New Starter! Am I in the right place?

[+INDYandCO]

(Admin, feel free to shift this if I'm in the worng area!)

 

Hey everybody! This new found hobby started on Sunday for me after watching this little video by a friend:

MidLifeGamer GC Intro (Safe for Work)

 

I took my kids and brother in law out to a local Cache after using the Google Maps Search facility:

First of Many?

 

So, moving forward I'm putting it to you good folk to advise me of the next step.

Only using Google Maps is fine up to a point, but a hand held GPS of sorts is on the horizon!

But....and here's the age old question....Which one?!?!

 

I want to narrow it down a little so the following points may help:

- I'm fortunate enough to have a company Mobile Phone (with no GPS), so no point in buying a smart phone.

- This is a hobby that I would like to do in mainland Europe too (Holiday, business trips etc).

- I don't have a Sat Nav for my car at the moment.

- Would be great if the kids (7 & 4) could use it too.

 

So, after some initial reading and chatting with others, I could go the route of a Pocket PC wih GPS, download a bunch of maps and use it for Car Sat Nav and GeoCaching...all looks very complicated!

Or a dedicated GPS just for GeoCaching....or is there something that sits in the middle?

 

Budget wise, if its just a GPS for this fantastic new hobby I've discovered, will £100 do me?

 

Paperless GeoCaching looks like great fun, but I fear this is top whack in terms of investment.

 

What do you Guys and Galls roll with?

 

Appreciate any and all guidance....

[+The Chaos Crew]

Hi Indy – welcome to the best hobby on earth

 

I have a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, which is a lovely little piece of kit. A quick google tells me these are about £150 at the moment, which is a bit more than you were looking to spend, but the advantage of this model is that, as well as being an excellent off-road device for geocaching, it can also function exactly like an in-car SatNav (IF you buy the maps for it, which are extra again – although I believe there are free/cheap alternatives out there).

 

This makes getting to cache sites everso easy – we choose “follow road” until the road runs out, with the GPS leading us sat-nav style to the location or, if you are lucky and the cache owner has set one up, a parking waypoint. And then when we get out of the car we switch to “off road” and follow the arrow to the box – simples

 

It is easy enough for little kids to use (my youngest son has been confidently navigating us to caches since he was 5 – all they need to be able to do is follow an arrow, and check that the number in the top right of the screen is counting downwards (getting closer) not going upwards (getting further away)

 

Happy shopping

Sarah

[+The Chaos Crew]

oh - and yes, it will work fine abroad - I have cached with mine in Canada, no problems. The only thing you sometimes need to do if you have travelled a long way is leave it switched on on a windowsill for a bit so it can get its bearings

[+INDYandCO]

Coolio!

Thats a good start...if it does the satnav for the car, then I don't mind stumping up the extra.

Tell me, does it work with the uploading of data from THIS site?

 

I mean, will I still be going out with this device and a wad of prints for a bunch of Caches?

 

I want to be able to have the device in the car with me...then if I'm out and think, "oooh, lets see if there are any Caches near here" is that possible, or does one have to print out a load of stuff / pre load chaches of the area one will end up in? Catch my drift?

 

Sorry if these all seem like n00b questions!

[+The Chaos Crew]

Coolio!

Thats a good start...if it does the satnav for the car, then I don't mind stumping up the extra.

Tell me, does it work with the uploading of data from THIS site?

 

I mean, will I still be going out with this device and a wad of prints for a bunch of Caches?

 

I want to be able to have the device in the car with me...then if I'm out and think, "oooh, lets see if there are any Caches near here" is that possible, or does one have to print out a load of stuff / pre load chaches of the area one will end up in? Catch my drift?

 

Sorry if these all seem like n00b questions!

 

not noob at all

 

yes you can load caches from here to the GPS via the cable that comes with it - either individually or, if you get premium membership, in bulk via pocket queries.

 

I've done that with all my local caches for the same reason as you - so that we can cache spontaneously while out and about - and also it hads a neat feature that when you mark cache #1 as found on your GPS out in the field, it will pop up the next closest in case you want to carry on and find another.

 

It's really good fun when you are driving along in the car using the GPS in satnav mode and you can see all the little treasure chest icons in fields and woodland around you (and after you have found them the treasure chect icon is shown with the lid open, so you can show it to bemused passengers and say "I found that, look" )

 

It will also load the cache name and any extra waypoints (parking spot, clue location etc)

 

What this model doesn't do though is load all the blurb about the cache, hints, log entries, etc.

 

It's always a good idea to have a quick read through the info before you start looking, just so you know what size of box you are hunting for, if there have been a string of DNF logs (indicating it may not even be there any more) etc.

