Just saying hello (new here!)

[+porteletpaul]

Hi there

I'm new here but have done a little bit of geocaching locally (Channel Islands) with a borrowed Garmin Oregon 550 gps and also with relatives and their iphone. I'm about to renew my mobile phone, and am thinking of getting the HTC desire - does anyone use this for geocaching...? Any advice would be very graetfully received!

Am a bit overwhelmed by the amount of info to take in, but can already see how addictive geocaching is!

Kindest regards to you from across the pond

[+CnJnA]

Email sent

Edited February 14, 2011 by CnJnA

[+maiawalli]

Hey there,

Welcome to the addiction!

You'll get a mixed set of answers on here I think, but here's my experience. I don't know about the HTC as I use an iPhone, but 99% of the time it's good enough to find caches. It'll frequently get the accuracy down to a metre or two when you walk it in. With the added abilities of being able to look at the cache page out in the field it makes it a good bit of kit.

One thing I'd not use it for is for hiding a cache as I don't think it's accurate enough for that. it very easy to get inaccurate readings with a phone GPS particularly when they've just been turned on, though from what I hear some people do use it to hide caches successfully. I guess if you're going to use it to hide caches then take care.

Also id recommend finding a good few caches before you hide any. You'll get a bit of experience of what makes a good hide/ location/ container etc,

Whatever you decide enjoy the hunt. Soon you'll be booking trips to get caches all over the world.

[feedete]

Hi, I'm new too

 

I use my HTC Desire alongside my partner's Garmin and it does the job of finding caches very nicely. I do think the Garmin has better accuracy but not by much and as another poster said, being able to check details, search for nearby caches etc when 'in the field' is really valuable.

[+little-miss-naughty]

hello newbies,

 

i have the desire its a fab phone and not to bad at finding the caches but if ur in it for the long term id invest in a seprate hand held unit aswell i just use my phone as a back up.

 

lmn

[+*mouse*]

You can certainly cache with a Desire - various apps you can download (free or paid).

 

I own a different model HTC phone and although it's not as good as a oregon it is good enough to get you to ground zero.

[+porteletpaul]

Hey there,

Welcome to the addiction!

You'll get a mixed set of answers on here I think, but here's my experience. I don't know about the HTC as I use an iPhone, but 99% of the time it's good enough to find caches. It'll frequently get the accuracy down to a metre or two when you walk it in. With the added abilities of being able to look at the cache page out in the field it makes it a good bit of kit.

One thing I'd not use it for is for hiding a cache as I don't think it's accurate enough for that. it very easy to get inaccurate readings with a phone GPS particularly when they've just been turned on, though from what I hear some people do use it to hide caches successfully. I guess if you're going to use it to hide caches then take care.

Also id recommend finding a good few caches before you hide any. You'll get a bit of experience of what makes a good hide/ location/ container etc,

Whatever you decide enjoy the hunt. Soon you'll be booking trips to get caches all over the world.

Thank you for your reply - it's very helpful! I haven't tried hiding any caches yet, think it'l be a while before I know what to do, but I do appreciate your advice about it. Thanks :-)

[+porteletpaul]

Hi, I'm new too

 

I use my HTC Desire alongside my partner's Garmin and it does the job of finding caches very nicely. I do think the Garmin has better accuracy but not by much and as another poster said, being able to check details, search for nearby caches etc when 'in the field' is really valuable.

 

Thank you! Think I may have to treat myself to a HTC AND a garmin. Ho hum

[+porteletpaul]

hello newbies,

 

i have the desire its a fab phone and not to bad at finding the caches but if ur in it for the long term id invest in a seprate hand held unit aswell i just use my phone as a back up.

 

lmn

 

I can feel a big spend coming on lol... need to convince hubby I need a posh new phone and a handheld gps....wish me luck! (and thanks for your reply btw)

[+porteletpaul]

You can certainly cache with a Desire - various apps you can download (free or paid).

 

I own a different model HTC phone and although it's not as good as a oregon it is good enough to get you to ground zero.

 

Thank you Mouse - the oregon was impressive, but I'm thinking that perhaps I need to see how addicted I become, before investing in one...they're quite pricey. (or dare I mention the 'C' word and wait and ask Father Christmas!)

[+porteletpaul]

Email sent

 

Thanks for your email Clare - your feedback about the HTC was very, very helpful. Apparently you can get extra battery packs for it, but I need to look into it a bit more I think! Thanks again!

[+little-miss-naughty]

santa got me my oregon last year lol my best chrimbo prezzie ever he also got me my membership

 

lmn

[+porteletpaul]

santa got me my oregon last year lol my best chrimbo prezzie ever he also got me my membership

 

lmn

 

What a great Christmas you had! (Not sure I can wait that long though...what with the summer coming, and my birtday's in July lol

[+DiscPete]

I'm fairly new to this, so I'm not sure how valid my opinion will be, but it's an opinion nonetheless.

 

I have only ever used phones for geocaching, in fact that's how I got into it, and as more phones get built-in gps, I'm sure a lot more people will do the same. Not sure if that's a good thing, as I kinda like the semi-exclusivity of this sport.

