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What to do if cache coordinates are wrong?


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Is it possible to flag a cache as having incorrect coordinates? Looks like one I looked for today is wrong. Only noticed the previous logs saying this after I got home or I'd have known to correct them and possibly stood a better chance of finding the cache.

 

Obviously they'd need to be double checked but is there a mechanism for a reviewer to change details of a cache if the owner hasn't?

 

Cheers, Rob

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The cache owner is able to correct coordinates up to 528ft so the best thing to do is to put a Needs Maintenance log on the cache page saying the coordinates are out. If the coordinates need moving more than 528ft the CO will need to contact a reviewer to update them.

 

Andy

The Long Man

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

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It depend how "incorrect" they are.

 

A cache owner can correct their own cache's co-ordinates by posting an "Update Co-ordinates" log to their own cache page, if the change is less than 528ft. If it's more, then they have to ask a reviewer to alter them.

 

If the co-ordinates are within 30ft of the actual location that's considered an "acceptable inaccuracy" for a recreational GPS.

 

MrsB

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It depend how "incorrect" they are.

 

A cache owner can correct their own cache's co-ordinates by posting an "Update Co-ordinates" log to their own cache page, if the change is less than 528ft. If it's more, then they have to ask a reviewer to alter them.

 

If the co-ordinates are within 30ft of the actual location that's considered an "acceptable inaccuracy" for a recreational GPS.

 

MrsB

 

If the comments I have read are correct then it's not as bad as 528ft. Still makes the task more difficult than it needs to be. I'll go back next weekend and see if the commented ones are better and then get in touch with the CO if needs be.

Thanks, Rob.

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when you write the log, you can add coords for it in the log - under the main log box, I think there's a tick box that says Add a coordinate to the log...

 

I always do this - helps people after you find you!

I have to add; this should only be done for Traditional type caches; owners of multis and puzzles which have start or fake co-ords won't thank you for posting the final co-ords with your log! If it's one of those drop the owner an email with your co-ords and hope they'll average their own figures with yours.

 

Apparently some newer caches, hidden with mobile phones rather than 'proper' GPS can be rather far from their given co-ords. Perhaps that's the problem here?

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"What to do if cache coordinates are wrong?"

1. Swear

2. Check logs, if you have the means.

3. Find it.

4. If 3 isn't possible, then swear again.

 

This happened twice today. :anitongue:

Only twice? I did 14 caches today, of which I'd say at least half were out! I even recalibrated my GPS in the middle in case it was down to that, but most of the caches I was doing was by someone I know whose GPS always seems to differ from mine.

 

Still - makes the challenge more *ahem* "fun", I suppose.

 

:D

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"What to do if cache coordinates are wrong?"

1. Swear

2. Check logs, if you have the means.

3. Find it.

4. If 3 isn't possible, then swear again.

 

This happened twice today. :anitongue:

Only twice? I did 14 caches today, of which I'd say at least half were out! I even recalibrated my GPS in the middle in case it was down to that, but most of the caches I was doing was by someone I know whose GPS always seems to differ from mine.

 

Still - makes the challenge more *ahem* "fun", I suppose.

 

:D

 

Just had a quick look to make sure you weren't talking about any of ours... I can now go sleep soundly tonight! :anitongue:

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when you write the log, you can add coords for it in the log - under the main log box, I think there's a tick box that says Add a coordinate to the log...

 

I always do this - helps people after you find you!

Me too, whenever I can.

It's not good when the co-ords are out, but I do try to help the next finders by noting some accurate co-ords rather than just saying they are inaccurate!

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if i find a cache to be considerably off with several people having mentioned that in the past logs and the CO showing no reaction, i will post a NM.

 

under the same circumstances, if coords are so much off that the cache effectively becomes unfindable, i will post NA.

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Only twice? I did 14 caches today, of which I'd say at least half were out! I even recalibrated my GPS in the middle in case it was down to that, but most of the caches I was doing was by someone I know whose GPS always seems to differ from mine.

 

Still - makes the challenge more *ahem* "fun", I suppose.