 

So you would either need to have a little notebook where you have jotted this stuff down in advance for caches you might go after, or something like a PDA or even iPod that you can load all that onto, or just use an internet enabled mobile phone to check the cache's home page on www.geocaching.com from the field

 

I usually use a combination of the notebook and internet enabled phone - but I have found some easy caches completely spontaneously with nothing more than the co-ords.

 

(NB for puzzle caches with lots of blurb I still print the full sheet out in advance and take it with me)

 

I hope that helps....

[+AuntieWeasel]

I've cached with very experienced cachers who have the gear to go paperless and still want printouts for various reasons. My printer was always out of ink, but I did take physical notes with me, as a rule. Sometimes paper is just easier.

 

My first GPS was a Garmin Legend. The monochrome version. That's more like the £100 you wanted to spend. It was absolutely rock solid right up until I finally managed to beat it to death. Depending on where you go, you'll have to download extra maps -- the base map is pretty basic.

 

I've found Garmin's maps for the UK can be a little...funky. All the Garmins have the same mapping program (I don't know what the others use). They've led us up a few cart tracks and they're forever telling us to turn left when the road just bends away leftish.

[+The Other Stu]

Hi Indy – welcome to the best hobby on earth

 

I have a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, which is a lovely little piece of kit. A quick google tells me these are about £150 at the moment, which is a bit more than you were looking to spend, but the advantage of this model is that, as well as being an excellent off-road device for geocaching, it can also function exactly like an in-car SatNav (IF you buy the maps for it, which are extra again – although I believe there are free/cheap alternatives out there).

 

This makes getting to cache sites everso easy – we choose “follow road” until the road runs out, with the GPS leading us sat-nav style to the location or, if you are lucky and the cache owner has set one up, a parking waypoint. And then when we get out of the car we switch to “off road” and follow the arrow to the box – simples

 

It is easy enough for little kids to use (my youngest son has been confidently navigating us to caches since he was 5 – all they need to be able to do is follow an arrow, and check that the number in the top right of the screen is counting downwards (getting closer) not going upwards (getting further away)

 

Happy shopping

Sarah

 

I'd have thought that a Garmin Dakota would do the job better if you're going to spend £150?

 

It does paperless caching (can hold over 1000 caches), can act as a caching GPS as well as a car sat-nav.

 

Personally, I think you would be better off going down the Pocket PC route. There are some good ones out there with a range of free and cheap software.

 

It's not a question that gets asked a lot - usually it's more a case of "Should I get an 60CSX or an Oregon or a Colorado" which are high-end £250+ GPSers. But we also have to accept that people don't want to spend the same money on a GPS that they could spend on a laptop!

 

I'm really surprised that the PPC guys haven't been on yet to explain the benefits of having one. I have nothing against them at all. I have gone down the handheld route now, but then again, I also have a Tomtom XL so I have a dedicated Sat Nav unit.

 

Also, did anyone know that you can use something like this for geocaching? Many of these cheaper units can and do run cut down versions of Microsoft PPC software. We have a Navigo which can run (amongst other things), Tomtom (for PPC) and cachemate. At only £50, the sat-nav software is quite usable too!

 

Alternatively, for £60, you could have a large-screen 4.3"

 

Unfortunately, on the flip side, you will need to learn how these work and isn't for the faint hearted! There is a forum which explains how to do this, however, I value my GC.com account.

[+The Chaos Crew]

I'd have thought that a Garmin Dakota would do the job better if you're going to spend £150?

 

It does paperless caching (can hold over 1000 caches), can act as a caching GPS as well as a car sat-nav.

 

 

oh I thought the Dakota was a lot more than that

 

in that case then, yes, that would be even better

 

(they weren't out when I bought my lil workhorse)

[+The Blorenges]

None of the Garmin 'handheld' GPS units (eTrex/Map60xx/Dakota/Oregon/Colorado) will do voice navigation for car use. They will do turn by turn navigation with the right maps - the Garmin UK topo and Garmin OS GB Discoverer (not sure if the free OpenStreetMaps do turn by turn - I'm sure someone will let us know) so can be used in a car quite well (I recall they 'beep' at you when a turn is coming up).

 

If you want full paperless then the Dakota/Oregon are the best choice. They support all the mapping options available and with Premium Membership just download all your cache info and away you go.

 

Chris (MrB)

Resource website for UK Geocachers - www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk (includes stuff about GPS and maps!!)

[team tisri]

The biggest downside with using a pocket PC, as far as I can see, is battery life. I tried caching with mine (a Windoze smartphone) a few times and found that either I had to disable its battery saving features (which meant the display was always on and using batteries, even if the backlight was off), or every time I woke it out of standby it took a while to reacquire a GPS lock.

