+topmonkey Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Hello all I'd just like to introduce myself, ask a few questions and become acquainted with this forum. I'm a geography teacher in a high school in Norfolk, UK. I only discovered geocaching a couple of weeks ago (through one of my students actually) and I just can't believe that I've been missing out on all the fun over the last 10 years. I also can't quite believe that as a geography teacher I've not come across this magnificent way to spend your time until now! I mean I really thought someone might have mentioned it whilst I was on a training course or something similar. So it was left to a 13 year old girl to introduce me to what I think could be a really important hobby for the rest of my life. I'm hooked, completely addicted and loving every minute so far. I have a family with young children so I can't just go out at the drop of a hat. I have an 8 year old daughter and she normally comes out with me and enjoys it nearly as much as I do Having quickly realised that basic membership simply would not suffice (probably about 3 days in) I'm now a premium member enjoying the ability to build PQ's and search around for caches with google maps as well as giving myself a chance at being FTF some local caches (none so far ) I have an iPhone 3GS and have been successfully finding local caches for a couple of weeks, which brings me on to asking the first of 2 questions that I'd love someone to get back to me on if they feel able... 1) Is an iPhone really that bad at helping to find caches? I completely understand the fact that the accuracy of the GPS on the iPhone is not amazing and I can easily see its limitations when placing a cache, but surely when used in conjunction with the satellite images from the geocaching app its no different to having the coordinates plugged into a GPSr is it? I mean, the green waypoint on the iPhone geocaching app is exactly the same as the location of the green waypoint on geocaching.com. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a lovely GPS unit but hey, I'm not made of money, I'm new to the obsession and I can always invest in one in the future. I'm not about to start placing my own caches just yet (I've only found 11 thus far and would like to get much more of a feel for how they are placed. Maybe I'll celebrate by placing one after my 50th find or something?) 2) Are you 'allowed' to ask the owner of a cache a couple of questions about one of their caches? Let me explain... I've already logged a couple of DNF's and I completely understand the point of logging them. I contacted a cache owner to ask for a further hint as to the location of a cache I couldn't find. I logged a DNF after asking for a hint. To his credit the guy answered my email within about 15 minutes but gave me no further help than previous log entries had. I emailed him again to explain that I had looked at the log entries and please could I have a further hint. He hasn't got back to me. Is that likely to be because I'm being too pushy asking for help? Is it not the done thing to ask a couple of questions about a cache I can't find? Any help on these two issues much appreciated. I'm thrilled to have found this exciting hobby and I'm looking forward to many happy years of caching cheers in anticipation of any reply... topmonkey Quote Link to comment
+keehotee Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Hello - and welcome aboard.... 1) Is an iPhone really that bad at helping to find caches? No - your iPhone (or any other GPS enabled phone) will be fine for finding caches, as long as.... It's not raining. It's not snowing. You don't mind it getting covered in mud occasionally. You don't want to walk/cache for longer than a few hours without a power source. You've got a data signal - or you've loaded maps before you go out 2) Are you 'allowed' to ask the owner of a cache a couple of questions about one of their caches? Yes - of course you're allowed to ask. Whether or not you get a sensible, or even helpful, answer will depend on the cache owner though Have fun Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Hello all I'd just like to introduce myself, ask a few questions and become acquainted with this forum. Welcome ... I'm not about to start placing my own caches just yet (I've only found 11 thus far and would like to get much more of a feel for how they are placed. Maybe I'll celebrate by placing one after my 50th find or something?) Praise the Frog! You don't know how happy I am to read that! Are you 'allowed' to ask the owner of a cache a couple of questions about one of their caches? It's absolutely fine to ask the cache owner for an extra clue or a bit of help - Some will be happy to hand it to you on a plate, others won't want to give you any extra hints - It depends on the owner and (sometimes) on how new the cache is. It sounds as though that particular owner doesn't want to give any more away than what's already on the page. I suggest you put the cache on your Watchlist, go away and find some different ones and then come back to it in 3 or 4 months (and by then you may well walk straight to it saying, "How could I have missed seeing that originally?") Happy caching MrsB Quote Link to comment
+mollyjak Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Welcome and beware this can quickly become an addiction I sent out 5 travel bugs from a junior school 6 years ago and use Geocaching as part of our Geography work - the kids love it. I took them out last year to search for 7 caches (ours ) on a Nature Reserve they took it in turns and signed the logs!! Quote Link to comment
