Nuvi 2. a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx 3. a iPhone 3G w/ the new v2.1 Geocaching software Will anyone show me what to do to get this all organised?? Sorry but I am a bit slow. Been mostly in bed for over 4 years now, Its not that I'm heavy, I was just ill & lost ALL my mussel tone & the doc gave me this has an Idea to get out on my home & moving again. Thank you fot letting me bend your ear! PLEASE HELP! Have a blessed day.BJ Wow sorry to hear about your illness. Do know how many caches are close to your home? Where to you live? Do you have anyone who can go with you at least when you start out? Quote Link to comment
+Wintonian Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) Hi and welcome to the hobby/ sport. May I point you in the direction of some links that will hopefully get you started: Getting Started - geocaching.com FAQ's - pinnend in the getting strted fourm Markwell's site for all your pocket query needs and much more. An exelent set of videos by Headhardhat I hope that helps, if you have any other questions then please ask Spelling edit as usual. Edited June 21, 2009 by Hampshire_Hog Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's the best one i have. step one: forget about worrying about the organizing of the details right now. when you have gone out some you will begin to understand how you want your data and gizmos to be organized, and then the advice you get here will make some sense. step two: pick an easy cache near your home. look for one that's been found recently and gets found regularly. it will not hurt you to enter coordinates by hand when you're beginning. this is a skill that comes in handy later anyway, so you might as well start with the basics. step three. get off your butt and get out of the house. i don't mean to be glib. i am familiar with the struggles of both recovering from illness and working around chronic illness. it is too easy to stay indoors until you have everything organized, thereby postponing the actual getting outdoors. you needn't be completely organized to get going, and it may even be good for your process to get out before you're completely organized. assume that you will fail some of the time. make it about the searching rather than the finding and it will help some. i do not know if anxiety about new things figures into your equation, but you don't really need to be turbo-charged and fully instructed to make your first few hunts. all you really need to be able to do to get going is to know how to enter coordinates into your receiver and hit GOTO. once you have an idea how to manage at this very basic level, everything else falls into place easier. small steps. start simple. please feel free to contact me through my profile if i can help you with anything. i use a garmin 60csx and and familiar with most of its features, although i can't help you with the other two units. Quote Link to comment
aniyn Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Welcome back to the world! It sounds to me sorta like you're trying to do too much right off the bat. Try just loading 4-6 caches into your handheld and printing paper logs. Then work your way up to paperless caching, and then to using pocket queries and all the other stuff. I wouldn't even try to hide your first cache until you've found around 15 or so. Once you start to get a sense of what works and what doesn't you'll be able to make much better hides yourself. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions on the board here. For the most part we're a helpful bunch Anyways, welcome to geocaching! Quote Link to comment
+Colonial Cats Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 You've already have gotten a lot of excellent advice. All I can do is just reiterate what as been said to just go and do it. You will fail and you will suceed. It doesn't matter which just as long as you get out and do it! It's the journey and not the destination that's important. Learn a few basics (input, print, hunt, and log) first and smell the roses on the way. Do not be afraid of asking for more advice. Good luck and happy caching. Quote Link to comment
+BrrrMo Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Check YouTube for Headhardhats GeoSnippets. Good Finding! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 you needn't be completely organized to get going, and it may even be good for your process to get out before you're completely organized. Flask makes some very good points, but this one is key. There really is no need to do a lot of organizing. Start out by picking out a local cache (or two) and go for it. For best results start with regular sized caches with a difficulty of 2 or lower. If you're not in the best shape then also pay attention to the terrain rating. For 3 star terrain and over you should be reasonably fit. Once you start getting out for entire days of geocaching, or geocaching while on vacation, then you can worry about organization. I'm one of the most unorganized people around and I have my share of finds. Quote Link to comment
+BrunoJr Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Hi all, Thanks for all the great help! I guess I should have added that I am 1 for 4 as of yesterday. My first "Actual FIND" was yesterday.. "Big Joe" Found it on the way home from a friends house in Sebring, FL. I live in Aventura, FL. (N. Miami). I was just getting flustered cause on the way home down US27 there was so many and I had my best friend with me, Maggy-May my black Lab. All in all its great clean fun. I'm a recovering addict so yeah, 3-4 mo in bed was bad and loosing all the tone & strenth in my legs and body really put a hurting on me. At least I found a great replacement insted of doing drugs. Onward Comrads.. BJ Quote Link to comment
