Really, REALLY New! Help?

[magveen]

Hello everyone!

 

After hearing about geocaching off and on for the last couple of years, my daughter and I got really interested as to whether there were caches around our area. And there seem to be bunches of them! Based on our familiarity with our area, it seems many are located in parking lots, the park by our home, etc with very low difficulty so we would like to give them a try.

 

We've read the rules and understand how it works and pretty much what to do....but my question is this. Can I use my regular car Magellan GPS? I really can't afford to purchase a seperate GPS unit at this point, and since we aren't the type to wander around in the woods (we're wimps, LOL) I can't justify it at this time.

 

We are very excited to get started!

 

Thanks!

[MYarina]

If you have a smart phone you can usualy find an app to do it with.

[hoyshnin]

You'll probably want to upgrade to a handheld gps (not an auto gps) eventually but for now you can use it! Just check out the webpage of the geocache you want to go for and you should see the gps coordinates on there. Enter these coordinates into your Magellan and you should be able to go right to it. Note that you may need to tweak the settings slightly to "off road" or something so it doesn't think you're staying on the road.

 

A couple quick tips or beginners-

While there may be bunches of caches near you, many of them are probably micros if you are in a city. Larger caches are generally easier to find, so start with the size "small" or larger. Also, try to go for ones that are rated less than a 2 for difficulty. Eventually you will get the hang of it and can move to smaller or more difficult caches. Have fun!

[+briansnat]

Automotive units are a poor choice for geocaching, but they can be used as long as you can enter coordinates into the unit and/or it displays your current coordinates.

 

Hand held units make geocaching a lot easier and there are some excellent hand helds that don't cost a lot so you can probably get started with your Magellan, and save up for a hand held unit.

[+Team Cotati]

Hopefully your Magellan car navigation unit will let you enter the cache coordinates as that will make locating the cache much easier.

 

You didn't mention it though. Does the Magellan unit that you own, allow GPS coordinate entry?

[+kh54s10]

I am also relatively new to this. I am currently using a Garmin Nuvi car unit. I have a usb cable and download the caches via the "send to GPS" button on the cache page. This automatically puts it into the gpsr and puts an icon onto the map. The cache is also listed in the favorites section. When I search I must change the parameters from automobile to pedestrian mode and then I walk until the position icon covers the cache icon. This sometimes takes a bit of wandering, then I am usually within 10 - 15 feet. Then I must use my geosense and look for logical hiding places or signs of activity. I can find most fairly easily. Most of my DNFs are not related to the GPSr but my lack of searching ability. There is one that took my 4 visits. On all the trys I was within 5 feet and did not see it. The third try I was on the other side of the tree where it was hidden (and not totally covered) maybe 10 inches away.... Like others have said, give it a try then upgrade to a handheld, the cost of which you can decide depending on what features you would like to have and your budget. Happy hunting.

[+BrrrMo]

Hello everyone!

 

After hearing about geocaching off and on for the last couple of years, my daughter and I got really interested as to whether there were caches around our area. And there seem to be bunches of them! Based on our familiarity with our area, it seems many are located in parking lots, the park by our home, etc with very low difficulty so we would like to give them a try.

 

We've read the rules and understand how it works and pretty much what to do....but my question is this. Can I use my regular car Magellan GPS? I really can't afford to purchase a seperate GPS unit at this point, and since we aren't the type to wander around in the woods (we're wimps, LOL) I can't justify it at this time.

 

We are very excited to get started!

 

Thanks!

 

You may want to Google Letterboxing and check out Waypoint on Groundspeak. Happy Finding!

Edited February 1, 2010 by BrrrMo

[+LabRats2.0]

You may also want to check out the GPS garage sale forum:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=13

 

There are many people selling their units for very reasonable prices. Also, eBay and even Amazon have modestly priced units.

[hoyshnin]

I am also relatively new to this. I am currently using a Garmin Nuvi car unit. I have a usb cable and download the caches via the "send to GPS" button on the cache page. This automatically puts it into the gpsr and puts an icon onto the map. The cache is also listed in the favorites section. When I search I must change the parameters from automobile to pedestrian mode and then I walk until the position icon covers the cache icon. This sometimes takes a bit of wandering, then I am usually within 10 - 15 feet. Then I must use my geosense and look for logical hiding places or signs of activity. I can find most fairly easily. Most of my DNFs are not related to the GPSr but my lack of searching ability. There is one that took my 4 visits. On all the trys I was within 5 feet and did not see it. The third try I was on the other side of the tree where it was hidden (and not totally covered) maybe 10 inches away.... Like others have said, give it a try then upgrade to a handheld, the cost of which you can decide depending on what features you would like to have and your budget. Happy hunting.