+topmonkey Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Thanks very much for your swift replies... I've already been thinking about ways to use geocaching in my teaching of geography. I'll just gain a few more months experience first before switching my kids onto this amazing hobby! Quote Link to comment
+Beds Clangers Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 There is a EAC (East Anglia Cachers) group forum on facebook!!! You will be able to greet/meet the locals cachers in the area. I'm a bit far West (Bedford) to help. Cheers Nick Quote Link to comment
+reddeeps Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 You dont teach in Downham market do you? As my 13 yo dd told her geog teacher about this. There is this local forum (with several other teachers as well) http://eageomobbers.org.uk/index/ the co might be a member, not sure which cache you are struggling with Quote Link to comment
+Skittler Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 1) Is an iPhone really that bad at helping to find caches? No - your iPhone (or any other GPS enabled phone) will be fine for finding caches, as long as.... It's not raining. It's not snowing. You don't mind it getting covered in mud occasionally. You don't want to walk/cache for longer than a few hours without a power source. You've got a data signal - or you've loaded maps before you go out The iPhone is less accurate than a dedicated GPSr when tracking to a location. Having said that, I have only ever used an iPhone 3GS for geocaching, never a GPSr. Allegedly the iPhone 4 is better (and of course the iPhone 5 is due out in 6 months). But the OP's original point is correct: If you are using the satellite map view on the iPhone (in Groundspeak's App, or Motion X, or Google Earth) to pinpoint the cache location (not to attempt to pinpoint your actual current location with maximum accuracy) then it is of course as accurate as anything can be, i.e. to 3 decimal places of a minute, because you are simply viewing the provided coords on a map and the accuracy of your current location is irrelevant. So, when using an iPhone I tend to use the map/compass to get near to the probable location, then revert to the satellite view and try and identify significant features such as a slightly bigger tree, or a tree of a different species which stands out in the satellite view. Using that, you can often pinpoint the cache location to within a circle of only a couple of metres in radius - far more accurate than the iPhone's GPS will achieve. Quote Link to comment
+burtsbodgers Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi Welcome to the obsession. The iPhone is ok but be warned using it in conjunction with the google maps can be misleading. Quite often the position of the marker will not actually be where the cache is! Once again it will be in the vicinity but could be showing the tree on the opposite side of the path. Also when you get further into the field as such and loose signal the iphone will be a lot less accurate or may not even function at all. From the teaching aspect "earth Caches" are more educational but less fun for children to find, so it would be best to find or set up a small series with a variety of different caches. Children tend to be more interested in the containers and tech rather than the location. Also be warned many children in their teens find it uncool and boring, so you will have a few in a class that just wont play along. With caches that you just cant find remember that the cache owner may want it to be a struggle, and some get great satisfaction from watching DNF logs flood in, so please log your DFS it makes my day It could be that a further hint will just make it to easy, so bear in mind the difficulty rating, i have visited caches as many as 5 times before finding it, which makes it a lot more fun when you find it. have fun Quote Link to comment
+Original A1 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Welcome aboard! It's especially encouraging to learn that a geography teacher is onto the hobby (I'm sure plenty of folk on here are geography-orientated too). I think most of the advice has already been given to you. All I'd say about the iphone, which I have used, is that it's been perfectly good for finding caches on the rare occasions I don't have the GPS to hand. However, it chews up battery life, so use sparingly, and as you'll know, it's not waterproof, something which is really not worth risking in the sometimes hazardous pursuit of a little tupperware box, etc. I'd strongly encourage checking out the caches you want to aim for before leaving home as the signal can sometimes disappear completely when you're nearer the caches themselves, and there's nothing more annoying than knowing there's something nearby without being about to access the correct info. Sadly, this doesn't suit my more spontaneous method of caching, but for the more organised, it's very useful. As regards owners, they're a mixed bunch. I have a rather tricky cache which has marginally more DNFs than finds, and for reasons which would become obvious when you found it, I really don't want to give any hints whatsoever about how to find it. For others, if someone approaches me, I'm usually happy to give a little extra direction on how to find. Be prepared to get the whole answer from some and nothing from others (including no response at all). Likewise, those setting puzzles may not want to disclose too much about how to solve them because that's part of the fun! Aren't we an evil lot? Greatly encouraged to hear that you're taking the sensible approach about hides - definitely better to get a really good feel for what it involves and setting quality caches rather than going all out just for the sake of hiding new caches. Don't forget they take a bit of maintaining, so it's worth being selective. Finally, if you are hiding any, I'd STRONGLY recommend using a GPS rather than the iphone which is notoriously inaccurate on the hiding front. If that means borrowing one, why not? I wonder whether it might be worth investing in a "GPS jar" wherein you put in a nominal sum of money (5p, 10p, £1?) per cache found according to your capabilities? That doesn't mean you raid it for a consolation drink if you get a heap of DNFs! But hopefully that might start to raise funds for one of your own. Ebay's not a bad place to search for second-hand models (I'm not sure, but perhaps Garmin themselves might have ex-display/old models that they recycle?). Good luck and have fun! Quote Link to comment