+Wild Thing 73 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Stop organizing and start caching....If you can find the forum, you can find caches.... Quote Link to comment
sharkman8810 Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Just enter coordinates in the handheld and go. Use paper to get started to you get the process down. It is harder to understand automation if you don't know the manual method. This is true in all of llife. You really started off with some high tech stuff, i'd be confused too. I use just an etrex h and a good folder. Print out a few caches at a time and go look for them. It is easier if they arent micro or nano. Hit parks with walking trails that will do the double duty of excercise and caching, it is what i do. Quote Link to comment
+mrbort Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 To add to all of this great advice, and especially reiterate the point of just getting out there and giving it a whirl because that experience will clarify what you want to organize -- then if you're stuck on the how part, ask ask ask I've got the other two devices that flask didn't (my nuvi is a 760 but it's all the same software essentially) so if you have specific questions about those feel free to contact me from my profile. Perhaps if there are specific questions, between the two of us we can get em figured out The main addition is to not be worried about a high rate of Did Not Finds; it happens and it's a part of it and some of the best experiences can be on the DNFs Yesterday we went spent most of the day DNFing this multi-cache and DNFed another along the way. Our one find was by far the least interesting of the three Congrats on your recuperation and your first find! Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 To add to all of this great advice, and especially reiterate the point of just getting out there and giving it a whirl because that experience will clarify what you want to organize -- then if you're stuck on the how part, ask ask ask I've got the other two devices that flask didn't (my nuvi is a 760 but it's all the same software essentially) so if you have specific questions about those feel free to contact me from my profile. Perhaps if there are specific questions, between the two of us we can get em figured out The main addition is to not be worried about a high rate of Did Not Finds; it happens and it's a part of it and some of the best experiences can be on the DNFs Yesterday we went spent most of the day DNFing this multi-cache and DNFed another along the way. Our one find was by far the least interesting of the three I can top that. I searched for 8 caches yesterday and DNF'd on six of them. For two of them, however, after searching for awhile I read a couple of the recent logs and found out they were missing. After the fifth consecutive DNF I was heading home and even though it was raining, I was caching by myself (it seem like there is a lot of searching for caches in teams of 4-5 people lately), and I couldn't seem to find anything I stopped ot find one more cache; a micro on a tank. You can probably guess what the outcome was. The OP reminded me somewhat of something I saw last summer. This might seem to be off topic but bear with me. I was down at my friends kayak shop talking boats and a group of 3-4 people came down to rent a kayak for a couple of hours so that they could go out with another couple that had their own boats. I watched as one of them unlooaded what looked like a fairly new kayak off a brand new roof rack. He then proceeded to get up for the 2-3 hours paddle, bringing a large plastic tub with all his gear. Next he got out a paddle float (a device for assisting a re-entry into a kayak after a capsize) and a hand pump and put them under deck bungies behind the cockpit. He stuffed a few other items including some signaling flare into a drybag and placed it into a rear bulkhead (a lot of good that was going to do if he capsized and got separated from his boat.) Then he got his new paddle, and attached a paddle leash (useful when paddling on open waters to avoid being separated from the boat/paddle in the event of a capsize). He also pullled out a GPS, stuck it in a clear drybag and attached to the front deck under a bungie. Finally, he went in to change and came back out wearing neopreme paddling shorts, a nice paddling jacket, and bought some new paddling shoes while he was inside the shop. He finally got his kayak in the water and all paddled off. The guy with all the new and fancy gear was holding his paddle upside down. From this and another recent thread there seems to be a prevailing opinion that you can "buy" experience. I don't mean to pick on the OP but, as others have pointed out, just as in the case with kayaking, buying expensive equipment, and having all the "must have" gadgets is no substitute experience and/or a good mentor. Using a mid priced high sensitivity GPS (and reading the manual) and a basic account on geocaching and you go out and start finding geocaches (okay, some days you might not be as successful as others). Finding someone to go out and show you the ropes (like how to hold a kayak paddle correctly) can certainly help but you can also practice using a GPS just by marking a location, walking away then use the GPS to navigate back to that spot (don't be alarmed if you don't get exactly to the original location). Quote Link to comment
+Outspoken1 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I still use the archaic 'small notebook' to write down the date I Geocached and the caches (GCXXXXXXX and the name of the cache) I found/did not find (DNF). Then I can log onto Geocaching and log them easily when I have time. I also can update my Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) program. As others have said, just get out and go try. See if there is a local group in your area/state (just execute an Internet search for something like "geocaching groups in [your area/state]). Post a note here for geocachers in your area. Have fun!!! Quote Link to comment