 

:D

By "recalibrated my GPS" I'm assuming you mean recalibrating the electronic compass. If you're doing that, then I'm assuming that you go geocaching with the compass turned on... Turn it OFF, you'll find the GPSr readings are much more stable and don't jump around so much.

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Mrs D and I were talking about his yesterday while out caching and a cache had co-ords 70ft out (as mentioned by previous finders as well)

 

Luckily the previous logs mentioning this were within the PQ

We've found caches in the past where a log in a PQ mentions co-ords in an older log but MrsD has been able to look up the older logs on her iPhone

 

What would be a good idea is if there was a 'sticky' log type just for alternative co-ordinates which stays at the top until the CO deletes it...

 

 

Mark

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Apparently some newer caches, hidden with mobile phones rather than 'proper' GPS can be rather far from their given co-ords. Perhaps that's the problem here?

Don't tar all phones with the same brush. The GPS on my Blackberry Storm is at least as good as my 76CSx and in some cases has turned out to be better.

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By "recalibrated my GPS" I'm assuming you mean recalibrating the electronic compass. If you're doing that, then I'm assuming that you go geocaching with the compass turned on... Turn it OFF, you'll find the GPSr readings are much more stable and don't jump around so much.

another myth about the magnetic compass. the compass has no influence whatsoever on the GPS readings you get. however, with the compas enabled, you will constantly get updated directional information when you're standing still. this will make it appear "jumpy" at close range because that's just how GPS works, but technically you're getting more information that way than with having the compass disabled (in which case the directional pointer will just be stuck in the same position).

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By "recalibrated my GPS" I'm assuming you mean recalibrating the electronic compass. If you're doing that, then I'm assuming that you go geocaching with the compass turned on... Turn it OFF, you'll find the GPSr readings are much more stable and don't jump around so much.

another myth about the magnetic compass. the compass has no influence whatsoever on the GPS readings you get. however, with the compas enabled, you will constantly get updated directional information when you're standing still. this will make it appear "jumpy" at close range because that's just how GPS works, but technically you're getting more information that way than with having the compass disabled (in which case the directional pointer will just be stuck in the same position).

 

0 - 30ft: This is normal.

 

30ft -> 50ft: Grumble a bit unless under trees or a cliff or something else GPS's hate.

 

50ft -> 70ft: Grumble in my log.

 

70ft ->0.1 miles: Write a needs maint log.

 

0.1 miles -> infinity: Laugh at the cache owner, needs maint log.

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Only twice? I did 14 caches today, of which I'd say at least half were out! I even recalibrated my GPS in the middle in case it was down to that, but most of the caches I was doing was by someone I know whose GPS always seems to differ from mine.

 

Still - makes the challenge more *ahem* "fun", I suppose.

 

:sad:

By "recalibrated my GPS" I'm assuming you mean recalibrating the electronic compass. If you're doing that, then I'm assuming that you go geocaching with the compass turned on... Turn it OFF, you'll find the GPSr readings are much more stable and don't jump around so much.

Right enough someone fiddled with my GPS last week so I can see the map and compass at the same time, so I can try turning it off again. However, what's the point of having a compass if you can't use it?!

 

:(

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another myth about the magnetic compass. the compass has no influence whatsoever on the GPS readings you get.

My apologies... I was using the wrong terminology. By 'readings' I was referring to the navigation arrow rather than the indicated location co-ordinates. On my 60CSx, with the electronic compass turned on, the arrow is a lot more erratic, swinging all round the dial, than it is when the compass is turned off.

I only use the compass if I want to know which way any particular direction is and use it with 'navigation' turned off. Only then if I've forgotten to pack my Francis Barker prismatic compass... a rare occurrence.

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Right enough someone fiddled with my GPS last week so I can see the map and compass at the same time, so I can try turning it off again.

That probably doesn't have any bearing on what's being debated here. What your friend has done is most likely just make it show two things at once - the compass and map - without actually changing the way the compass works. The discussion here is about the fact that the "compass" on a GPS can work in two fundamentally different ways.

 

METHOD 1: All GPSs have the ability to work out which way you're *moving*, simply by saying "well, a little while ago you were there, and now you're here, so you must be moving north-west". They then make the crude-but-fair-enough assumption that you'll be facing in the direction you're moving, and so the compass shows that you're facing north-west as well.