 

If you buy a premium membership you can download up to 500 caches at a time, convert the file into HTML and copy it to any device that can read HTML.

 

There are other issues relating to how robust and waterproof the unit is - I've dropped my 60CSx onto concrete a few times, used it in torrential rain, and when it gets dirty I just wash it under the tap. I wouldn't care to attempt any of those things with my pocket PC.

[+INDYandCO]

I'd have thought that a Garmin Dakota would do the job better if you're going to spend £150?

 

I like the look of the Dakota 20 (Electronic Compass)...but this is in excess of 200 Notes!

 

I guess the Dakota 10 would do, but even that is floating around the £200 mark.

 

To make it easier for me, would I be right in thinking that this type of GPS would also navigate me across Europe in the car...?

 

...what have I gotten myself into!!?!

[team tisri]

I'd have thought that a Garmin Dakota would do the job better if you're going to spend £150?

 

I like the look of the Dakota 20 (Electronic Compass)...but this is in excess of 200 Notes!

 

I guess the Dakota 10 would do, but even that is floating around the £200 mark.

 

To make it easier for me, would I be right in thinking that this type of GPS would also navigate me across Europe in the car...?

 

...what have I gotten myself into!!?!

 

You'd probably need to buy extra maps to navigate across Europe.

[+Bear and Ragged]

TalkyToasters maps are routable.

Beep when you need to turn, rather than 'turn left in 300 yards...'

and there are other free -OSM type- maps out there to cover other areas like Europe...

[+Cash-in]

You can get a Garmin etrex legend hcx on pixmania for £125 at the moment, then buy a micro sd card, download talkys maps and you'll have all you need.

[+INDYandCO]

Chris (MrB)

Resource website for UK Geocachers - www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk (includes stuff about GPS and maps!!)

Oh yeah, had a butchers over there...very informative.

I've found it difficult to determine (across numerous sites) what info/advice is still valid with the techno advances that are being made...hence my dropping by here!

 

The biggest downside with using a pocket PC, as far as I can see, is battery life...other issues relating to how robust and waterproof the unit is ...dropped...onto concrete a few times...when it gets dirty I just wash it under the tap.

 

Now that Tisri, is a crackin bit of advice!

I have a mate telling me to nab a secondhand smartphone, grab a copy of the European Co-Pilot Maps and I'll be good to go for around £150....but I WANT my kids to enjoy this and not letting them 'play' with the GPS Unit is soon going to put them off, and that will have an impact on me! I shudder if they get anywhere near my iPod Touch!

 

Oooh, iPod Touch...GC.com App....? I'll be heading over to the relevant forum if you'll excuse me...back in a bit.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I shudder if they get anywhere near my iPod Touch!

 

Oooh, iPod Touch...GC.com App....? I'll be heading over to the relevant forum if you'll excuse me...back in a bit.

ipod touch...

 

Take a look at GSAK. (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife)

 

It has the ability to send information for caches to ipods, so you can read the information whilst out caching.**

Means you can get a cheaper GPS, as you only need the arrow to show you the way to the cache!

 

Free to download, and use for 21 days. You then get a Nag screen asking if you want to pay.

But. It stays fully functional, if you decide to ignore the nag screen.

 

** Don't ask me how, I don't have an i-anything, but I know it can be done!

[+Palujia]

Hi, also a relative Newbie - looked at all the available forums, and within them - the technical advice and reviews. Decided to buy the Garmin Etrex legend HCX ( 'cause it has the card slots) Then looked at all the "selling sites" and got a good deal. It works really well - Our friends who joined up with us have fancy mobile phones so bought the cheapest GPS they could find on E***y (30.00) which, although not down loading directly from the find cache page like ours works just as well. One of the things I have found really amusing is that before we started the hobby we did not notice people wandering around with sheets of A4 paper, reading, looking at something they were holding in the other hand and muttering strange incantations!! If you are near popular caches keep an eye out and you will see what I mean. The other thing is the great advice - if you have questions about anything to do with caching - put it on a forum and there you go - see how many replies you have had so far !!

cheers

palujia

[+The Blorenges]

You can get a Garmin etrex legend hcx on pixmania for £125 at the moment, then buy a micro sd card, download talkys maps and you'll have all you need.

This is a good buy and a good GPS to start caching with if you are on a budget. It does the free maps and the USB connection means you can easily download waypoints to it. It won't do paperless though. GSAK lets you take a pocket query and convert to load into the GPS.

