Accuracy of Garmin Colorado 400t

[+Snow Days]

I have tried to find two micro caches, with no luck. I am not sure if it the operator or the machine. How accurate is the Garmin Colorado? If it says I am on top of it, am I or am I many feet away? I plan on looking again, but think I will be better off searching for something larger to get started.

[+Cacheoholic]

It depends on many factors. Mostly how accurate are the cache hider’s coords? Are there any high buildings or other obstacles blocking or bouncing your signal? I would say normally (if there is any such thing as normally) you should be within 30’ if the cache hider took their time and did a good job with the coords.

[+Red90]

If the hider's coordinates are good and there are not obstructions causing a bad signal, you should be within 15' of the cache assuming you take time to get good coordinates as well.

[+GeekBoy.from.Illinois]

The other posters covered things fairly well, but I will add one more factor. If your unit has not had the software updates applied, it could be off by over 70-100 feet. I owned and used a Colorado 300 for a year and I had a few times when I was standing right on top a cache and it reported me to be 70 feet away. A quick (if you could call it that at the time) power cycle, and the GPSr reported me to be 6-7 feet away. After I replaced my Colorado with an Oregon 400t, I had a couple instances of it doing the same. At one point it was over 350 feet off track from where I really was (as compared to my wife's older Garmin 60Cx). I can't say that I've seen it that bad with the most recent software updates though.

[flyjazz]

Been using a Colorado for almost three years and it has performed very well from a accuracy point of view. As mentioned already,make sure you're running the latest firmware. Early on when the Colorado was released 3 years ago,they were very troublesome,many members on this forum can attest to that. I never lost faith and to this day it's been a great GPS on my journey's to every corner of the earth.

[+Snow Days]

Thank you all. I recently bought it (over the summer) so I am guessing it is all up to date. I will look into what software, firmware and power cycle are and see if they need updating (Not sure how to do all that so any help on that subject would also be helpful) In the meantime, I believe I will start out with some normal size caches instead of the micro or nano. Until I looked on line this week, I had no clue that there was so many sneaky cache containers. I look forward to these expert challenges after a little experience.

 

Enjoy.

[+kini_ont]

Yes the best thing you could do is to start with larger caches then micro's, work your self do to that size or cache with a partner for them at first. As for learning how to use, FAQ and much more information on your Colorado go to Wiki Colorado for that and enjoy I love mine

[+New Jersey TJ]

Thank you all. I recently bought it (over the summer) so I am guessing it is all up to date. I will look into what software, firmware and power cycle are and see if they need updating (Not sure how to do all that so any help on that subject would also be helpful)

 

 

To insure your unit is up-to-date, you need to install the Garmin Web Updater ( http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp ). Connect your GPS to your computer and run the Web Updater. It will check the firmware version and update it if required.

[+Cacheoholic]

Keep in mind the WebUpdater won’t do Bata updates. But since the Colorado is discontinued one wouldn’t expect any further software updates of any kind unless Garmin sees it in their heart to make it chirp compatible?

[+briansnat]

If the hider's coordinates are good and there are not obstructions causing a bad signal, you should be within 15' of the cache assuming you take time to get good coordinates as well.

Note the ifs. The cache can sometimes be 40 or more feet from where your GPS says it is, though most of the time it will be within 15-20 feet. Rarely will be be right on top of it. Out of all my finds I probably can count all the times my GPS right on the cache on all my hands and toes, with a few left over.

[+solo63137]

I have tried to find two micro caches, with no luck. I am not sure if it the operator or the machine. How accurate is the Garmin Colorado? If it says I am on top of it, am I or am I many feet away? I plan on looking again, but think I will be better off searching for something larger to get started.

 

Others have covered things pretty well, but being a fellow Colorado owner, here are a few tips...

 

Make sure you have fresh batts (I noticed the other day when my batts got low, it started acting a tad jumpy)

 

Calibrate the Compass (When was the last time you did this? I do it almost every time I change Batts or if it seems off)

 

Keep moving (keep moving in circles and criss cross patterns to find your Ground Zero, Mark it, now imagine that as the center of a 30' circle)

 

I really like my Colorado and don't know of another unit, I'd rather have...

[+coggins]

I have tried to find two micro caches, with no luck. I am not sure if it the operator or the machine. How accurate is the Garmin Colorado? If it says I am on top of it, am I or am I many feet away? I plan on looking again, but think I will be better off searching for something larger to get started.

mico caches, as a start? You could be on top of one, be stairing at it and not see it

 

Start out with something normal or large until you find a few, I've seen micro caches as small as a dime...