 

The trouble with this is that it only works if you're moving - if you stand still and just rotate on the spot, then the GPS has no way of telling which way you're facing. So it's perfectly fine for telling you to bear right while you're walking along, but it's not so good if you're 20 metres away from a cache and trying to work out which direction you should be looking in.

 

METHOD 2: To address these problems, many higher-range GPSs also have a magnetic compass built in. In this case, the GPS really does know which way's north and so really does know which way you're facing, whether you're moving or not.

 

But even when the GPS has this feature, you can usually turn it off and drop back to the which-way-am-I-moving approach if you prefer to.

 

On my 60CSx, with the electronic compass turned on, the arrow is a lot more erratic, swinging all round the dial, than it is when the compass is turned off.

Yes, but it's swinging all around the dial because your GPS genuinely doesn't know which way the cache is - or more precisely, genuinely doesn't know quite where you are in relation to the cache. Every time it changes its mind about exactly where you are, it changes its mind about which way the cache is, so the needle swings around.

 

I'd argue that it's actually much better for you to know that your GPS is a bit confused, and hence that you maybe need to widen the search area, than it is to be confidently guided to an area which may or may not be the right one.

 

Cheers

Richard

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Only twice? I did 14 caches today, of which I'd say at least half were out! I even recalibrated my GPS in the middle in case it was down to that, but most of the caches I was doing was by someone I know whose GPS always seems to differ from mine.

 

Still - makes the challenge more *ahem* "fun", I suppose.

 

B)

By "recalibrated my GPS" I'm assuming you mean recalibrating the electronic compass. If you're doing that, then I'm assuming that you go geocaching with the compass turned on... Turn it OFF, you'll find the GPSr readings are much more stable and don't jump around so much.

 

Sorry if I sound really thick ... but what do you mean by this?

I have a Oregon 300 and this tends to do a bit of leaping around ... so I'm intigued.

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another myth about the magnetic compass. the compass has no influence whatsoever on the GPS readings you get.

My apologies... I was using the wrong terminology. By 'readings' I was referring to the navigation arrow rather than the indicated location co-ordinates. On my 60CSx, with the electronic compass turned on, the arrow is a lot more erratic, swinging all round the dial, than it is when the compass is turned off.

I only use the compass if I want to know which way any particular direction is and use it with 'navigation' turned off. Only then if I've forgotten to pack my Francis Barker prismatic compass... a rare occurrence.

 

Forget my last post, should of carried on reading the thread! B)

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Only twice? I did 14 caches today, of which I'd say at least half were out! I even recalibrated my GPS in the middle in case it was down to that, but most of the caches I was doing was by someone I know whose GPS always seems to differ from mine.

 

Still - makes the challenge more *ahem* "fun", I suppose.

 

B)

By "recalibrated my GPS" I'm assuming you mean recalibrating the electronic compass. If you're doing that, then I'm assuming that you go geocaching with the compass turned on... Turn it OFF, you'll find the GPSr readings are much more stable and don't jump around so much.

Can you do that on an Etrex???? asks hopefully????

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At this point, I'm totally confused, so I'll just nod and thank those who bothered to reply.

 

Normally I have no problems with navigation and seem to have found over 1200 in 20 months or so without too much difficulty, so I must have been doing something right.

 

Just don't ask me how technology works!

 

B)

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METHOD 1: All GPSs have the ability to work out which way you're *moving*, simply by saying "well, a little while ago you were there, and now you're here, so you must be moving north-west". They then make the crude-but-fair-enough assumption that you'll be facing in the direction you're moving, and so the compass shows that you're facing north-west as well.

.......

 

METHOD 2: To address these problems, many higher-range GPSs also have a magnetic compass built in. In this case, the GPS really does know which way's north and so really does know which way you're facing, whether you're moving or not.

 

But even when the GPS has this feature, you can usually turn it off and drop back to the which-way-am-I-moving approach if you prefer to.

 

 

Even with your compass turned on(set to Auto, rather than Off), a Garmin GPS will default to Method 1 above while you're moving - and only revert to magnetic compass when you are stationary.....