 

Re the questions about car sat navs. I think at the end of the day if you want a sat nav that gives you spoken directions and covers Europe then buy a dedicated one (like a TomTom). If you want a GPS to go caching and want paperless then get a suitable handheld GPS. The only device that does both jobs completely is a pocket PC.

 

The pocket PC is a great choice (I have a Mio P550) and it works well. I could get the TomTom app for it but as I've got a dedicated TT for the car I don't need to. Battery life on PDA's is poor but you can get external battery packs. If you want to run maps on the PDA then Memory Map is the best option but that is going to cost you about £90 for half the UK.

Dakota 10 doesn't support an SD card but has 850Mbyte internal memory so will do full paperless and you can load the free UK OpenStreetMaps. Price £140 (handec)

Dakota 20 supports an SD card so you could also buy the OS GB Discoverer maps. Dakota 20 £190, OS GB map (£104). Yes, expensive.

 

You will get a lot of advice on these forums. People will recomend what they use as the best - which may be the case for them. You need to look at the advice and decide whether you want the unit for caching or car navigation. Is paperless caching important or are you happy printing off sheets of paper? Would your day out caching be to do just a few caches and enjoy the walk or a whole day with 30 to 40 planned? Will you have someone in the car with you who can read the GPS maps/directions and tell you which way to turn?

My advice is either the eTrex Legend Hcx or if you can stretch to £140 the Dakota 10 (full paperless+free maps)

 

Chris (MrB)

[+The Other Stu]

Dakota 10 can be had at Handtec.co.uk for 150 sheets which seems as good a deal as any.

 

I'm not sure about the Dakota, but whilst the Colorado doesn't talk to you, it beeps when it wants you to do something with it. Whilst it's not perfect, it's certainly good as a back-up.

[+The Chaos Crew]

yes, sorry, I should have said that it doesn't talk to you in-car, but I prefer that, those voices get on my nerves lol

 

I have mine dash mounted when I use it in car, which is only really to get to caches as I know where I am going most other places, it beeps when I need to turn, and has a nice clear picture on the screen showing me where to go that you just have to glance at. Works for me.

 

But as MrsB has rightly said, what works for one person isn't necessarily the best solution for you

 

have fun with whichever way you decide to go

 

(oh and don't worry about the kids handling the GPS, they are rugged little beasts - GPSs I mean, not your kids lol)

[+The Blorenges]

None of the Garmin handheld GPS's talk to you. If they support routing then they just beep.

 

Chris (MrB)

[S3AB1SCU1T]

I too am new to geocaching, and i too am realy getting into it.

thankfully i have a nokia 5230 thats got everything i need for now, i may look into getting a dedicated GPS unit in the future.

and also it was midlife gamer

that got me into it

from what i have read up so far it is much the same as any good hobby, in so far you can spend as little or as much in it as you want to. i have only found 3 caches so far ( well i only started this last sunday)

but it was a very good fun day for me my wife two kids and the dog. and the only problem i had was convincing the kids that they could not take everything from the stashes and that they had to leave something in return.

i know i have the bug now and am already planning my next trip out.

my this is fun.

[+purple_pineapple]

Like others, I've used quite a range of different TYPES of caching options, so I'll try and give you an unbiased summary of our experiences.

 

Started with an etrex. PROS - cheap (£60 ish), top battery life (20 hrs) and essentially indestructable. CONS - no paperless facilities at all, or maps. Its just a waypoint with an arrow to point the way! Obviously, for a little more money, you can those examples above like Vistas, which have mapping and routing functions - but as has been said, none of them have voices. If you want a proper SatNav system (and personally, I wouldn't dream of navigating by looking at a small sceen while driving) then the handheld units won't do it.

 

I have a Windows Mobile PDA. PROS - full mapping (including OS maps) full TomTom SatNav, fully paperless, with all cache details, including photos, in the palm of your hand. Plus all the other functionality of a PDA.

CONS - expensive (£350 for PDA + £80 for TomTom plus extra for OS maps). P poor battery life (although expandable with a small AA charger pack, which works fine). Complicated and tecnhical, especially if you want your paperless experience to work seamlessly between SatNav, maps and cache details. Not robust or waterproof, and I'd be reluctant to let younger kids use it.

 

Garmin Oregon - currently our main unit while the PDA gets repaired (it got wet!). PROS - paperless caching with description, hints and logs. Mapping (including free maps). Robust and waterproof and very simple to use. My wife ran a geocaching activity for 6 year olds and they were using our oregon quite happily. Not TOO expensive (£180 for ours). CONS - no SatNav, and not so easy to get OS maps, especially full coverage.

