"Adding" Coordinates

[OhRedQueen]

I am new to geocaching and have so far encountered two caches I was unable to find due to the puzzle. When it is a multicache where you have to solve for the coordinates for the final I am not sure how to go about it. For example, one says to add the "magic number" to the given coordinates. If the coords are N28 17.563 , which part of this number am I adding it too? I know this is a dumb question but I need serious help with this decimal nonsense.

 

Sincerely,

RQ

[+briansnat]

Hard to say without reading the actual cache page, but if something told me to add a number to the given coordinates I would use simple addition after stripping out the decimal points and spaces in the coords. If the coords are N28 17.563 and the "magic number" was 306 I'd do this:

 

2817563

+ 306

_______

2817869

 

Final coords are then N28 17.869

 

Not saying that is correct, but it is how several of my caches work and how I would interpret it if I saw it on another cache page.

[+Stargazer22]

I would handle the coordinates just like Brian noted above under usual conditions.

One thing you can do when looking for solutions of final cache coordinates is use Google Earth as your friend.

 

I have found a few puzzles / multis with help from GE. I look at the area the cache should be located in, perhaps a Wildlife Management Area, or park. You can use GE to see where the boundaries of the area are as far as coordinates are concerned. Take the base numbers you are working with and see what they look like in relation to the boundary coordinates of the area.

For instance, we did one multi that had a stage that had been burned up, so we were missing 2 digits of the coordinates. One of the digits was more "significant" than the other, since it was the one in front of the decimal point in the coordinates. I found that by putting in different numbers for that digit, it could only be either a 2 or a 3 since any other number would put it outside the area I was looking in. The other digit was a "less significant" digit since it was the last digit in the coordinates. Variation of this digit by ones put it in 10 different locations, all about 6 feet away from each other in a staight line. Starting to see the system? So I had 2 areas to look at, one with a 2 in the signigicant digit and the other with a 3. I was able to eliminate all the spots that had 3 as the significant digit due to the terrain. That left me with 2 being the only viable digit for that slot. Then I had 10 spots to look in, as I varied the other digit from 0-9. Luckily they were all close together within a 60-70 foot range in a staight line. I just searched along the line at the spots indicated and found the final.

 

I've used Google Earth several times like this, even using it prior to going to an area where I know we will be looking for a multi or puzzle cache. I write down the boundary coordinates of the area we are in and take those with us. When we solve for the cache coordinates, I double check the boundary coordinates to be sure the solution we came up with falls within the boundary of the area. That way I feel more sure of the answer I came up with. In one case that steered me toward a correct answer. The question asked on one stage of the multi was ambiguous and you could have either used a 2 or a 6, either of which would have answered the question correctly. I found that by using a 6 it put the coordinates outside of the area we were in, while the 2 fell along one boundary. We went for the 2 and it turned out to be correct.

 

I have even put whole sets of coordinates into my GPSr while searching to do the same thing. You can enter a range of waypoints on your unit to see where they are. If you are missing a signigicant digit, you can enter a dummy set of coordinates with a 0 and another set with a 9 to see the range of locations where the cache might be located. Sometimes by doing this you can eliminate some of the coordinates any may only need to search a couple of spots to find the final. Perhaps any digit 0-3 might be outside of the area. Digit 5 might put it on top of a building. Digits 7-9 might be in the lake. That would only leave you 4 and 6 as possible locations, so you may only need to search 2 areas to find the cache. Many times if you are unsure of the solution or if you have picked the right numbers, elimination of areas where a cache can't be hidden can help steer you back to the correct coordinates.

 

Good luck and happy caching!

[OhRedQueen]

Thank you both SO much!