Getting coordinates with an android.

[Edward.B]

Ok so I have a droid 2 global that I have been using to locate caches and what not through the official Geocaching.com app and c:geo (perferred). I am new to the whole thing (I've only got 4 finds) but already I'm ready to hide my first one!! So I spent an hour working on the container, had the girls at Staples make a custom fit log book, and found just the right trinkets for the kids, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to "hide" or "plant" the cache. I kind of thought I would just be standing where it was to be hidden and one of the apps on the phone would allow me to create the cache based on my current GPS location, but I was wrong.

 

So I guess I need some help, does somebody out there use a android powered device to hide caches, and if so how do you get your coordinates from your phone??

 

I hope to have this down pat by Saturday as its supposed to be nice out then and I'd love to make this hide!! Any help will be much appreciated!!

[Edward.B]

Ok so yall can disregard ... right after posting here I found a septate android app that does nothing but display my coordinates ... so now I'm good!! Come Saturday morning, I will head out into the woods to deploy this:

 

Edited March 30, 2011 by policefreq

[+dfx]

Ok so yall can disregard ... right after posting here I found a septate android app that does nothing but display my coordinates ... so now I'm good!!

 

No, not really. Find something that will properly average the coordinates. Don't try to place a cache using a snapshot reading of coordinates only. Average them and test them by using them to navigate back to the cache.

[+StarBrand]

None of the smartphones are known for highly accurate coordinates for placing caches. Test. Test. Test.

 

Also - just as a side note, make sure you read through all of the guidelines (linked in my sig below) throughly before heading out to place a cache. Then, when you get done, go back and read them again. After that, wait a few hours and go back and really read them this time. If your proposed cache fits nicely into all of them, your cache will be published quickly and with no issues.

[Edward.B]

Thank you both for your comments. I had to run out to do some shopping last night and I hit 2 geocaches belonging to other people along the way. At both sites I took down the coordinates from my phone and compared them to the coordinates posted online and we were almost a perfect match. I plan to run out to the "hide" tonight and get the coordinates as sort of a test run and see where they plot on the map.

 

I'm sort of a perfectionist, so believe me this will be done by the books!!

 

Thanks again, and if you know the name of any Android apps that average the coordinates please do share ... paid apps preferred!!

[+dfx]

At both sites I took down the coordinates from my phone and compared them to the coordinates posted online and we were almost a perfect match.

Since you didn't give any specific numbers: A difference of 0.001 in the minutes can already make a difference of 6 feet. If you're off by 0.002 in both directions, you're off by 14 feet, which is quite a lot by modern GPS standards already.

 

Of course using a cache for coordinate comparison doesn't quite work in the first place, because you don't know how good its coordinates are.

 

I plan to run out to the "hide" tonight and get the coordinates as sort of a test run and see where they plot on the map.

Also not necessarily a good idea. The resolution and accuracy of maps like Google and Bing are well below what GPS receivers are capable of, which means that they're only good for telling of the coords are way off or not.

[Edward.B]

Although I appreciate your input, it would be nice if you gave some suggestions of how to do it better, rather than pointing out a fault and leaving me hanging ...

Edited March 30, 2011 by policefreq

[+dfx]

Although I appreciate your input, it would be nice if you gave some suggestions of how to do it better, rather than pointing out a fault and leaving me hanging ...

 

I already told you: averaging and testing. I don't know any application that does averaging since I never needed one, but I'm sure somebody else does. You can also do a forum search, it's a topic that surfaces quite frequently. I believe there's an app simply called "GPS averaging" or some such. I can't tell how good its results are, but it's your best bet.

Edited March 30, 2011 by dfx

[+Semper Questio]

Thank you both for your comments. I had to run out to do some shopping last night and I hit 2 geocaches belonging to other people along the way. At both sites I took down the coordinates from my phone and compared them to the coordinates posted online and we were almost a perfect match. I plan to run out to the "hide" tonight and get the coordinates as sort of a test run and see where they plot on the map.

 

I'm sort of a perfectionist, so believe me this will be done by the books!!

 

Thanks again, and if you know the name of any Android apps that average the coordinates please do share ... paid apps preferred!!

 

There is a free app called something like "GPS Averaging" that is pretty good. All it does is average your coordinates over time and the longer you let it average, the better your coordinates will be.

 

On a side note, just because you have to pay for an app does NOT make it any better. Read the app description and read the reviews. Quite often the best apps are free.

[Edward.B]

Great!! I'll look that up, I guess when you said gps averaging I didn't think there would be an app just called "gps averaging".

 

@ Semper Questio - I like paid apps just because they are ad free, I know some free apps are also ad free but the majority of them are not, I have big thumbs and they always seem to place the click-able ad right next to the app buttons.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I would suggest simply to beg, borrow, or steal (not really) a dedicated GPSr unit to either use for placements OR to test out/compare with your phone's setup. If you can get one for comparison uses, do it multiple times (not just a couple) at different locations.

 

I think all-in-all, good input (into a project) results in good output.

[+Semper Questio]

Great!! I'll look that up, I guess when you said gps averaging I didn't think there would be an app just called "gps averaging".

 

@ Semper Questio - I like paid apps just because they are ad free, I know some free apps are also ad free but the majority of them are not, I have big thumbs and they always seem to place the click-able ad right next to the app buttons.

 

You're right about the ads. That's another reason I check out the reviews. If there are annoying or otherwise intrusive ads, they'll usually be mentioned there. Good luck!

[+mikethemad]

ok just a quick note about most phones gps set up as you may tell your phone gps is not as good as a real gps handheld but saying that my phone well give me +/- 5m in openspace but in tree cover that go down to +/- 10m or 30m but if you use a BT gps addon like me use get +/- 2m even in tree cover

Mikethemad

[+thethompsontribe]

i have used gps averaging for my 9 hides and only had an issue with 1 of them which was soon sorted, most of the logs state coords spot on.

Edited March 31, 2011 by thethompsontribe

[+StarBrand]

ok just a quick note about most phones gps set up as you may tell your phone gps is not as good as a real gps handheld but saying that my phone well give me +/- 5m in openspace but in tree cover that go down to +/- 10m or 30m but if you use a BT gps addon like me use get +/- 2m even in tree cover

Mikethemad

What your looking at is EPE (Estimated Position Error). It is a fairly low confidence guess that should be read something like: "The position data you see on the screen is estimated to be within xx feet of the true location under the current conditions about 70% of the time."

 

That being said - all non-commercial, non military grade units just about never are going to actually get you as close as 2 meters.