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co-ordinates from iphone to online form


Jany2372

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Hi I have hid my first Gc, am filling out the online form but am not sure how to put in the co-ordinates. Which section do I need: MinDec, DMS or DegDec. I have taken the co-ordinates from my iphone and double checked on google maps so they are in the 00.000000 0.000000 format. Thanks in advance if you can help.

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Hi I have hid my first Gc, am filling out the online form but am not sure how to put in the co-ordinates. Which section do I need: MinDec, DMS or DegDec. I have taken the co-ordinates from my iphone and double checked on google maps so they are in the 00.000000 0.000000 format. Thanks in advance if you can help.

 

This site generally uses the MinDec, degree and minute format (DDD MM.MMM), but there is an option in the cache submission form to use the decimal degree format (DegDec) that many iphone apps commonly use. You appear to have taken the coordinates in this format so go ahead and use those.

Edited by mulvaney
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Hi I have hid my first Gc, am filling out the online form but am not sure how to put in the co-ordinates. Which section do I need: MinDec, DMS or DegDec. I have taken the co-ordinates from my iphone and double checked on google maps so they are in the 00.000000 0.000000 format. Thanks in advance if you can help.

That is decimal degrees format. However....

 

The iPhone does not have a spectacular reputation for accurate coordinates. And, just to be blunt, what in the world makes you think that Google Maps are any more accurate than a GPS coordinates?? In reality most published printed maps have an accuracy around 90 or more feet at well known locations and many online maps have an accuracy of around 50 feet at well known locations. Most any GPS can do much better than that.

 

Maps are great for checking you don't have a huge random error in readings but not real good at giving highly accurate coordinates.

 

Best of luck with your new cache!

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As you are in the UK, it's well worth reading this site www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk written by one of the UK Reviewers.

There is a section called 'How to help your reviewer and get your cache published quickly!

' with advice on placing your cache.

 

If you do use an iphone to get coordinates, please double check them!

 

Good Luck with your cache. :D

Edited by Bear and Ragged
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Hi I have hid my first Gc, am filling out the online form but am not sure how to put in the co-ordinates. Which section do I need: MinDec, DMS or DegDec. I have taken the co-ordinates from my iphone and double checked on google maps so they are in the 00.000000 0.000000 format. Thanks in advance if you can help.

 

This site generally uses the MinDec, degree and minute format (DDD MM.MMM), but there is an option in the cache submission form to use the decimal degree format (DegDec) that many iphone apps commonly use. You appear to have taken the coordinates in this format so go ahead and use those.

 

Hi Thankyou for your help. DegDec did work, it has gone to be reveiwed now so am waiting for cache to go active. Can't wait :)

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As you are in the UK, it's well worth reading this site www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk written by one of the UK Reviewers.

There is a section called 'How to help your reviewer and get your cache published quickly!

' with advice on placing your cache.

 

If you do use an iphone to get coordinates, please double check them!

 

Good Luck with your cache. :D

 

Hi Thank you for your reply, I shall have a look at the site, am sure I stil have lots to learn. In the meantime it was advised I used DegDec with has worked so cache is waiting to go active now.

 

Happy GCing :)

Edited by Jany2372
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Hi I have hid my first Gc, am filling out the online form but am not sure how to put in the co-ordinates. Which section do I need: MinDec, DMS or DegDec. I have taken the co-ordinates from my iphone and double checked on google maps so they are in the 00.000000 0.000000 format. Thanks in advance if you can help.

That is decimal degrees format. However....

 

The iPhone does not have a spectacular reputation for accurate coordinates. And, just to be blunt, what in the world makes you think that Google Maps are any more accurate than a GPS coordinates?? In reality most published printed maps have an accuracy around 90 or more feet at well known locations and many online maps have an accuracy of around 50 feet at well known locations. Most any GPS can do much better than that.

 

Maps are great for checking you don't have a huge random error in readings but not real good at giving highly accurate coordinates.

 

Best of luck with your new cache!