+Graculus Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi and Welcome!! When it comes to placing your first cache you may find my resource website useful (link also below my signature). There is a lot of information about the guidelines, getting permission and much more. A section on GPS receivers (and a bit about phones too!). Links to lots of useful sites such as the maps we use when reviewing caches for publication. You should also check out the Geocaching Association of Great Britain (GAGB) as they also have a lot of useful info about caching in the UK (they also have a forum). Regards Chris Graculus Volunteer UK cache Reviewer for geocaching.com UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk Geocaching.com Knowledge Books Quote Link to comment
+topmonkey Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks to all who viewed and replied to my original post. Most useful comments from all of you. I'm up to 13 finds now Quote Link to comment
+Mark+Karen Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 1) Is an iPhone really that bad at helping to find caches? I completely understand the fact that the accuracy of the GPS on the iPhone is not amazing and I can easily see its limitations when placing a cache, but surely when used in conjunction with the satellite images from the geocaching app its no different to having the coordinates plugged into a GPSr is it? I mean, the green waypoint on the iPhone geocaching app is exactly the same as the location of the green waypoint on geocaching.com. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a lovely GPS unit but hey, I'm not made of money, I'm new to the obsession and I can always invest in one in the future. I'm not about to start placing my own caches just yet (I've only found 11 thus far and would like to get much more of a feel for how they are placed. Maybe I'll celebrate by placing one after my 50th find or something?) For finding caches, it doesn't really matter. As long as you can make your way to the location, be that via GPS, satellite images or just using a map and grid reference. I've found a few caches by looking at the satellite image on my PC then going out armed with nothing more than a pen, and found them just fine! The 3GS has a rad reputation for GPS, however the iPhone 4 which I have is much better, except under tree cover! I've used it to place all my caches and although many here will shreak with horror at that thought, the coorindates given were spot on, and I've verified that fact with maps, and sat images and had other cachers posts that my coords were spot on! Quote Link to comment
+GAZ Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thanks to all who viewed and replied to my original post. Most useful comments from all of you. I'm up to 13 finds now Oh no........13 finds........that's unlucky, you'd better go out and find some more! Gaz Quote Link to comment
+topmonkey Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 It's OK I didn't stay on 13 long. My 14th was a FTF too! Quote Link to comment
+Skittler Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 It's OK I didn't stay on 13 long. My 14th was a FTF too! Lucky you. Took me over 200 to get an FTF ! Quote Link to comment
+ventura_kids Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 2. E-mail some previous finders for hints ! I was surprised no one suggested this often used method of getting hints. Many geocachers go in groups after events, and even save each others phone numbers (life-lines) for future help. Quote Link to comment
+keehotee Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) 2. E-mail some previous finders for hints ! I was surprised no one suggested this often used method of getting hints. Many geocachers go in groups after events, and even save each others phone numbers (life-lines) for future help. A fair point. In fact, why bother working out a puzzle or multi at all when you can just ask your mates for the final co-ords........as seems to happen far too often in some places! :laughing: I'd still say asking the CO should be your first option. Edited March 1, 2011 by keehotee Quote Link to comment
+currykev Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 2. E-mail some previous finders for hints ! I was surprised no one suggested this often used method of getting hints. Many geocachers go in groups after events, and even save each others phone numbers (life-lines) for future help. Aaaah. The popular "PAF" method. "Post A Find" by any means. Much used by those that have trouble logging a DNF. Some may call it cheating. Quote Link to comment
+topmonkey Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 I'd like to find the vast majority of my finds on my own or with perhaps a clue from the CO... Quote Link to comment
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