No GPS But I Will Find Them !!!!!!!!!!

[wormfarmer1]

I am new to this so i am going to start out slow real slow. Like i said in the subj. line i dont have a GPS yet so i will look for the easy ones first just to get a feel for the hunt. My ? is where can i find a map that has a grid. i am in the Army and the ones i use for work have them but i cant find any for out in town, if you know what i mean. Well if you can help me let me know.

 

Thanks

Paul

[+Tacguy]

Are you looking for maps with UTM grids or Lat/Long marks? Regular Topo maps come with marks on the sides for both types of marks, but I have not seen any maps that have preprinted UTM grids, so you will have to resort to drawing the grids yourself and using a grid corner ruler or use an overlay with grids already printed. Topo maps are available locally at sporting goods stores like Sport Chalet and REI, they can be ordered from the USGS or there are computer programs that can generate them.

[ArtMan]

You can also go to http://www.topozone.com where you enter the coordinates and it displays the topo map with the location pinpointed on the map. You can then print that out for your use in the field.

 

Also, remember that many if not most of these marks were placed without the benefit of GPS and have enough information in the description to be recovered without a GPS receiver, particularly in non-rural environments.

 

Good luck.

[ArtMan]

You can also go to http://www.topozone.com, where you enter the coordinates and it displays the topo map with the location pinpointed on the map. You can then print that out for your use in the field.

 

Also, remember that many if not most of these marks were placed without the benefit of GPS and have enough information in the description to be recovered without a GPS receiver, particularly in non-rural environments.

 

Good luck.

[+Black Dog Trackers]

The benchmark location descriptions are made to be used without either a GPS or map to find the benchmark.

 

As Artman says, getting a map, especially the satellite view, to bring will help, but even that isn't a necessity.

 

You should bring 2 things that are even more important than a GPS or a map or satellite picture. The first thing is an ordinary compass. The second thing is a calculator for distance measuring.

 

What to do before hunting any is accurately determine the length of your pace. For 2 or 3 times, walk a measured distance (around 100 feet or so) and divide the distance by the number of paces. (I use a hallway in a building that has 2x4 foot ceiling tiles or 1x1 foot floor tiles.) Then for each of the distances in a benchmark's location description, calculate the number of your paces with your calculator. Tape measures are cumbersome and give more accuracy than you'll need. Pacing is best.

 

If you want to start slow, carefully pick which benchmarks to hunt for. The easiest will have a recent found date and will have at least one close distance to an object. For example the most recent found date is 1993 and the last distance in the location description is 7 feet South from power pole XYX123.

 

At first, avoid the benchmarks that say SCALED instead of ADJUSTED in the line below the benchmark's coordinates. This is because the SCALED ones won't be exactly in the location you plot on the topo or satellite map, but the ADJUSTED ones will.

 

When you go out, bring several benchmarks' printouts. If you can't find one, just move on to the next one. Have fun!

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

I still have not found several with map,GPS,metal detector,and good ole savy.When the points are not there anymore ie,Railroad tracks have been removed over 50 years,road moved,Wagon Trail gone,Homestead gone,but have found several without all that just the descriptions (DATA) sheet.Some found that way because the measurement corrections of the (DATA) and the GPSr did not match....so as you see your doing the Primary work of General Location .That is all the rest of us are doing too.

 

When all else fails Geotry again.

[+Web-ling]

For the majority of benchmarks, a GPSr is rather useless. I've only used a GPSr once to locate a benchmark.

 

What I do find useful is a USGS topo map. Often (but not always), benchmarks are shown on these maps. I use LostOutdoors.com for my topo maps. I prefer LostOutdoors over Topozone, because Topozone uses a different datum than Geocaching.com. The coords are usually off a bit with Topozone, but usually right on with LostOutdoors. Plug in the coords, and if you're lucky, there will be a benchmark listed on the map very near the coords. Go by the map and the description on the benchmark page, not the coords.

 

[+raouljan]

Having stalked a couple of these critters I ahve to agree... a GPSr does you little good on the initial finding..

 

Half the fun is trying to figure out what the folks were talking about when they wrote the descriptions...

 

>Personally Responsible for the Recovery of .00244% of the Benchmark Database!<--watch this number!

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Well guys I found one today with the GPSr that I been looking for for 6 months.It's 1.6 miles not 1.9 miles north from the junction,I used the GPSr and the original data sheet azimuth degrees and wala ,guess the angles never change, The Eagle Has Landed Houston.........Tranquility Bay

 

When all else fails Geotry again.

[+happycycler]

I agree that a GPSr does not always help. My Brunton GPS died and has been returned for resurection. But I am still finding some benchmarks. I print out the description and probably a Topozone or Mapquest map. I should also take a compass, but I do use the map to orient myself to get rough idea of directions.

[+juanbob]

I use GPS just to get me in the area...then GPS is worthless for benchmarking (my opinion). I leave it in the car and go by text descriptions only and it works pretty well. Some of the waypoints are so far off it isn't even funny. Much easier to go from landmarks and such in the text descriptions.

 

Juanbob

[+embra]

No argument that the GPS is of little help on first finds with scaled coords--but I like to have my GPS to record an improved set of coords for those who may come looking later. THis is especially tru if I may send a recovery note to NGS. I realize that my meriplat is not accurate enough for professional use, but it provides a good improvement in accuracy. It also adds to my finding ritual.

 

I suppose some of us would feel that more accurate coords take some of the challenge out of the search; I figure if that's the case one can ignore the coords and search from the description only.

 

Don't get even - get odd

[+headmj]

If you are looking for a horizontal control. The coordinates on these are very accurate and can be used to test your GPS. Vertical controls are a different story. The GPS may or may not be any use. The type of control is listed in the write-up and on the NGS page you can search by type.

[wormfarmer1]

i wanted to say thanks to every one that replied to this, but i think i am going to have to break down and by a gps because i cant seem to find many bench marks with out one.. like i said i use a map and they work great but when you are looking for a bench mark in a huge field ( like i have been doing ) they are pretty hard to find and some of them are coverd in dirt. so if any one could tell me what kind of gps i should by that would be real helpful thanks alot

Paul

[+jwwphoto]

I can't find these %$#@ things WITH the GPSr.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Yep some of them are mindboggling to find I have been finding some from 1935,Two rails west of mile post 360 in the wagon trail next to the Railroad track and none of it is there now, just the Benchmarks.I like my E-Trex its inexpensive and gets the job done,as far as acurracy if you can take a set of coordinates from the web and get them out ih the field and find the exact points that you are looking for I would say that is Highly accurate... ( + ).004 in the center of that crosshair,that is the acurracy, learning how to use it is another story.What every Goecacher want's to know and can't find out.True accuracy, It's like sighting in a rifle,same concepts,the weapon is only as good as the one who controls it.

 

When all else fails Geotry again.

[+DBleess]

http://mapserver.maptech.com/

Excellent resource with USGS maps.

Plug in your lat/lon and zoom in. Most benchmarks are depicted but not labelled. You can tell what each point is by location and reported altitude.

 

SA / PP-ASEL-I