 

The best way to cache with a nuvi actually involves loading the fox files as poi's. Also, there is a more accurate way of getting right to the right spot, it involves looking at the actual coordinates of where you are when you get close to the cache. Read all about these things here - http://geocaching.totaltechworld.com/

[+bladesedge]

Personally - the ONE thing that puts me off using car navigation systems is that they aren't 'wilderness-proof'. You have to be a lot more careful with them out in the rain, in the wilderness, on your hands and knees, in sandy windy environments etc etc. With proper GPS units you can be a little less delicate as they tend to be waterproof and 'active-proof'.

 

Otherwise they're perfectly adequate for your Freshman year of caching.

[hoyshnin]

Personally - the ONE thing that puts me off using car navigation systems is that they aren't 'wilderness-proof'. You have to be a lot more careful with them out in the rain, in the wilderness, on your hands and knees, in sandy windy environments etc etc. With proper GPS units you can be a little less delicate as they tend to be waterproof and 'active-proof'.

 

Otherwise they're perfectly adequate for your Freshman year of caching.

 

Yeah, the number one downside to an automotive gps is it's lack of shock/water proofness. With my nuvi, I've tried to overcome this a little by attaching a lanyard to it.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii173/hoyshnin/small1.jpg

 

The second biggest downfall is battery life as many automotive gps's have internal batteries - so you can't just swap out AA's.

I created a battery pack for my nuvi to overcome this problem.

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=240601

 

Overall, your best bet is as others have concluded above - maybe start with your automotive gps, but eventually move into a handheld.

[MikeB3542]

$70 gets you a Geomate Jr with geocache coordinates already loaded. It is VERY BASIC. No doubt, many will jump on me for suggesting a unit with such limited features. BAH! It will get you in the game for little out of pocket.

[+KeeperOfTheMist]

i got a Nuvi and a pda and the Nuvi isn't to bad for caching. you will definately want to get something like GSAK from http://www.gsak.net/ really makes creating waypoint files or POI's from a cache list pretty easy

 

fully works just have to deal with a nag screen at startup after a certain amount of days unless you register it.

 

Kah - also if you enjoy it and decide to go premium you can make your nuvi paperless (no need to print out/write them pages for hints and descriptions) with a plugin for GSAK you can find info on here http://geocaching.totaltechworld.com/index.html . welcome to the addiction happy caching.

Edited February 2, 2010 by KeeperOfTheMist

[+NeitherSparky]

The best way to cache with a nuvi actually involves loading the fox files as poi's. Also, there is a more accurate way of getting right to the right spot, it involves looking at the actual coordinates of where you are when you get close to the cache. Read all about these things here - http://geocaching.totaltechworld.com/

 

The second biggest downfall is battery life as many automotive gps's have internal batteries - so you can't just swap out AA's.

I created a battery pack for my nuvi to overcome this problem.

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=240601

 

Overall, your best bet is as others have concluded above - maybe start with your automotive gps, but eventually move into a handheld.

 

These two posts are SO helpful to me, thanks!! I had no idea there was any way around the nuvi's short battery life. I may have to make my own battery pack, I love doing stuff like that, and I haven't used the soldering iron in too long...

[ad5smith]

You may also want to check out the GPS garage sale forum:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=13

 

There are many people selling their units for very reasonable prices. Also, eBay and even Amazon have modestly priced units.

i second the ebay, i just got a handheld GPSr off ebay for $50 and it works great

[OhSoFLY]

We started out trying to use my Magellan Roadmate 1340, but I found that the coordinates were only in 34.45 format, with only 2 deciman places, and they only narrow the field down to a 50-100 foot square. We ordered a Garmin Etrex Legend H from amazon.com for 120 bucks, and it is wonderful and the coordinates are accurate to the foot and with a 43.452 (3 decimal places) location... The legend H is also waterproof and has a lanyard so the kids can hang it on their neck. Im hopeing to find a way to import caches to my roadmate 1340 via the microSD slot, maybe it will be more accurate that way and 2 kids can search them at the same time then...