 

Hi Thank you for your reply. I didn't mean to come across that the iphone or google were better than GPS, just that,that is all I have access too. So am doing the best with what I have. Am still a rookie when it comes to co-ordinates so need to do some research and learning. My cache is waiting to go active but looking at the map on the listing it is in the right place. Am quite excited being it's my first hide :)

Happy GCing

Edited by Jany2372
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I have a Droid X, and have used it, along with my Magellan SporTrak Pro to geocache. My DX works very well, but I would never trust it's coordinates to hide a cache. My Magellan is always more accurate.

 

Show someone else how to use the GPS app on your iPhone. Someone who was not with you when you placed the cache. If they can follow the iPhone's app to within 10-15 feet of where you placed the cache, great. If not, don't activate the cache until you can get someone with an actual GPSr to get better coordinates.

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Show someone else how to use the GPS app on your iPhone. Someone who was not with you when you placed the cache. If they can follow the iPhone's app to within 10-15 feet of where you placed the cache, great. If not, don't activate the cache until you can get someone with an actual GPSr to get better coordinates.

That's great advice to have someone else try to find your saved coordinates using the same device. Also I would recommend that other person try to find the cache NOT on the same day you hid it, as the GPS constellation does change day by day. If you can't find someone to help you with this then YOU go find the coordinates the next day, "pretending" you don't know where the spot is. Know what I mean?

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The short anser is don't do it. The cache placement guidelines say "Listings must contain accurate GPS coordinates. You must visit the geocache site and obtain all the coordinates with a GPS device."

 

This. Very much this. Congrats on the hide, and congrats on the new hobby, but hiding caches using an iphone to gather your coordinates will have a negative effect on other cachers. Please don't activate this cache until it can be verfied by a GPSr. Please.

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Hi 4x4 van, Nordic man, blueroads, family of goats and kryten. Wow, thankyou for all your advice, I didn't realise the iPhone can be that inaccurate. What I shall do then is ask a friend who has a gps to check it for me before it goes active. I did submit the form on fri so will notify the reviewer about this. I have another question... I was bought a travel bug for my birthday. Can I place it in someone else's cache? Or do I need to set up my own one. My cache at the minute is a nano so obviously can't get the travelbug in it :) thanks guys.

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Hi 4x4 van, Nordic man, blueroads, family of goats and kryten. Wow, thankyou for all your advice, I didn't realise the iPhone can be that inaccurate. What I shall do then is ask a friend who has a gps to check it for me before it goes active. I did submit the form on fri so will notify the reviewer about this. I have another question... I was bought a travel bug for my birthday. Can I place it in someone else's cache? Or do I need to set up my own one. My cache at the minute is a nano so obviously can't get the travelbug in it :) thanks guys.

 

As a bit of clarification, the iphones seem to do fine in FINDING caches, however are notoriously horrible at marking coords to HIDE a cache. Having someone check with a handheld GPSr is a stellar idea, I'd be happy to if you were from this area :lol:

 

You can check ebay, amazon, or the garage sale forum for good prices on GPSr units if you're in the market for your own unit, just so's 'n ya know.

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Hi Guys

Just an update, as above, I used my iphone to find co-ordinates and submitted form for review. Pleased to say that the co-ordinates that were submitted were spot on :) my cache went active and within the first day had 4 finds. So well done to iphone for keeping up with the gps units. Once again thank you to everyones help and advice above.

Happy Hunting

Jan

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Hi Guys

Just an update, as above, I used my iphone to find co-ordinates and submitted form for review. Pleased to say that the co-ordinates that were submitted were spot on :) my cache went active and within the first day had 4 finds. So well done to iphone for keeping up with the gps units. Once again thank you to everyones help and advice above.

Happy Hunting

Jan

 

That's Great to hear!! My husband and I have been playing 'hide the cache' between us. We both have iphones. We're doing this to get some caches hidden and check our coordinates between us before officially submitting. I also have an old Garmin Nuvi that I might use today to verify. He had trouble finding one of my caches - so I want to make sure the coords are OK with the Garmin. Or perhaps its just a really good hiding spot. He'll have to take the Garmin out and see if he can find it with that.