 

IPhone - we use this as an emergency back up if our Oregon details are out of date, and for those First to Find moments on holiday! I would never use it as a primary caching tool, or buy one for that purpose! Battery life is poor, GPS is shocking, and relies entirely on a mobile signal! oh, and it won't like being dropped! However, if you have a signal, you can get real time cache data.

 

obviously, there are other models and so on, for varying prices, but this should help! My personal opinion is that the Oregon or similar is the bees knees, if you're willing to spend a little more!

 

HTH

 

Dave

 

PS - I would say, cachers are a friendly bunch - find a local and go caching with them to see what equipment you like!

[+INDYandCO]

It was midlife gamer

that got me into it..

 

Well, ain't this a small world!

It's me, Adamski UK (Indy is my eldest daughters name, hence "INDYandCO").

 

I am astounded at the response I've had from here, props and thanks to all the members who have responed!

 

I have now discounted a Pocket PC and cheaper SatNav alternative and I am now activly looking into a Garmin Device. I don't have to worry about the kids having a go and handling the device.

 

Seems like handtec have some great deals.

Then its a case of getting my head around GSAK, OpenStreetMapping and all that goodness!

 

If anyone else has some info / ideas, please keep em coming!

 

Adamski.

 

Oh, thanks for the eaxtra advice Pinapple!

Edited April 28, 2010 by INDYandCO

[+The Blorenges]

Shop around. Handtec seem pretty good - it's where I got my Oregon 450. You can get OS maps for the Oregon (pricey) but I'm using them and the Oregon is now my prime caching tool. It has everything I need on it. Battery life is great and the 3 axis compass works very well. Before you ask, no you don't have to have a 3 axis compass, the normal digital compass works perfectly well but you have to hold the unit level for it to work correctly (no big deal).

Oregon has a slightly larger screen than the Dakota.

 

Have fun choosing!

 

Chris (MrB)

[+NickandAliandEliza]

 

Garmin Oregon ..................CONS - no SatNav, and not so easy to get OS maps, especially full coverage.

 

 

??? Not sure you're right about the CONS or maybe I've read your post wrongly. I've got an Oregon 300. The OS Discoverer Maps and City Navigator both do Autoroute. You obviously don't get the voices and other bells and whistles of a TomTom or Nuvi, but it works pretty well as a SatNav in the Automotive profile.

 

As for the OS maps - they are pretty expensive - but it's just a question of plugging the card in........but then again with a £100 budget you will have enough to buy a Discoverer micro SD card, but not the GPSr!

 

You're probably better off doing what most people do and start off with something like one of the basic Etrex's. They are easy enough to get rid of when the time comes to upgrade.

There are loads of sites where you can print off OS maps for free to plan your routes.

 

(You will probably end up like the rest of us - with more than one machine, as you can't decide which one you prefer!)

Edited April 28, 2010 by Nick & Ali

[+The Blorenges]

(You will probably end up like the rest of us - with more than one machine, as you can't decide which one you prefer!)

 

I've even got a GPS in my astronomical telescope! Technically it is portable and I can manage to carry it to garden but I won't be using it for caching

 

Chris (MrB)

[+The Duckers]

I've even got a GPS in my astronomical telescope!

There is always one show off

Edited April 29, 2010 by Turtlebum

[+INDYandCO]

Legend HCx winging its way to me as I type!

 

Thank you to each and everyone of you for your valuable contributions.

 

If it all goes pear shaped, look out for a Legend HCx BNIB for sale in the next month or so!

 

Adamski

[+INDYandCO]

Just a quick note to say thanks once more and let you know how we got one recently.

It all seemed pretty daunting at first, but now rolling with the Legend, GeoSphere App and the GSAK.

OpenStreetMap? Never heard of it until now! WOW!

 

Had a blast on Bank Holiday Monday....including a Jeep TB and Coin!

(Remember the first time YOU found a TB/Coin?)

 

See you on the boards...

 

Adamski.

[+purple_pineapple]

 

Garmin Oregon ..................CONS - no SatNav, and not so easy to get OS maps, especially full coverage.

 

 

??? Not sure you're right about the CONS or maybe I've read your post wrongly. I've got an Oregon 300. The OS Discoverer Maps and City Navigator both do Autoroute. You obviously don't get the voices and other bells and whistles of a TomTom or Nuvi, but it works pretty well as a SatNav in the Automotive profile.

 

just wanted to clarify - I know many of the Garmins do auto-routing, but I don't class that as a SatNav! IMHO, a satnav must talk to you, otherwise its no different to drawing a line on an an atlas! I'm not sure I'd want to keep referring to a small screen with route, as I'd probably crash while not looking!

 

Cheers!

 

Dave