Edited by keehotee
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Even with your compass turned on(set to Auto, rather than Off), a Garmin GPS will default to Method 1 above while you're moving - and only revert to magnetic compass when you are stationary.....

 

My 60CSx doesn't seem to have an 'Auto' mode... It's either On or Off... and where, if you don't mind me asking, did you find out that Garmin GPSrs always use 'Method 1' whilst on the move? Does this apply to all Garmin models that have an electronic compass or just some? The reason I ask is that there is a very big difference in the stability of the navigation arrow on my 60 depending on whether the compass is turned on or off and that is independent of whether I'm moving or not. If your statement is correct, then I would have expected to see no difference whilst I was moving and this is just not the case.

 

EDIT....

Having just had a look at through the Owner's Manual for my 60, I see that you are... in part... correct. The GPSr does indeed switch to using satellite data whilst on the move... BUT only after you reach a preset speed. It switches back to electronic mode after you've been stationary for a preset time. That speed, on my 60CSx was set to 10 m.p.h. and the switch back time period was 90 seconds. With the best will in the World, I can't walk at 10 m.p.h so in fact, my GPSr uses the electronic compass whilst I'm moving (if it's switched on).

The switching speed and time are user settable and as I've never changed them, I have to assume that 10 m.p.h is the 'default' setting and, I suspect, set that high to differentiate between walking and driving.

Edited by Pharisee
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Even with your compass turned on(set to Auto, rather than Off), a Garmin GPS will default to Method 1 above while you're moving - and only revert to magnetic compass when you are stationary.....

 

My 60CSx doesn't seem to have an 'Auto' mode... It's either On or Off... and where, if you don't mind me asking, did you find out that Garmin GPSrs always use 'Method 1' whilst on the move? Does this apply to all Garmin models that have an electronic compass or just some? The reason I ask is that there is a very big difference in the stability of the navigation arrow on my 60 depending on whether the compass is turned on or off and that is independent of whether I'm moving or not. If your statement is correct, then I would have expected to see no difference whilst I was moving and this is just not the case.

 

If your GPS hasn't got an "Auto" mode for compass then I wouldn't worry about it - carry on as you were. :laughing:

 

Newer GPSs, with Auto, will behave as described above.

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Even with your compass turned on(set to Auto, rather than Off), a Garmin GPS will default to Method 1 above while you're moving - and only revert to magnetic compass when you are stationary.....

 

My 60CSx doesn't seem to have an 'Auto' mode... It's either On or Off... and where, if you don't mind me asking, did you find out that Garmin GPSrs always use 'Method 1' whilst on the move? Does this apply to all Garmin models that have an electronic compass or just some? The reason I ask is that there is a very big difference in the stability of the navigation arrow on my 60 depending on whether the compass is turned on or off and that is independent of whether I'm moving or not. If your statement is correct, then I would have expected to see no difference whilst I was moving and this is just not the case.

 

If your GPS hasn't got an "Auto" mode for compass then I wouldn't worry about it - carry on as you were. :laughing:

 

Newer GPSs, with Auto, will behave as described above.

 

Just edited my previous post while you were typing a reply... :D

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Wife and I were looking for a cache the other day and the co-ordiantes had us half way up a street off the main road. After checking the cachee details we headed back to the main road and found the cache pretty quickly. When we logged we said the co-ordiantes were off.

did you also say in your log by how much they were off and in what direction, or better yet take a reading yourself at the cache location and post the coordinates?

 

just saying that the coords are off doesn't help anybody. posting updated coordinates yourself is helpful to both cachers coming after you and the CO.

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The switching speed and time are user settable and as I've never changed them, I have to assume that 10 m.p.h is the 'default' setting and, I suspect, set that high to differentiate between walking and driving.

 

... by someone who has never attempted to drive on the M25 I'd suspect ...

Not so, not so..... I've spent many happy(?) hours in slow moving / stationary traffic on the circular carpark. I have to use it to reach my brother in Kent and a couple of good friends in Surrey.

OK... there ARE alternative routes but they all take as long, if not longer than staying on the M25.

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