Garmin eTrex H

[+jfpseekers]

Newbies have had a good, fun afternoon out but how reliant should we be on the GPS receiver? Ours kept sending us off in completely the wrong direction and it was only local knowledge that enabled us to locate answers to the waypoint quiz questions. Help / advice will be much appreciated!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Newbies have had a good, fun afternoon out but how reliant should we be on the GPS receiver? Ours kept sending us off in completely the wrong direction and it was only local knowledge that enabled us to locate answers to the waypoint quiz questions. Help / advice will be much appreciated!

What's that thing about the airplane pilot that doesn't believe his instruments.............?

 

Perhaps you need to develop understanding of what the GPSr will/won't do and how it can behave under different circumstances. Now, I don't know what circumstances were involved in your case, but there are things that will make it want to behave in a manner other than what you desire.

 

If you are close to a waypoint, it can jump around a lot, especially if you are moving slowly. At 20' - 30' (this distance too, can vary), stop paying attention to the GPSr and pay attention to the hunt. Look for the cache (or other waypoint) or its' hiding spot, rather than the GPSr.

 

I suppose it is possible, but I just haven't heard of a GPSr being unreliable. Either it works or it doesn't, reliability comes down more to operator use. We have GPSr units that were manufactured in 1999, 2006, 2009 and they all put us within a reasonable proximity.

[shrekTBA]

I always triple check that I put in the right numbers, being off by 1 can be a huge difference. Also, once close, when the GPSr says that I am there or withing 10ft and it starts jumping around, I drop my pack or something else to mark center and then walk in circles that get bigger and bigger if I don't see what i need to. I do this until I find it or get more than about 50 feet from the pack. Then I recheck everything again. If it is right, I go about 100 ft away in several directions and see where the GPSr is telling me to go and try to average out where I should be. sometimes, the hider did not wait until the GPSr has settled down enough for a position that is accurate, if they are within 50ft accuracy, and you are within 50ft accuracy and of that reading, you can be 100ft from the intended location, had that happen as well. When I am hiding, and most of the time when seeking, we have a couple of different units along and we use both of them to find where we should be. In learning a GPSr, this can be a life saver when it comes to survival situations, teaches you how close you can get, but still have to rely on yourself

[+jfpseekers]

Thank you for all this advice. I'm sure, with practice, we'll manage better than we did today. Meanwhile, it'll be fun learning!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

jfpseekers, you are wise beyond your years. Practice is the key. The more you practice the more you learn the idiosyncrasies of GPSr units.

[+StarBrand]

Newbies have had a good, fun afternoon out but how reliant should we be on the GPS receiver? Ours kept sending us off in completely the wrong direction and it was only local knowledge that enabled us to locate answers to the waypoint quiz questions. Help / advice will be much appreciated!

Our handheld units have a general accuracy of around 15 to 25 feet under most conditions. That means you will see some wonky looking readings within 15 to 25 feet of the cache. put the GPS away and start looking for likely hiding spots.

 

Here are some general hints:

 

Look for caches with a difficulty of 2 or less for your fist few caches. Stick with regular sized caches for your first few. Micros can be quite hard to find sometimes. Stick to areas you are familiar with. Look for anything out of place or unusual. Look for unusual piles of sticks, grass, leaves, rocks, sand, etc. Feel where you cannot look. Think vertical, not all caches are on the ground. Look up or at eye level. Look for traces of previous searches to zero in on the spot. Think like the hider - where would you put a container in this location? Look for things too new, too old, too perfect, not like the others, too many, too few. Change your perspective - a shift in lighting can sometimes reveal a cache. Keep in mind that many micros are magnetic or attached to something (via string, wire etc). Slowly expand your search area to about 40 feet from where your GPS says ground zero is. Bring garden gloves and a flashlight - they help! Be prepared to not find the cache more often then you think.

 

Most of all - have fun!!