+whistler & co. Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 *Don't worry so much about the technology...just learn how to manually put the coordinates into your GPS and then hit the "go to" button. *Take a printout of the cache description with you to refer to while caching. *Read the logs written by other users before you head out (you can even make notes on the cache paper to jog your memory while in the field). *Click on the Google map link on the cache page to see where you're going. The satellite view and topo map view are very helpful if you are not familiar with the area. *Don't feel that you can't cache if you're not in shape...many of us are not. Consider yourself lucky you are in Florida and don't have to deal with hills! Pick caches with a low terrain rating if you're worried about long hikes (and again, read the older logs to see what others have said about the hike, or use the map to see if the cache is close to a road). *Keep writing interesting logs like your first one was! Cache owners love them! *Caching is FUN...don't develop angst over it! Quote Link to comment
+Kohavis Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Bruno, Good for you! I hope you succeed at your recovery with flying colors!! The thing to remember is not to let it overwhelm you. There's a lot to learn, but you'll get there. Go slowly and don't try to learn too much too fast. Start small - Load a few nearby cache waypoints in your unit and head out. When you're up for it, repeat the process. You can read about all the other stuff from links and the forum at home at your leisure, but aside from the rules, all you really need is a GPS unit and a desire to get out there. The rest will follow naturally. Take your time, and most importantly - have fun rediscovering that big world out there!! Quote Link to comment
+wenestvedt Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Bruno, maybe you should try non-urban caches first: many of them are small and pretty hard to find (and are in high-traffic areas, so you get nervous about searching too long). Instead, search for bigger caches in parks or other open areas. Quote Link to comment
gojkgo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 With an iPhone, you don't need to organize in advance! As long as you have everything you need to be comfortable outside for a while (bug spray, sunscreen, water, etc), a pen, and your devices, you can cache anywhere at any time. Just use the "Find Nearby Caches" option in the Groundspeak app on your iPhone to find something close to wherever you are. Stick with ratings for difficulty and terrain in the 1-2 range for starters. Have fun & good luck! Quote Link to comment
+Sky King 36 Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) Be patient. You have some SERIOUS state of the art caching gear and trying to get it all working and automated is a process. As others have said, get some more caches under your belt first, and THEN decide what needs to be automated. If you hunt 3 urban caches a week your needs are very different than someone hunting 25 wilderness caches a week. Over time, you will get to the same place I am, as I have VERY similar gear, but be patient: > My 60csx now has 11,000 caches in it, including every cache in the area I travel for work. > My Nuvi has the same 11,000 caches in it including the logs, descriptions, and hints. (Using pilotsnipe's GSAK macro) > Both are updated weekly with just a few button presses in GSAK and POI loader. > My Blackberry has Trimble Navigator on it for real-time cache look up, and very precise GPS, whenever I am in coverage. very similar to what you can do with your iPhone. You will get there, but it will take some experimenting with pocket queries, GSAK, macros, Garmin POI loader, The Nuvi Macro, GPX files... and deciding if waypoints or POIs best meet your needs. That is a lot of time tinkering that would be better spent getting your shoes dirty, getting back in the woods, and getting healthy and rebuilding a new lifestyle for yourself. So as others have said, print some caches, turn the computer off, turn the GPS on, and get hiking on your new path in life and let the rest come. Automate processes once their "cumbersomeness" justifies the time investment to automate. Start with your iPhone as your "kiosk" to get cache info while in the field, and manually enter the coords into your 60csx. You may find that it works so well that you never really need to auto-load your 60csx. And we are all here to help. Edited June 26, 2009 by Sky King 36 Quote Link to comment
+popokiiti Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 First of all, welcome to the site BrunoJr...and a big hello to you and Maggie May. Your doctor had a brilliant idea for getting you out and about by suggesting geocaching - kudos to him/her. Go for the 1/1 caches at first (we still do them and enjoy them). I agree with everyone here...get going and enjoy the beautiful areas that this hobby will take you to. Try and join a local group, and go to some local events with your new friends...most events are dog-friendly, but check first. If you can buddy up with someone, that would be great too. There are many great and knowledgeable folk here who can help with your questions, and don't mind doing so either. All the best for your recovery - you can do it ! Take care, and Happy Caching! Quote Link to comment