 

There's a really neat App called "Perfect Mark" that we've been using to 'mark', average, & save coordinates. It's $.99 but well worth it (I think).

 

This has been so much fun and I can't seem to get enough time off to do it!!!

Edited by Lieblweb
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So many iPhone haters. Wonder how many people have actually used them to verify what they say ?

 

My opinion is only based on two or three times I've seen one used to mark a point and the experience of others on the forums. The few times I've seen it first hand, the marked coords were at least 60 feet off each time. Small sample and second hand information here.

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So many iPhone haters. Wonder how many people have actually used them to verify what they say ?

 

My opinion is only based on two or three times I've seen one used to mark a point and the experience of others on the forums. The few times I've seen it first hand, the marked coords were at least 60 feet off each time. Small sample and second hand information here.

 

Actually....after doing some experimenting the last couple days, I probably won't use our iphones as primary GPS for getting coordintes to hide a new cache. We were using both Garmin Nuvi 660 & our iphones and comparing. The Nuvi was far more accurate in 'test' searches.

The iphones seem to take way too long to update and/or get 'settled' (so to speak). They worked better if you just sat there for a longer period of time and took average from multiple readings. VS The Garmin, you could walk away multiple times and go back and get new coordinates to average.

 

For searching for caches, the iphones are pretty good. Again, the lag time of updating position - something to get used to. But once you got withint a 10ft radious, you just needed to use your eyeballs.

 

Oh, and today tried to geocache in remote areas where cell service is limited.....bad idea. First off, you can't access the APP and although the GPS was working, it must be accessing cell service for additional GPS averaging. We ended up driving away from this area to find some where our signals were better. So having a real GPS in remote areas is much better (and for longer battery life)

Edited by Lieblweb
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So many iPhone haters. Wonder how many people have actually used them to verify what they say ?

 

So, true. I'm glad the OP didn't get discouraged or upset by all the negativity. Though not ideal, you CAN get good coords off an Iphone, it just takes a little more effort, patience, and common sense.

 

I think the biggest problem with bad iPhone hides, happens when someone walks in to the cache, grabs the coords and walks off to go log them. You have to watch your numbers and compare to maps (when possible) to make sure your GPS is settled and not lagging. Take a few readings. Compare to maps. Should be fine. Not ideal, but not impossible. I've hid all 6 of mine with the iPhone, and never had any complaints of bad coords. Still, I'll probably wait to get my GPSr before making any more hides. Especially wooded ones.

 

**Edit, so thats not entirely true. My first cache coord were off by 30 ft. I readjusted to a reading by a local prolific finder. That was my learning experience. I was pretty green. (still am, but a little less so)

Edited by LizzyHoops
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The iPhone isn't necessary a bad device. It's usually a 'user error', that is not fully understanding how it gets a signal. The iPhone uses both the mobile signal to triangulate it's location and the GPS signal. The mobile signal can be quite inaccurate. But, like any GPS device it takes a few minutes to settle down and start to pick up the satellite signals. So initially your phone could be using a combination of poor GPS signal and inaccurate mobile signal. But it displays a set of coordinates so they must be right eh? :blink:

 

If you wait 5 minutes or so things should settle down. You can get an excellent app (only a few $'s) called MotionX GPS. This turns the phone into a 'hand held' GPS and has the advantage of showing you which signal the phone is picking up and an accuracy figure too. I used it in Cairo when my trusty eTrex Vista suddenly packed in. I just entered the coords into MotionX and found several caches! I wouldn't use it to get coords when placing a cache. I rely on my Oregon for that!