 

My last phone was an HTC Hero and it worked very well. I have now upgraded to an HTC Desire HD, so not exactly the same as the phone in this thread, but close enough hopefully. The reason I chose the HD was for the built in maps, so hopefully avoiding continuous data fees.

 

I understand the advantages of a dedicated unit, and really liked the look of the Oregon 550t, but couldn't justify the price of that and a phone, so in my case, I have compromised with a phone which will do pretty much all I need for geocaching (at this stage anyway), and will do a whole lot more besides.

 

I'm sure there are more, but for now the main advantages of a dedicated unit is that it is a lot more rugged, is more waterproof and I'm sure it is a lot easier to input gps co-ordinates than I am currently finding with my phone. A shockproof case, as well as front and rear protectors (as well as simply just being careful!) will help with the first two, and more practise will help with the third.

 

On the phone's 'plus' side, I love using Google maps and Streetview to get a great look at where I am or where I need to go, but of course that won't apply if you don't have a signal. I also like being able to post logs straight away, but again only if your have a signal.

 

There seems to be split opinions as to the accuracy of gps in phones, but in all honesty, so far mine has been very accurate (to within a couple of metres mostly) as was the case with my Hero. Signal loss can be an issue under cover but so far that hasn't prevented me from finding any caches. I understand that dedicated GPS units can be more accurate, and are often better under thick cover, but so far my phone has been accurate enough to find each cache within a fairly close distance.

 

For now, I think my phone will be more than adequate for geocaching, and I'm certainly not of the opinion that it is a case of Jack of all trades and master of none; I really think that the new phones are more than a match for dedicated units (or pretty close to it) and offer a lot more besides, providing you can

accommodate for any of their weak points. Having said that, I see the latest GPS units are having touch screens and built-in cameras too, so the boundaries are getting ever closer, if not crossing occasionally.

 

Edit: Oh yes, battery life is also an issue with phones, but as mentioned above, there are always workarounds. Not just for geocaching, but for any trip away where you may need a phone, such as camping. There are rechargeable battery packs, such as the Power Monkeys, spare batteries, solar chargers and so on.

Edited February 22, 2011 by DiscPete

[+porteletpaul]

Thank you very much DiscPete for a thorough and helpful reply. I think that for the time being a phone will be adequate for my geocaching needs, perhaps if I end up doing more I can find a gps too (buying both seems excessive at the mo!).

Thanks again - very kind to give your time to this and the advice/feedback is much appreciated.

[+Afterburned]

Hi PortletPaul,

I have been caching for about a year with a HTC Desire using Cachemate software (hope it is OK to mention the software?) - works fine for me and is usually about as accurate as my caching buddy's cheap Garmin. I occasionally have to turn off & on to reset the magnetic compass but I work in IT and am used to that!

 

Great caching scene here on the rock, very friendly, take your time and enjoy each cache - I sped through them too fast and now they are running out!

[+kjedds]

A newbie here, I started geocaching just over a week ago. Luckily there's lots in my area, so it should keep me busy for a while. I'm using a HTC Desire HD phone, which so far seems to be pretty good. I found my first nano cache yesterday, very satisfying. I read somewhere about looking on ebay - geocache page, then you can get an idea what some of the different caches look like, which helped. There's one or two caches that I can't find, but I'll go back and have another look. If anybody lives in the Stockport area and know's of any interesting caches in the area, let me know, thanks

[+porteletpaul]

Hi Afterburned and kjedds

So nice of you to leave a message - sounds like the HTC could do the job well for me (can't afford the htc and a high spec gps at the mo!) I just don't want to have to print loads of stuff off before I go,so I guess the HTC and perhaps 'cachemate' or similar (if we're allowed to mention it - don't want to offend) would be adequate.

kjedds - I don't know what a nano cache is, so I think I need to read the glossary asap!

Afterburned - are you on the asme 'rock' then? have found 3/4 so far, but not linked them into this site - just used my bro's garmin

Thanks again guys

[+Afterburned]

Afterburned - are you on the asme 'rock' then? have found 3/4 so far, but not linked them into this site - just used my bro's garmin

 

Yep, unless your rock begins with G then we are on the same one! (oh - or A, S or H)

Hold on - you have found 3 out of 4? Are you in Alderney?

 

It is good to log your finds on the site, if nothing else it lets the Cache Owner know that the cache is still OK, I enjoy writing lots on my logs as I enjoy reading them when people find my caches.

 

With the mobile phone charges over here I have found the (mentioned before) software to be the best as it does not try to use the internet connection all the time, however I have a premium membership (£30ish a year) to geocaching.com which allows me to download all the caches on the island in one go and drop them on to the phone.

There is an official app for Andriod that I have not tried but again I think it uses the internet a lot - you can get to that from the main geocaching.com page.

 

Enjoy - Jersey has lots of decent caches! (for anyone in the UK reading this we have 230 caches on a 9x5mile island - caching holiday heaven!)