+BrunoJr Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share Posted July 4, 2009 WoW, I'm in awe with everyones well wishes and all the help given. I feel totaly welcomed! You are all so kind. I'm kind of suprised. Well yeah I would like to find a group and I signed up with one. South Florida Cachers. Will see how we go from there. Its doing well.. finding all the caches are so much fun and I leave some great stuff behind Again, Thank you all for your support!!! One more thing, If anyone has the GPSmaps 60CSx any ideas on maps? the base map is not all that great and the ToPo map I got from Garman for 85.00 does not look at all different. Just seems to me it gave me a few more POI's Maybe I'm missing a setting somewhere? Thanks all, Bruno bfilecci@msn.com Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 just because you've loaded the maps doesn't mean you're viewing them. under your settings menu you should be able to find some choices about which maps to view. you can mess around with that or you can look in your manual. typically when i'm trying to remember how to do it i need it NOW and i'm away from home. i have three sets of maps loaded and i know it's possible to switch which ones you're looking at pretty quick, although i can't recall at the moment exactly which button sequence. try this: you can at least search a .pdf. www.garmin.com/manuals/GPSMAP60CSx_OwnersManual.pdf Quote Link to comment
+BrunoJr Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Hi there Flask! In short I orded the stupid SE ToPo maps insted of the 100k complete US ToPo maps. I did not even know if that was the kind of map i needed. Well I downloaded it and paid the 85.00 then after the DL it told me it would not work with my 60CSx so I D/L it to my 775 nuvie.. there it works fine So then I bought another one, the SAME darn thing but this was for the CSx but it had to come by mail overnight.. I put the card in and yeash.. it was giving me marine tite information spots.. but no changes to the was the map looked.. I'm so bummed. And all the info it gives on the "TRIP COMPUTER" page. Too much man.. All I want is something that will "POINT" me in the right direction, tell me how far I am away from it and get me close to it? Is that so much to ask? I'm so fustred with just going out and looking for caches blind.. This stuff is useless if you don't know how to set it up and get an explanation as to what all the buttons do and when to use them! Quote Link to comment
+BrunoJr Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Missed your last post.. looking up in the manual now!! Thanks a bunch!! Quote Link to comment
+Neos 1 Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Too much man.. All I want is something that will "POINT" me in the right direction, tell me how far I am away from it and get me close to it? Is that so much to ask? I'm so fustred with just going out and looking for caches blind.. This stuff is useless if you don't know how to set it up and get an explanation as to what all the buttons do and when to use them! BrunoJr, Hi and welcome to the game. I use a 60csx and would recommend using the compass page with the compass turned off when you're within a half mile or so of the cache. After you tell the unit to "Go To" it gives you the option of following the road or or going off road. Select "Off Road" and hit the "Enter" button. Mine then goes to the map page. From there hit the "Page" button until you get the compass page. You'll get a compass with an arrow pointing toward the cache and a readout of your distance from the cache. To turn the compass on/off, hold the page button in till the screen says either "Compass Turned On" or "Compass Turned Off". The 3 tabs at the bottom, Found, Notes, and Stop will, in this order, put the cache into your calendar, bring up a field where you can enter info, or stop navigation. Also, if you hit the "Found" tab, it will give you more tabs asking what you want to do next. I hope this helps some. Good luck. Quote Link to comment
+BrunoJr Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Neos, Awesome trick, err advice! Slowly but surley it comming around and I'm getting a little bit, and stress the word little bit, better! Quote Link to comment
+flask Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 oh! and i just remembered! when i first got my maps i had some problem getting them to load properly on my computer, so i called -yes- customer service and with a minimal amount of time on hold i actually got to talk to a live guy who walked me through the process step by step. you might could try that. also, just go out and play with the GPS or stay at home and play with all the buttons when you don't particularly need them to do anything. that really helps me. because i don't reliably retain or form memory, any functions i don't use all the time i have to relearn when i need them, so i rely a lot on just taking the GPS out of my bag and playing with it to see what the buttons do sometimes. Quote Link to comment
+Headhardhat Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I had to laugh when reading your post. Not at your post itself or you but what you describe is a match for the trunk of my cachemobile What I would suggest is don't worry about getting organized right now. It takes some time to get your geocaching legs so to speak. Work on getting some of the easier geocaches under your belt first. Then after you feel more at ease with everything then you can work on putting out your own, but again I would just work on finding some 1/1 1.5/1.5s or so. Take a deep breath you have lots of help just waiting to be asked.. You'll do fine. And if you do get stumped.. Just ask. Above all have fun... -HHH Quote Link to comment
+BrunoJr Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 Wow HHH's videos are unreal! I learned so VERY much.. Even got GSAK pertty much down!! Thank again man for the step by step videos for slow learns like me Blessings, Bruno Quote Link to comment
+popokiiti Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Glad you're keeping at it BrunoJr! I agree, those "how-to" videos by HHH are great... Quote Link to comment
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