Easier way to get co-ords?

[Spooney15]

Hi, we have done a few geo caches now are we are really enjoying it ! Spent a day on the Isle of Wight yesterday but I spent ages before we left thinking about the area we would visit, looking for caches in that area and then writing out co-ords and clues,printing maps etc before we set off. I realise that I could enter the co-ords in our GPS before we left but dont think that would have saved much before hand? Once there we could only then do the caches that I had the paperwork for, is there a better way to do this? Maybe a better piece of equipment?

[+Von-Horst]

Hi,

 

You may find this link helpful as a starting point.

 

edited to add;

 

You may find asking in your local forum helpful.

 

Mike

Edited August 28, 2009 by Von-Horst

[+burtsbodgers]

Hi, we have done a few geo caches now are we are really enjoying it ! Spent a day on the Isle of Wight yesterday but I spent ages before we left thinking about the area we would visit, looking for caches in that area and then writing out co-ords and clues,printing maps etc before we set off. I realise that I could enter the co-ords in our GPS before we left but dont think that would have saved much before hand? Once there we could only then do the caches that I had the paperwork for, is there a better way to do this? Maybe a better piece of equipment?

Hi

What are you currently using gps wise, do you have a pda or gameboy or i pod as these can be used for caching in conjuntion with a gps.

or if you want to go the easy way and dont mind forking out £200-£300 try and get a Garmin Oregon (any model) or the Colorado 300 + both these are good for caching but the oregon is best.

these allow for paperless caching, just up date you membership to premium and you can create a pocket query and down load 500 caches at a time! no printing or writing involved no complicated software.

Really easy, its the way i have gone.

[gojkgo]

Sounds like you'd really appreciate caching with an iPhone. The iPhone allows you to do spur-of-the-moment caching because it will search for caches near your current location, wherever you are. You can also search by address or for a particular cache by it's ID#, but the "find nearby" option is what makes the iPhone really special.

 

Once you find caches nearby, the iPhone displays the coords (which can be manually put in to your GPS unit, or you can use the iPhone as a slightly less accurate GPS unit). Also displayed is the terrain and difficulty ratings, the cache size, the description, the hint (if there is one), and several of the most recent logs. Since the iPhone allows you to access the internet, you can also view the cache listing on the Groundspeak website to view all of the logs or to send an email to the cache owner if you're stumped and hoping for a clue.

 

To save the iPhone's battery, some cachers who have other GPS units in addition to their iPhone will pull up a list of caches they want to do, then use the app's "save for offline use" feature. They can then turn off the internet and GPS capabilities of the iPhone and use their GPS for that part of it, using the iPhone for information on the caches.

 

You can also use the app on the iTouch, but it will not have GPS capabilities. Because of this, I'm not sure the "find nearby caches" thing works, because it doesn't know where you are. I think you can still enter in an address and pull up caches near that address.

[+5 Caching Campers]

You can also use the app on the iTouch, but it will not have GPS capabilities. Because of this, I'm not sure the "find nearby caches" thing works, because it doesn't know where you are. I think you can still enter in an address and pull up caches near that address.

 

I don't have an iTouch or an iPhone, but there's a guy at work w/an iTouch. You can use WiFi to get online and the "find nearby caches" will try its best to determine where its located based on available WiFi networks in the area. If it doesn't know where the network its located is, it will use its last known location. (The guy had recently been in Alaska... when he connected to our work network it didn't know where it was so it kept giving him caches in Alaska. I submitted the location to Skyhook so in the future it should be able to find caches here in Michigan).

[Spooney15]

Thanks everyone for your help, will have a look around for something better than what we have got as it sounds so much easier & hopefully means we will find more caches !!!

[+Night Stalker]

Depending on what GPS you are using, I would think the easiest way would to become a premium member. If you create a pocket query you can load as many as 500 caches on you gps at a time. I also have an older pocket PC and load the same GPX file on it. This allows me to read the cache page, the last 5 logs and the clue. If you have some of the newer (Expensive) Gps's you can load this information right on the GPS and only have to carry one unit.

 

For the longest time I cached the hard way like you are. Once I became a premium member I realized how much of my time was wasted.

 

[Spooney15]

Thats interesting as we were premium members, but I got an email this week to say that our membership had expired and to be honest I couldnt see what difference being a premium member made so didnt renew!! Obviously I am missing something here !! Will take another look - Thanks

[Spooney15]

PS we are using a Garmin Geko 201

[+briansnat]

PS we are using a Garmin Geko 201

 

Your Geko is a fine unit for geocaching. If you are a premium member you can run pocket queries and send up to 500 caches directly to the Geko. Pick up a cheap PDA (you can find them for around $30 used on Ebay) install Cachemate and you have all the cache pages right there for you.