Coordinates for Hiding a Cache

[mrosspa]

How do I make sure my coordinates are correct for hiding a new cache?

 

I was scouting a location that should be acceptable, and checked my location 3 times. Of the 3 trials, 2 of the coordinates were identical, while another was slightly different.

 

How do people make sure the coordinates for a location are correct before submitting a geocache for approval.

 

(Yes, I think it will me the other requirements listed in the guidelines).

 

Mrosspa

[+JABs]

Try also sitting your GPS down in the hide location, making shore it has as much clear open sky above the unit. Then let it sit for a good 5 - 10 minutes this will let it settle.

[+Knight2000]

Try also sitting your GPS down in the hide location, making shore it has as much clear open sky above the unit. Then let it sit for a good 5 - 10 minutes this will let it settle.

You also want to walk away and come back a few times too. Different visits will help. Somewhere in the FAQ's there is a good post from Keystone on how to average coords.

 

It is unlikely that you will get the same numbers every time though.

[mrosspa]

Try also sitting your GPS down in the hide location, making shore it has as much clear open sky above the unit. Then let it sit for a good 5 - 10 minutes this will let it settle.

You also want to walk away and come back a few times too. Different visits will help. Somewhere in the FAQ's there is a good post from Keystone on how to average coords.

 

It is unlikely that you will get the same numbers every time though.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried walking to the location 3 times from different directions. On my Triton 400, it doesn't list an EPE. I had 6 satellites reading well at the time.

 

I'll try again next week and see what coordinates I get.

[Winnies1974]

You can always go onto google maps and input the co-ordinates into the search box and it will show you where it is on the map.

[+Prime Suspect]

Try also sitting your GPS down in the hide location, making shore it has as much clear open sky above the unit. Then let it sit for a good 5 - 10 minutes this will let it settle.

But keep in mind that units with a patch antenna work best with the antenna in the horizontal position, while quad-helix antennas work best in the vertical position. So if you have the latter, don't lay it flat on the ground. Lean it against something, but not anything too tall that will block the sky.

[Knight-Errant]

You can always go onto google maps and input the co-ordinates into the search box and it will show you where it is on the map.

HOWEVER, depending on the area, what shows on Google Maps can be off as well. We have noticed this to be more of a problem in non-urban areas, so don't rely entirely on Google Maps.

[+todd300]

If your GPS has a waypoint average feature, you can do that too.

 

What it does is takes several samples of coordinates while at GZ. From that, it takes all the samples together and averages it out. The average is usually the one you would use for your cache.

 

That's what I did for my two caches (though I plan on hiding several more once I reach my milestone, then take a break). I took about 50 samples at each location. Maybe I could have taken more samples, but one cache is urban and the other is at a county park, not heavily wooded. So it's all good. Never had anyone saying coords were off.

 

I'll probably take more samples at a heavily wooded area.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited July 29, 2009 by todd300

[+DeepButi]

Don't bother too much! One thousandth of a minute (i.e. the last digit of a XXº XX.XXX') corresponds to 1.8m=6feet in N/S direction and less in E/W direction (in Arizona about 1.5m=5feet).

 

A circle of 20m will be reasonable in any case ... so unless you get really different values no need to care.

 

Edited July 29, 2009 by DeepButi

[+Knight2000]

You can always go onto google maps and input the co-ordinates into the search box and it will show you where it is on the map.

Don't do that! You trust google too much.

[+DeepButi]

You can always go onto google maps and input the co-ordinates into the search box and it will show you where it is on the map.

Don't do that! You trust google too much.

As a way to check I would say it's ok if you can identify the place. Even if Google precission is not perfect I would say none of my finds in open air were more than 2 or 3m away from Google spot.

Not to trust it always, and not if it conflicts with your GPS ... but worth a check.

[+Chris & Renee]

Tend to agree with Google Maps, after finding a good spot for another cache, sat me gpsr down for 5 mins to get a goodlock on, which it did, then did another 6 wappoint averaging's, looked up on G.E. and but the looks of it, showed it to be about by 10-15mtrs, i know that can be normal but with others locations and things its has been pretty much spot on, so i do not always rely on G.E.

[+Prime Suspect]

You can always go onto google maps and input the co-ordinates into the search box and it will show you where it is on the map.

HOWEVER, depending on the area, what shows on Google Maps can be off as well. We have noticed this to be more of a problem in non-urban areas, so don't rely entirely on Google Maps.

It's fine as a sanity-check. It should become obvious quickly if you've transposed a digit, or put in the wrong set of coordinates.

[+edscott]

You can always go onto google maps and input the co-ordinates into the search box and it will show you where it is on the map.

Don't do that! You trust google too much.

 

In the areas where I've cached the street and road map overlay on the satellite image is sometimes out of registration, but very seldom is the satellite image not spot on. Yes, the vegetation may change making the photos tough to interpret, and often in dense forest there's just nothing nearby to key on, but that image is the result of a lot more data than the numbers a GPS might provide at any given point in time.

[+J-Way]

In your case, I'd store the identical set of coordinates as a waypoint. Tomorrow, select that waypoint and hit "GoTo". See if your receiver takes you to the same spot. If it does, publish it.

 

Another (better way) is to do this with a different receiver.

[mrosspa]

In your case, I'd store the identical set of coordinates as a waypoint. Tomorrow, select that waypoint and hit "GoTo". See if your receiver takes you to the same spot. If it does, publish it.

 

Another (better way) is to do this with a different receiver.

J-way:

 

Your suggestion of going to the waypoint I created was going to be my simple method of checking accuracy.

 

Does one use the coordinates in Goodle Earth of Google Maps. I've not tried this, and it might be a reasonable method of cross checking myself.

[jholly]

In your case, I'd store the identical set of coordinates as a waypoint. Tomorrow, select that waypoint and hit "GoTo". See if your receiver takes you to the same spot. If it does, publish it.

 

Another (better way) is to do this with a different receiver.

J-way:

 

Your suggestion of going to the waypoint I created was going to be my simple method of checking accuracy.

 

Does one use the coordinates in Goodle Earth of Google Maps. I've not tried this, and it might be a reasonable method of cross checking myself.

 

Outside of checking your co-ordinates are grossly accurate, GE can be off 100 feet or more.

 

Jim

[+niraD]

Around here, the calibration of the Google Maps satellite photos is very good. I use them for a lot of my searches, and I use them to help get the coordinates for hides. But the final test of my coordinates for hides is to take my GPSr to the cache site. I approach the cache from various directions, and make sure the arrow is pointing right at the cache no matter which way I approach it.