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

Edited by Graculus
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Very interesting replies above. Maybe I was luckly when hiding my first GC with the iphone 4 but it was spot on and have had no 'not found' logs as of yet. I did get hold of a Navman handheld GPS unit over the weekend and walking round with both at the same time produced same readings. So for the time being I for one will rate the iphone highly for hiding and seeking, may be alittle different if my next hide involves a forest or somewhere remote but then I shall let you know.

Happy Hunting

Jan

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You can easily get the coordinates using the Groundspeak iPhone app, just on the front page when it loads it will tell you your current location in the correct format, and the likely error too.

 

As for the coordinates, I've hidden all my caches with an iPhone 4 and the GPS is spot on thank you! I've always checked my coordinates against ordnance survey maps and google sat images and they've always been spot on. I've even had comments about "coordinates spot on".

 

It is rather tiresome to hear "iPhone is no good", even from groupspeak employees who should know better. Yes, 3G/3GS may have had a substandard GPS receiver, but the iPhone 4 does not!

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So many iPhone haters. Wonder how many people have actually used them to verify what they say ?

 

One of the problems here is that there are multiple devices that are all called "iPhone": The original iPhone, the 3G, the 3Gs and the iPhone 4.

 

The iPhone 4 has a very accurate GPS chipset but most people's experience with geocaching comes from the 3G and 3Gs which are less accurate. Due to the length of time that the 3G/3Gs were the main GPS enabled iPhones, there is a large perception that there is no possibility of accuracy on the iPhone series. This is now basically an urban legend. I'm sure we'll still have people complaining about iPhone GPS accuracy when the iPhone 7 comes out, even if the thing is a hybrid GPS/GLONASS system with 1 foot accuracy in a rainforest canyon.

 

People need to be aware of the limitations of their device, and use them appropriately. Ignore the haters, particularly the ones who have not used these devices.

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The iPhone isn't necessary a bad device. It's usually a 'user error', that is not fully understanding how it gets a signal. The iPhone uses both the mobile signal to triangulate it's location and the GPS signal. The mobile signal can be quite inaccurate. But, like any GPS device it takes a few minutes to settle down and start to pick up the satellite signals. So initially your phone could be using a combination of poor GPS signal and inaccurate mobile signal. But it displays a set of coordinates so they must be right eh? :blink:

 

If you wait 5 minutes or so things should settle down. You can get an excellent app (only a few $'s) called MotionX GPS. This turns the phone into a 'hand held' GPS and has the advantage of showing you which signal the phone is picking up and an accuracy figure too. I used it in Cairo when my trusty eTrex Vista suddenly packed in. I just entered the coords into MotionX and found several caches! I wouldn't use it to get coords when placing a cache. I rely on my Oregon for that!

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

 

Perfect Mark is my app of choice for taking coordinate readings. It auto-averages the position.

MotionX GPS (Free Lite Version) is great for managing waypoints on the iPhone, and exporting these locations to your desktop ie GPX file

Geosphere is a great geocaching app, and outperforms the Official Geocaching app for waypoint management and exporting those back to GSAK.

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People need to be aware of the limitations of their device, and use them appropriately. Ignore the haters, particularly the ones who have not used these devices.

 

But it does cause a problem, especially when there are still calls to ban the iPhone for cache hides. And a Groundspeak employee rejecting the ability to mark a hidden cache using the app as the iPhone is not accurate enough.

 

Now I've no doubt that a 'proper' GPS might well be more accurate, but the supposed maximum accuracy of GPS is around 10 metres anyway and my phone always gets me well within that sort of range, at least in open terrain, under tree cover it's less accurate, but again I've not idea of a 'proper' GPS would do any better.

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Now I've no doubt that a 'proper' GPS might well be more accurate, but the supposed maximum accuracy of GPS is around 10 metres anyway and my phone always gets me well within that sort of range, at least in open terrain, under tree cover it's less accurate, but again I've not idea of a 'proper' GPS would do any better.

 

Wow, couldn't be more wrong. The nominal design accuracy is around 6 meters and 3 meters with DGPS (WAAS). And modern receivers can get much higher accuracy than that under good conditions.

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