Youth Group event / Smartphones query

[+abanazar]

Out of the blue, I was recently approached by my village's youth group (late pre-teens / early teens) to do a geocaching event (with a small 'e') with them in a couple of weeks time. Could be fun, I thought, so agreed. So as not to compromise any official local hides (mostly my own), I've decided to set up a temporary/unofficial multi, which I'll lay out/remove shortly before/after the event. The clue hides can be done in any order, which would enable groups to go different routes. So far, so good -- I'm comfortable with the cache idea itself -- and the group leaders are very enthusiastic (who knows about the kids though!).

 

My main concern is that there could be quite a few kids there (attendance can range anywhere from a dozen to 30 it seems); but we are only likely to have a couple of GPSr's to go round. Ideally I don't want massive groups, as the kids at the back are going to get bored if they can't see a screen. But quite a few of the kids have smartphones (iPhones, Androids, Blackberries).

 

Now, I'm a smartphone Luddite, so could anyone please help me with some dumb questions?

 

• 
   
  
• Assuming a phone is GPS-enabled, can you navigate to standard [N51 ..., W002 ...] coords "out of the box"?
  
• Or do you need an App (which presumably costs something)?
  
• They certainly wouldn't need full bells-and-whistles GC Apps, since this would not be a GC (just the N/W coords that I'll hand out with local instructions).
  

 

I'd appreciate any advice. Although I'm a reasonably experienced hider and finder, I've never done anything quite like this before!

 

Thanks.

[+MartyBartfast]

Out of the blue, I was recently approached by my village's youth group (late pre-teens / early teens) to do a geocaching event (with a small 'e') with them in a couple of weeks time. Could be fun, I thought, so agreed. So as not to compromise any official local hides (mostly my own), I've decided to set up a temporary/unofficial multi, which I'll lay out/remove shortly before/after the event. The clue hides can be done in any order, which would enable groups to go different routes. So far, so good -- I'm comfortable with the cache idea itself -- and the group leaders are very enthusiastic (who knows about the kids though!).

 

My main concern is that there could be quite a few kids there (attendance can range anywhere from a dozen to 30 it seems); but we are only likely to have a couple of GPSr's to go round. Ideally I don't want massive groups, as the kids at the back are going to get bored if they can't see a screen. But quite a few of the kids have smartphones (iPhones, Androids, Blackberries).

 

Now, I'm a smartphone Luddite, so could anyone please help me with some dumb questions?

 

• 
   
  
• Assuming a phone is GPS-enabled, can you navigate to standard [N51 ..., W002 ...] coords "out of the box"?
  
• Or do you need an App (which presumably costs something)?
  
• They certainly wouldn't need full bells-and-whistles GC Apps, since this would not be a GC (just the N/W coords that I'll hand out with local instructions).
  

 

I'd appreciate any advice. Although I'm a reasonably experienced hider and finder, I've never done anything quite like this before!

 

Thanks.

 

I can only speak for the Blackberry, and you will need some sort of app for those. I use cachesense which has a free 30 day trial, so should be OK for your event. There are other apps for Berries but I've never used them so cant comment on them.

[+The Blorenges]

I use MotionX GPS on my iPhone. Cost £0.59 last time I looked. Turns the phone into a 'handheld' GPS. Set the coords to HDD.MM.MMMM and you can enter waypoints etc. Don't need a data connection to get it to work unless you want 'real time' maps. It does allow you to download some maps and then display them 'off line'.

 

Chris (MrB)

Resources site for UK and Ireland geocachers www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

[+abanazar]

Excellent. Thanks for these iPhone and Blackberry links. I'll ask the people with the phones to try them out before the event, but they look like they should do the job for minimal cost.

[+Chief301]

Sorry, I had put some advice here but I doesn't work like I thought it would.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Chief301

[+eusty]

c:geo for an android phones

[+Lieblweb]

You can also use google maps which might already be on their phone. I have an iphone4.

 

Although I haven't used it very much, I do know that if you type in cache@ (then the digital coordinates), it'll navigate you to a cache.

 

Once you get close, zoom in. If they have a smart phone, and are somewhat familiar with google maps - they should be able to figure it out. The cache@ part is pretty important.

 

Without using that, it only navigates you to an address which isn't fine tuned enough.

[+Brian~!]

MotionX also has a free version for the iPhone. Only downside is that it can only take up to four waypoints at a time. I still use it as my primary method of finding puzzles/multis on the phone.

[jadenrich2101]

Defo C:geo for the android...u can find the cache on there, set it to offline mode (so u dont have to spend pennies like me on PAYG) and then turn on the compass and then ur good to go. Hope u have a good time on ur cache hunt